Lyr Req: Motherless Child (from Eric Clapton)

Subject: Lyric Request: 'Motherless Child'
From: birdman blue
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 10:17 PM

the song was performed back in the 90's when a bunch of the electric musician's momentarily jumped on the acoustic bandwagon for a brief hayride called the "unplugged format" following the lead of eric clapton.... anyway, clapton did a traditional blues called "motherless child" using a 12-string in an open G tuning (in the key of E) and I've been covering this tune for a couple of years now but there is one verse where the tag line has eluded me (forcing me to just sing some lyric that makes some sort of contextual sense....). the verse in question is number 4:

if you see two women,
    always runnin' hand-in-hand;
if you see two pretty women,
    always running hand-in-hand;
you can bet your bottom dollar
    one.......

has anyone got the correct tag for this phrase? I don't know how many times I have listened to this recording trying to decipher the line. (it is harder than attempting to decode Mick Jagger back in the early 1960s.....I actually got pretty good at figuring old Mick out.) the phrase ends with a rhymed word paired against "hand" (which I'm pretty sure is "man"). thanks in advance for any help that might be forthcoming,

bird

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: 'Motherless Child'
From: Peace
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 10:20 PM

And when you see two women, always running hand in hand.
When you see two women, always running hand in hand.
You can bet your bottom dollar, one got the other one's man.

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: 'Motherless Child'
From: birdman blue
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 10:28 PM

as simple as that? thanks, peace.

bird

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: 'Motherless Child'
From: Peace
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 10:40 PM

Most welcome.

Subject: Lyr Add: MOTHERLESS CHILD (from Eric Clapton)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 14 Jul 07 - 11:07 PM

So, I was wondering about the whole song, as recorded by Clapton and written by lord-knows-who. I guess it's not any of the "Motherless" songs listed in the crosslinks above. I copied this from http://edit.mp3lyrics.org/e/eric-clapton/motherless/ - in other words, from an undocumented source. Any corrections?
-Joe-


Motherless Child
(songwriter unknown - recorded by Clapton)

If I mistreat you girl, I sure don't mean no harm.
If I mistreat you girl, I sure don't mean no harm.
Well, I'm a motherless child; I don't know right from wrong.

Please tell me pretty mama, honey where'd you stay last night?
Please tell me pretty mama, honey where'd you stay last night?
Well, you didn't come home till the sun was shining bright.

I had to go so far girl to get my ham bones boiled.
Had to go so far girl to get my ham bones boiled.
Well, these At-a-lanta women, gonna let my ham bones burn.

Well, I did more for you, girl, than your daddy ever done.
Well, I did more for you, girl, than your daddy ever done.
Well, I give you my jelly, he ain't give you none.

And when you see two women, always running hand in hand.
When you see two women, always running hand in hand.
You can bet your bottom dollar, one got the other one's man.

Lord, I'm going to the river, get me a tangled rocking chair.
I'm going to the river, get me a tangled rocking chair.
And if the blues overtake me, gonna rock away from here.

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: 'Motherless Child'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 12:04 AM

Eric Clapton, in his album "From the Cradle," 1994, called it traditional.
Certainly some of the lines are from traditional songs, but I haven't seen them put together in this way.

allmusic.com

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: 'Motherless Child'
From: Peace
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 12:07 AM

The Rhapsody site credit Martin Lee Gore for Clapton's version.

Subject: RE: Lyric Request: 'Motherless Child'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Jul 07 - 12:22 AM

"I'm goin' to the river, take my rocker chair,
If the blues overtake me, gonna rock away from here."
From a version of Dink's Blues, in Lomax. Paul Oliver, "Screening the Blues."
Looks like material cobbled together from a number of old blues songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Motherless Child (from Eric Clapton)
From: GUEST,Guitar Slim
Date: 06 Oct 20 - 10:13 AM

Ham bone line:

“Well, the way things been going gonna let my ham bone spoil.”

Two women line:

“You can bet your bottom dollar ones got a belly full of man.”