Lyr Req: On the Banks of Lake Pontchartrain

Subject: Lyr Req:Norman Blake -Banks of lake ponchartrain
From: AnneMC
Date: 01 May 08 - 06:45 AM

Has anyone got the lyrics of the Norman Blake song On the Banks of Lake Ponchartrain ?
(I don't want the Nanci Griffith song of similar title, the Norman Blake song is very different.)
Thanks,
Anne

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake ponchartrain
From: Nerd
Date: 01 May 08 - 09:44 AM

I don't have the lyrics, but I believe the song was written by Pattie Bryan, if that helps anyone else to find it....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake ponchartrain
From: Peace
Date: 01 May 08 - 10:02 AM

I think maybe the title is misspelled.

"on the banks of lake ponchartrain"

ponTchartrain

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I inserted a 'T'. Will help searches, although it's spelled incorrectly in the DT a couple of times.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake ponchartrain
From: GUEST,erinmaidin
Date: 01 May 08 - 10:03 AM

I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year
Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain
I'm goin' back to my green eyed lover there
and we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain

Oh, I've grown pale beneath the streets of Montreal
Where the voices ring like bells in French-Canadian
And the rivers stand imprisoned till the thaws
I am alone at night and dream of my own Pontchartrain

Chorus:
Take me to the station... I am late to catch my southbound train
Oh, I'm gonna call my cousin Libby
she will be waiting by the tracks when I roll in
I'm gonna roll across America
just to stand beside my Pontchartrain again

These old rails shake like thunder through the night
Soon I'll have my green eyed lover's arms to comfort me
Oh, I can see my cousin Libby by his side
her hair will flow in waves like on Lake Pontchartrain

(Repeat chorus)

I'm goin' back where my garden blooms all year
Where the wintertime speaks softly in the fallin' rain
I'm goin' back to my green eyed lover there
and we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain
yes, we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain
we will dance along the banks of old Lake Pontchartrain
and here comes the train

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake ponchartrain
From: GUEST,erinmaidin
Date: 01 May 08 - 10:03 AM

just happened to be one that I do :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake pontchartrain
From: GUEST,Nerd
Date: 01 May 08 - 11:12 AM

But that's the one she said she DIDN'T want....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake pontchartrain
From: Amos
Date: 01 May 08 - 11:20 AM

P'raps you mean the one that starts out:

"I wandered from Texas through old Louisian'
Over mountains and deserts and plains,
Until footsore and weary, I rested a while
By the banks of the old Pontchartrain...."

I have those lyrics somewhere at home, and will be happy to post them if (1) it is the one you want and (2) you have checked the DT and Forum.

There are a number of past threads on the several songs on this theme, which may already have what you want. Do a FOrum search on "Pontchartrain". It's probably already in a thread.


A

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake pontchartrain
From: Stewart
Date: 01 May 08 - 12:02 PM

Here it is. It's also on my web site here

THE BANKS OF THE OLD PONTCHARTRAIN
From the Wolf Folklore Collection: http://www.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/appleon1262.html

I traveled from Texas to low Louisian',
Through valleys, o'er mountains and plain.
Both footsore and weary, I rested a while
On the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

The fairest young maiden that I ever saw
Passed by as it started to rain.
We both found a shelter beneath the same tree
On the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

I ventured a smile, but she thought I was bold.
I hastened to try and explain,
But somehow I knew I would linger a while
On the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

We hid from the shower an hour or so.
She asked me how long I'd remain.
I told her I'd spend the rest of my life
On the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

As time drifted by, we fell deeper in love,
A love that could just bring her pain.
I knew that one day I would leave her alone
On the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

I just couldn't tell her that I ran away
From jail on an old Texas plain.
I prayed in my heart I would never be found
On the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

Then one day a man put his hand on my arm
And said I must go west again.
I left her alone without saying goodbye,
On the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

Tonight as I sit here alone in my cell,
I know that she's waiting in vain.
I'm hoping and praying someday to return
To the banks of the Old Pontchartrain.

Cheers, S. in Seattle

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake pontchartrain
From: Nerd
Date: 01 May 08 - 01:09 PM

That's not the one Anne asked for either, I think--but these are all great songs. That last is the Hank Williams classic, and erinmaidin's was the Nancy Griffith song. The one Norman and Nancy Blake did (unless they did more than one) is a post-Katrina song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: on the banks of lake pontchartrain
From: AnneMC
Date: 02 May 08 - 11:54 PM

Thanks, Nerd.
You're right, it is the post Katrina song I want, as recorded by Norman and Nancy Blake.
I already have the more traditional versions of the song by the same name.

Anne

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: On the Banks of Lake Pontchartrain
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 May 08 - 10:03 PM

Here's a start. It will give those who are not familiar with the song an idea of what we are looking for. I transcribed this from several sound samples:

ON THE BANKS OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN (excerpt)
Pattie Bryan, Blake & Blake Music, BMI

There was a jewel of a city on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain
Till water rushed down upon her from a terrible hurricane.
By the name of a beautiful lady, on the wings of a demon it came,
Flooding that jewel of a city on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain.
Mothers with babies were crying from hunger and thirst—what a shame!—
Trapped by a break in the …

[As performed by Norman Blake, Nancy Blake, and Tut Taylor on "Shacktown Road," Plectraphone Records, 2007.]

Subject: Lyr Add: ON THE BANKS OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN
From: AnneMC
Date: 15 May 08 - 03:33 PM

Thank you, Jim !
Have a copy of the tune now, thanks to the iTunes store, and have completed the lyrics you started.

ON THE BANKS OF LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN
Pattie Bryan, Blake & Blake Music, BMI

There was a jewel of a city on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain
Till water rushed down upon her from a terrible hurricane.
By the name of a beautiful lady, on the winds of a demon it came,
Flooding that jewel of a city on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain.

Mothers with babies were crying from hunger and thirst—what a shame!—
Trapped by a break in the levees on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain

Oh, beloved New Orleans, on a swamp without a natural drain
Between the great Mississippi and the banks of Lake Pontchartrain
All who could fled the city, the old and the poor remained
Climbing to attics and rooftops from the flood of Lake Pontchartrain

All the people are homeless, hundreds of lives they were claimed
Drowned by a break in the levees on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: On the Banks of Lake Pontchartrain
From: GUEST,erinmaidin
Date: 15 May 08 - 05:36 PM

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