Lyr Req: Folsom Prison Blues: 'I shot a man in...'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: Gary T
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 02:40 PM

Jim, I'm not the arbitrator of what goes into the Digitrad, but I've seen a number of songs in there less "folkish" than this one. I'd say go for it, if the powers that be don't agree I assume they can scuttle it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 02:22 PM

Please hand me the can opener and the can of worms. I would think that this song belongs in DigiTrad. I believe it to have all the elements of a folk and/or blues song. I don't think Hoagy Carmichael belongs, and I'm a fan.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: GUEST,Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 02:08 PM

Woops! I forgot to use my name. That 2 questions were from me, Jim Dixon.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 02:06 PM

1. Has anyone ever noticed the contradiction/irony/paradox/inconsistency here? The singer claims to be in Folsom State Prison in California as a result of having committed a murder in Nevada (or maybe Texas). I know it is common, with today's overcrowded prisons, for states to rent space in other states' prisons, but was this ever done at the time this song was written? Or is this just a mistake?

2. Does this song belong in DigiTrad? I don't sing it myself but I agree it's a great song, and I can imagine some folkie wanting to learn it. I ask because I have some similar songs in mind (e.g. songs by Hoagy Carmichael, Fats Waller, Sons of the Pioneers, Johnny Cash) which some might object to on the grounds that "it's not folk music." To put it another way, if I posted the words to these songs, would anyone object? Does it make any difference if the words are available at someone else's site?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: Midchuck
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 01:55 PM

There was a cartoon in the New Yorker a year or two ago.

Two guys in business suits at a bar. One saying to the other:

"I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die. After that, Law school was pretty much a given."

Peter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: Clifton53
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 01:46 PM

Mbo, I think I've heard it sung with both "Texas",or "Reno" in the lyric. On "Live from Folsom Prison" I think he uses Reno, and I believe there is a studio version that he uses Texas, not sure. Anyhow, I use to sing it years ago, and I always used some different place names in that spot.

Clifton53

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: Mbo
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 12:29 PM

You can get the lyrics and the chords right here. But then again, Folsom Prison Blues actually says "I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die..." Maybe it's not the same song?

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I shot a man in Texas
From: Clifton53
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 12:22 PM

Folsom Prison Blues by Johnnie Cash.

Clifton53

Subject: I shot a man in Texas
From: GUEST,ian
Date: 05 Apr 00 - 12:21 PM

I trying to figure out the name of the song that has the following lyrics in it: "I shot a man in Texas, just to watch him die..."

I think it's an american folk song. Thanks for the help.