I'm thinking we have discussed this song before in one of our threads. I first heard Obray Ramsey singing this song at a private party back in 1963 while Franz Schneider and I were visiting friends in North Carolina. But there are earlier versions.

A lot is left to the imagination in the version Obray sang, which may make it even more haunting.

Here's the version I currently sing:

Traditional
Learned from the singing of Obray Ramsey

Rain and Snow

Oh, I married me a wife,
Gave me trouble all my life,
Ran me out in the cold rain and snow.

Refrain:

Rain and snow, rain and snow, rain and snow, oh, Lord,
Ran me out in the cold ran and snow.

Well, she came down the stairs,
Combing back her long yellow hair,
And her cheeks just as red as a rose.

As a rose, as a rose, as a rose, oh, Lord,
With her cheeks just as red as a rose.

Oh, I did all I could do,
To get along with you,
And I ain't goin' be treated this-a-way.

This-a-way, this-a-way, this-a-way, oh, Lord,
And I ain't goin' be treated this away.

She came into the room,
There she met her fatal doom,
And I ain't goin' back there no more.*

No more, no more, no more, oh, Lord,
And I ain't goin' back there no more.

Repeat first verse.

* Changed by Charlie Ipcar from "And I ain't goin' be treated this-a-way."

Charley Noble