CASEY JONES

Casey Jones was a brave engineer
Told his fireman to, not to fear
Said "all I want is my water and my coal
Look out the window, see my drive wheels roll."

Early one mornin' come a shower of rain
Round the curve I seen a passenger train
In the cabin was Casey Jones
A nobel engineerman, but he's dead and gone.

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

Children, children, get yo' hat
Mama, mama, what you mean by that?
Get yo' hat, put it on yo' head
Go down in town, see if yo' daddy's dead

Mama, mama, how can it be,
Daddy got killed on the ol' I C?
Children hush and hold yo' breath
We gonna draw a pension from yo' daddy's death.

Ol' Miz Jones, when she got the news
She was sittin' on the bedside lacin' up her shoes
Said go 'way children an' stop yo cryin'
You got another daddy on the Salt Lake line.

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

Casey said before he died
I fixed them blinds so the bums can't ride
If they ride, let 'em ride the rods
Trust they lives in the hands of God

Casey said again before he died
There's one more road that I wanted to ride
What road, what road can that be?
The Golden Colorado and Santa Fe

INSTRUMENTAL BREAK

Now Casey died, he went to heaven from here
Said "Looky here, St. Peter, I'm a brave engineer."
St. Peter said "Casey, cause you brave and bold
Gonna send you down yonder where you can shovel coal."

As I said in an earlier post, this is an arrangement I've sorta landed on based mostly on John Hurt's version with a couple of verses lifted from Mance Lipscomb. The only ones from Mance — if my wobbly memory is still upright — are the ones that start "Ol' Miz Jones, when she got the news" and the last verse.

The thing that's always fascinated me about the song is the number of versions — darned near as many as songs about the Titanic, maybe even more — and the juxtaposition of characteristics attributed to Casey. He's painted as both the swashbuckling, balls-out engine driver, satisfied by nothing more complex than having his water and coal, watching his drive wheels roll and getting there on time and as the mean-spirited company man who would set the blinds (I understand they were devices attached to cars for just that purpose) so the bums can't ride except by getting under the cars and hanging from the struts underneath. Mance's version even adds the dimension of being a braggart, even in death.

Also, as mentioned in my earlier post, there's the nasty treatment of Miz Jones, who, if the site Jon pointed us to is correct, was a pretty resourceful and tough lady, but certainly not as cold and mercenary as these verses make her sound.

As I said, I love this song — it's just fun to play and sing — but it is probably the bitterest and most damning of any of the railroad songs I know.

cheers

david