The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #761   Message #2228
Posted By: rich r
14-Feb-97 - 06:38 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Lonesome Road (from Paul Clayton)
Subject: Lyr Add: LONESOME ROAD (from Carl Sandburg)
From: The American Songbag by Carl Sandburg. (This book was reprinted in paperback by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1990)

LONESOME ROAD

Look down, look down that lonesome road
Hang down your head an' sigh;
The best of friends must part some day,
An' why not you an' I,
An' why not you an' I?

I wish to God that I had died,
Had died 'fore I was born,
Before I seen your smilin' face
An' hear your lyin' tongue,
An' hear your lyin' tongue

A version with lyrics closer to the one you remember was also recorded by Ian & Sylvia on their Four Strong Winds album (reissued on CD). They claim to have learned it from Peggy Seeger and the tune is a little bouncier than the one printed by Sandburg. If you want the lyrics to their version, I could transcribe them.

rich r