Women in prison trad songs?

Subject: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 12:08 PM

I'm in search of traditional songs about women in prison.
Can anyone think of any?
(Sorry if there's already a thread for this. I did try searching several times, but every time I search, I get an error message.)

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 03:46 PM

Yeah, the main Mudcat search has never been very good, but there are a number of other Mudcat search engines explained in the Mudcat FAQ. And oftentimes, Google is the best way to search Mudcat you'll get a lot of leads if you search Google for songs about women in prison mudcat.org

I didn't see any really good leads in that search, but I'm wondering about the Pete Seeger song, Walking Down Death Row. Are the three women with babes in arms going to their own execution, or are they going to witness the execution of their men?

Also check out the thread titled Songs about Women Who Behave Badly

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 03:53 PM

Well there's a quick mention of the women's prison in The Auld Triangle...

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 04:19 PM

Thank you, Joe.
And thank you, Steve, for The Auld Triangle. I had thought of that (the only one I could come up with) but it's actually not trad, I believe. "...a song by Dick Shannon, often attributed to Brendan Behan." From Wikipedia, which doesn't mean it's true, but in this case, I think it is.

Subject: ADD: Women's Prison (Lynn & Brutto)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 04:31 PM

I hope you don't mind if we include some non-traditional songs in this thread. A good one is "Women's Prison," recorded by Loretta Lynn.

WOMEN'S PRISON
(Loretta Lynn / Patsy Lynn Brutto)

I'm in a women's prison
With bars all around
I caught my darlin' cheating
That's when I shot him down

I caught him in a honky-tonk
With a girl I used to know
The door to my cell is open wide
And a voice cries out oh no

The judge says I'm guilty
My sentence is to die
I know I've been forgiven
But the price of love is high

The crowd outside is screamin'
Let the murderer die
But above all their voices
I can hear my mama cry

I'm sittin' here on death row
And Lord I've lost my mind
For love I've killed my darlin'
And for love I'll lose my life

I can hear the warden coming
From the clinging of his keys
But when they come to get me
He'll have to drag me off my knees

The door to my cell swings open
It's time for me to go
The priest is reading my last rights
He says, "Dying's part of livin' you know"

There's a crowd outside screamin'
Let that murderer fry
But above all their voices
You can hear my mama cry

Now they've strapped me in the chair
And covered up my eyes
And the last voice I hear on earth
Is my mama's cry

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Loretta Lynn / Patsy Lynn Brutto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GZZ13rJsus

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 08:10 PM

Joe--I took at look at the Women Behaving Badly thread. Lots of interesting stuff in there, but curiously, none of the badly behaving women seem to end up in jail.

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 08:13 PM

The Loretta Lynn is great and would work, except I need material that is out of copyright. (I'm writing a play and want to include a snippet of a prison song.)
PS I wish the prisoner in LL's song was dying for something other than shooting her lover. He really wasn't worth it!

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 08:25 PM

Of course, there are the Four Marys (click). I believe the fourth Mary was in prison before her execution.

Guest, when we get a request at Mudcat, we usually make a broad exploration and broaden it to appeal to all related interests - and we still try to answer the original request. Some people get annoyed by that practice, but that's what we do. That makes the thread fun for everyone. Well, as much fun as one can have talking about women in prison.

-Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor-

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 09:11 PM

No worries. I'm happy to read the "broad exploration."

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 09:17 PM

Haha! Something you wrote just twigged in my brain. Peter Bellamy's "I Once Lived in Service." Not trad, but definitely a woman in prison.

Now I lie in prison but I will not weep
Who knows what tomorrow may hold-O
There's some fine lads in here for me company to keep
There's strong arms to keep me from cold

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GerryM
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 10:06 PM

Bob Dylan wrote a song, Julius and Ethel, about the Rosenbergs, who were convicted of, and executed for, passing atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union. Released on one of the bootleg albums, lyrics available at https://genius.com/Bob-dylan-julius-and-ethel-infidels-outtake-lyrics

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GerryM
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 10:12 PM

There's the Cole Porter song, Miss Otis Regrets. She didn't spend long in prison, a lynch mob saw to that. https://www.themusicallyrics.com/c/202-cole-porter-songs-lyrics/7711-ella-fitzgerald-miss-otis-regrets-lyrics.html

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https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=616&messages=40

Subject: RE: Women in prison trad songs?
From: GerryM
Date: 03 Feb 23 - 10:17 PM

For trad, there's Frankie and Johnny. The version at http://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=2122 ends with her being convicted, doesn't follow her to prison.