Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.

Subject: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: GUEST,Old__Salt
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 02:06 AM

Does any one here have the Lyrics to "I'm a Rowdy Soul"? I heard it at a club last week and can't get the song, well just the chorus, out of my head. Can anyone help me out?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 03:55 AM

Old Salt

All I know is the Chorus:

I'm a Rowdy Soul, a rowdy soul and I don't give a damn whether I work or not (repeat)

Sorry I'm not much help

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Jeri
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 11:17 AM

It doesn't appear to be in the DT. This is from memory. There are verses I'm forgetting, so if anyone can add to it...

I didn't plant no corn this year
Didn't plant no beans or tomatoes
I didn't plant no corn this year
But damn them Irish taters

I'm a rowdy soul, I'm a rowdy soul
And I don't care whether I work or not
I'm a rowdy soul, a rowdy soul
And I don't care whether I work or not

Next time I build my house
Gonna build my chimney higher
Mud daubers keep flyin' around
And puttin' me out of my fire.

Come here dog and get your bone
And tell me what shoulder do you want it on
A penny off, a penny on
One more verse and I'll be gone

(...at which point, you'd sort of expect another verse.)

Can anyone add to this? If I think of the other verses, I'll post them.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 11:45 AM

I think Sandy Paton will have something to say about this. He sings it verrry well.

Rick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 12:00 PM

I have a "patched together" text learned from Dillon Bustin and added to from Mary Wheeler's Steamboatin' Days. I'll post it tonight. Right now, I have some real-life things that must be done. Hang in there.

Sandy

Subject: Lyr Add: ROWDY SOUL
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 09:36 PM

ROWDY SOUL

Chorus:
I'm a rowdy soul, I'm a rowdy soul;
I don't care whether I work or not.
I'm a rowdy soul, I'm a rowdy soul,
I don't care whether I work or not.

I didn't plant no corn this year,
Didn't raise no beans or tomaters.
Ground's so poor that grass won't grow,
But DAMN! them Irish potaters, oh.

When I get my new house built,
Gonna build my chimney higher.
Don't want no mud-daubers hangin' around,
Puttin' out my fire, oh.

My capt'n got him a new blue coat;
Hung it in the hall.
I stole down my capt'n's coat
And wore it to the ball.

Took my gal to the fancy ball;
Didn't say nothin' about it.
I ain't one to raise a row,
But I'm hell when I get started, oh.

Where'd you get your whiskey, boy?
Where'd you get your dram?
Where'd you get your whiskey, boy?
Well, I got it from Lincoln an' Abraham!

Now, you can't do me like you done poor Shine.
You taken his money, but you can't take mine!
Ain't but one man that I fear;
That's Big Jack Johnson, and he ain't here!

Well, come here, dog, an' get your bone!
Tell me which shoulder you want it on.
A penny off and a penny on;
One more load and I'll be gone!
^^
Collated from the version sung by Dillon Bustin
with additional verses from Mary Wheeler's Steamboatin' Days.
Recorded on Folk-Legacy's New Harmony (cassette C-100) by Sandy Paton & friends.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 09:40 PM

Forgot to mention that the Old Songs Festival is putting out a "20th Anniversary" CD this year, and this song will be included on it, sung by yours truly with a chorus of dozens.

Sandy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 12:13 PM

And you ain't heard nuthin' 'till you've heard Sandy sing this song!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 02:50 PM

Your check is in the mail, Allison. %^)

See you at NEFFA!

Sandy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Jeri
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 04:58 PM

Thank you Sandy! I wrote the verses I learned down, but can't locate them. I learned the song in 1992 from a singer named Gary Ferren from Indianapolis, who had never been out of Indiana. He was fairly vague about where he got the song, but my guess is a book or recording. His version didn't have the verses about Lincoln and Abraham, or Big Jack Johnson. The verse about the coat he sang:

I saw the captain's coat
Hangin' up there on the wall
I stole the captain's coat
And wore it to the fancy-pants dancin' ball.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 08:03 PM

My verses about the ball are from Dillon Bustin, who picked up the song while he was living and collecting in southern Indiana. If my memory is correct, he could have heard part of it from one "Poss" Scaggs, an old riverman down yonder. Don't quote me on this, however, as my memory is not the most reliable thing I possess, and that source may have been for his version of "Shawneetown." I had thought that the "Lincoln and Abraham" verse also came from Dillon, but he assured me later that he had not heard that one. Now I can't remember where in the heck I got it! Your friend from Indiana could well have sung with Dillon, who left Indiana to become official State Folklorist of Massachusetts, until the budget for the job ran out. Folklorist, collector, songmaker, singer -- Dillon does it all, and very well.

Sandy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Sep 11 - 08:11 PM

Anyone know where or when this song originated? I'd like to use it for a school project.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 02:14 AM

Boy, there isn't much on this song in the Traditional Ballad Index. Let's see what else we can dig up. Here's the Ballad Index entry:

Rowdy Soul

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a rowdy soul (x2), Don't care whether I work or not." The singer raised no crop last year; he blames the poor soil. He hopes to build a better house, safe from yellowjackets. He describes his partying lifestyle
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1933 (recording, Janie Scott Kincey)
KEYWORDS: work home hardtimes party floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MWheeler, pp. 93-94, "Rowdy Soul" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #10034
RECORDINGS:
Janie Scott Kincey, "Sometimes I Ride an Old Grey Mare (I'm a Rowdy Old Soul)" (AFS CYL-23-3, 1933)
Will Starks, "I'm a Rowdy Soul" (AFS 6653 B3, 1942)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Whoa Back, Buck" (floating lyrics)
File: MWhee093

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Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Bibliography
Go to the Discography


The Ballad Index Copyright 2011 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

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...even less in Roud (click).

