The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #2777   Message #2203607
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
27-Nov-07 - 09:02 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Goodbye Liza Jane
Subject: Lyr Add: GOODBYE, SUSAN JANE (Randolph, 1940)
From Randolph, Ozark Folksongs, vol. 3, 435B, Liza Jane.

GOODBYE, SUSAN JANE
I went to see my Susan Jane, she met me at the door,
She told me that I needn't come to see her any more;
She fell in love with Rufus Andrew Jackson Paime,
I looked her in the face and said goodbye Susan Jane.

Oh Susan quit your foolin', and give my love to me,
Oh give me back my heart again, and I will let you be,
I once did love you dearly, I cannot love again,
I'm going away to leave you now, so goodbye Susan Jane.

Her mouth was like a cellar, her foot was like a ham,
Her eyes were like an owl's at night, her voice was never calm,
Her hair was long and curly, she looked just like a crane,
I bid goodbye to all my love, so goodbye, Susan Jane.

Oh Susan, so deceiving, she'll never do to trust,
I threatened once to leave her, and leave her now I must,
I never will trust another, to cause me any pain,
I trusted her, and all the girls are just like Susan Jane.

Mrs. Joseph Pointer, MO, 1940.

Lyr. Add: LIZA JANE (MOUNTAIN TOP)

I'll go up on the mountain top,
And plant me a patch of cane,
I'll make me a jug of molasses,
For to sweeeten little Liza Jane.

Refrain:
O po' Liza, po' gal,
O po' Liza Jane,
O po' Liza, po' gal,
She died on the train.

I'll go up on the mountain top,
Put up my moonshine still,
I'll make you a quart of old moonshine,
For just one dollar bill.

Head is like a coffee pot,
Nose is like a spout,
Her mouth is like an old fire-place,
With the ashes all raked out.

I went to see my Liza Jane,
She was standing in the door,
Her shoes and stockings in her hand,
And her feet all over the floor.

The hardest work that ever I did,
Was a-brakin' on the train,
The easiest work that ever I did,
Was a-huggin' little Liza Jane.

With score. Some of the verses in these songs have been used since early minstrel days.
Carl Sandburg, 1927, "The American Songbag," pp. 132-133. Source not stated.