Lyr. Add: DROP 'EM DOWN
Axe song

He coming back by old Darrington,
(axes)
He coming back by old Darrington,
(axes)
Drop 'em down,
Got my partner,
He gonna drop 'em down,
Got my partner,
Drop 'em down,
Well, we goin' to the bottom,
Drop 'em down,
Well, we goin' to the bottom,
Drop 'em down,
Well, I'm headed for the bottom,
Drop 'em down,
Well, I'm headed for the bottom,
Drop 'em down.

I got a life time to drop 'em, DROP 'EM DOWN
I got a life time to drop 'em, DROP 'EM DOWN.

I'm gonna drop 'em for the rider....
(Repetition, and burden continue as above)

I'm gnna drop 'em for the major....
I'm gonna drop it in the mornin'....

Well partner won't you help me....
I'm gonna drop 'em all day long....

Now partner tell my mama....
I gotta write away to Austin....

Have a talk with the gov'nor....
A-well to see will he pardon me....

What do you reckon that he told her....
A "Just ten years longer ....

Well-a then I might pardon him"....
That gov'nor must be crazy....

You can run and tell the sergeant....
A-that I've got a-worried....
Well, I'm headed for the Brazos....
A-well old Rattler can't hold me....
A-well I'm headed for Dallas....
Oh Dallas Carrie....
That's the girl I'm gonna marry....
Partner look-a look-a yonder....
A-well I b'lieve I spied a spirit....
Tell me what is the spirit....
"A-well it's nothing but a liveoak"....
Wo Lordy have mercy....
A-well the captain gone to Houston....
Gonna get me a diamond....
He comin' back by old Darrington....
He gonna get my partner....
Well we goin' to the bottom....
I gonna hew down the liveoak....
Gonna hew it down for the rider....
I'm gonna hew it in the mornin'....
Oh everybody gets a-worried....
A-gets a-worried with this diamond....
I drop 'em late in the evening....

Sung by Chinaman, with his musical score.
Diamond- an axe.
Rattler- tracking hound.
Rider- guard on horseback (a 'high' rider carried a shotgun).
Major- In the old days, the prison was in charge of a major; a captain was in charge of a camp; sergeant, the man in charge of the dogs (handled by an inmate, "dog boy."

Pp. 248-254, with versions and musical scores.
Bruce Jackson, ed., 1972, "Wake Up Dead Man," Afro-American Worksongs from Texas Prisons. Harvard University Press.