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I found a recording on Spotify of "Rowdy Soul" by a group called Cutthroat Shamrock. The studio recording is quite good, but the live recordings on YouTube leave a bit to be desired.

Subject: ADD: The Tiehackers Song
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 02:24 AM

Roud does list a version in the Max Hunter Collection titled "The Tiehackers Song." The entry includes music notation and a recording. Here are the lyrics:

THE TIEHACKERS SONG

VERSE 1
You take Sal and I'll take Sue
And tell you what we will do
We will take em to the drygoods store
And dress em up in calico
I am a rowdy soul, I am a rowdy soul
I never let a nigger in a mile of me

VERSE 2
Your children played in my back yard
And I never said a word about it
I aint no hand to raise a rowe
But Lord when I gets started
I am a rowdy soul, I am a rowdy soul
I never let a nigger in a mile of me

Mr. Davis said he used to hear the negroe workers sing this song while driving spikes on the rail ties. Would sing to keep a steady rhythm to their swing of the hammer.

Cat. #0120 (MFH #630) - As sung by Mr. T.M. Davis, Fayettville, Arkansas on June 14, 1958

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Notice that there's a tie to Whoa Back Buck.

From the Digital Tradition:

Whoa, back, Buck, git over Paul
You steppin on my cotton, say, one & all.
Whoa, back, Buck, git over Lamb,
You steppin on my cottobn like you don't give a damn.
I'm a rowdy soul, Im a rowdy soul
Don't see a nigger in a mile or mo.

Took my gal to the party-o,
She sat on a steeple,
She let a fart & broke my heart
And ______ (shit?) all over the people.
Tell my wife when you go to the hills,
I"m here workin at the sorghum mill.

Last year was a good crop year
And everybody knowed it.
Paw didn't raise but a bushel of corn
And some damn rascal stole it.
I'm a rowdy soul, I'm a rowdy soul.
I'm rowdy all around my red asshole.

Subject: ADD: I'm a Rowdy Old Soul.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 02:36 AM

One more, from the Journal of American Folklore, Volume 26 (1913) p.126. The article is titled Songs and Rhymes from the South, by E.C. Perrow.

11. I'M A ROWDY OLD SOUL
(From Mississippi; negroes: MS.?; 1909)

I uster drive a long-horn steer;
Now I drive a muley:
Hand me down my frock and coat;
I'm goin' back to Juley.

I'm a rowdy old soul, I'm a rowdy old soul!
There ain't gwine to be a nigger in a mile or more.

I'm gwine to get some brick and sand
To build my chimney higher,
To keep that damned old tomcat
From putting out my fire.

Subject: ADD Version: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 03:12 AM

There's also a recording of "Rowdy Soul" by a group called Highland Reign. The recordings by Cutthroat Shamrock and Highland Reign are what I might term "punk folk." I wonder what Sandy Paton would think of being classed with "punk folk" singers - Sandy's recording is pretty rowdy, too.

Here are the lyrics from the Highland Reign Website


ROWDY SOUL
Traditional

Chorus
I'm a rowdy soul, I'm a rowdy soul
I don't care whether I work or not
I'm a rowdy soul, a rowdy soul
I don't care whether I work or not

Come here dog and get your bone
Tell me what shoulder do you want it on
Penny off and a penny on
One more load and I'll be gone

Chorus

I didn't plant no corn this year
Didn't plant no beans or tomatores
I didn't plant no corn this year
But damn them Irish potatoes

Chorus

I saw the Captain's coat
Just a hangin up on the wall
I stole the captain's coat
And I wore it to the fancy dress ball

Chorus

Next time I build my house
Gonna build my chimney higher
Mud, dauber, swarm around
Gonna put me out of that fire

Chorus

Pass that jug around dear son
I'll tell you a story
About things with claws that scratch and bite
Like women mean and whorey

Chorus x2

Subject: RE: Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 21 Sep 11 - 03:57 AM

I've heard Bob Walser sing a version of this, but I don't know if he's recorded it...

Kitty

Subject: RE: Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: GUEST,E Olsrud
Date: 22 Apr 15 - 02:02 PM

Here is a clip of Bob Walser singing I'm a Rowdy Soul at The Dubliner shanty and pub sing in St. Paul MN. We have hundreds of sea shantys, working songs, and drinking songs on youtube at saltydogshanty.
https://youtu.be/CApFYMlbnZo

Subject: RE: Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 22 Apr 15 - 03:24 PM

Thanks for that - here's the link in a blue clicky !

Kitty

Subject: Mother Country
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 22 Apr 15 - 05:07 PM

Does anyone have the chords to Mother Country?

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See 'Mother Country' thread (click)

Subject: RE: Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Sean Belt
Date: 23 Apr 15 - 03:53 PM

Submitted for your interest, my band recorded what we think is a pretty good version of "I'm A Rowdy Soul" on our CD Made Good For You. Available here
and yonder

Subject: RE: Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: GUEST,#
Date: 24 Apr 15 - 08:29 AM

http://www.11th-miss.com/rowdy.htm

Subject: RE: Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Apr 19 - 10:19 AM

Nice to be able to review these posts!

Charlie Ipcar

Subject: RE: Origins: I'm a Rowdy Soul.
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 03 May 19 - 11:02 PM

I started to learn this song recently, after hearing Megan Messinger sing it at our chantey sings at Hyde Streeet Pier, SF, and then seeing lyrics in Mary Wheeler's book Steamboatin' Days (referenced earlier here). Very good to see a number of verses I hadn't known of. I'll incorporate some of them into my singing (but not the "N" word verses). Great stuff here. This is what is so great about Mudcat!
-Chanteyranger