Origins: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)

Subject: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: Mr Happy
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 12:32 PM

hi y'all,

i have a chorus but no verses of a song my late brother in law used to sing.

i've tried the dt, forum search + adv. search = zilch.

the words i have already are:

I've played around and stayed around this old town too long
Summers almost gone and winters coming on
I've played around and stayed around this old town too long
And I feel like I'm gonna travel on

anyone kno it?

cheers,

mr h

Subject: Lyr Add: GOTTA TRAVEL ON (Paul Clayton)
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 12:37 PM

I'm very surprised it's not here.

GOTTA TRAVEL ON

Words and Music by: Paul Clayton
Recorded by Harry Belafonte on:
45: 47-7445, RCX-119, VLP-2449, EPA-9649, 75-520, 45-338
LP: LSP-2449, PL43683, SP-33-275, RCA8023
CD: CD29454, CD339482, 744676, CD036, 68097, ARMCD019,
Also recorded by:
DeCormier Singers - RS897SD
Bob Dylan
Billy Grammar
The Limeliters - LSP2445, DRC3-1832
The Merrymen - WIRL1020
Lyrics:

I've laid around and played around this old town too long.
Summer's almost gone. Yes, winter's coming on.
I've laid around and played around this old town too long,
And I feel like I've gotta travel on.

Papa writes to Johnny, but Johnny can't come home.
Johnny can't come home. No, Johnny can't come home.
Papa writes to Johnny, but Johnny can't come home,
'Cause he's been on the chain gang too long.

I've laid around and played around this old town too long.
Summer's almost gone. Yes, winter's coming on.
I've laid around and played around this old town too long,
And I feel like I've gotta travel on.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: Mr Happy
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 12:47 PM

sorcha,

many thanks!

anyone have any more verses?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: Nathan in Texas
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 12:50 PM

Another verse:

Done hung around, done sung around . . .etc.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: masato sakurai
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 12:56 PM

'Gotta Travel On' -- Billy Grammer [Realaudio] from The Record Lady's All-Time Country Favorites (Real Country Page 14).

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 01:47 PM

It's in the Digital Tradition as Done Laid Around, with tune. It's unattributed in the DT - is Clayton responsible for the original version of the song, or is it traditional? This post (click) seems to indicate it's not, but that Clayton discovered or collected it.
Gene posted another version of the lyrics here (click).
In this thread, Chicken Charlie speaks of a parody called "Laid Around and Played Around, Viet Nam Too Long." Gee, I'd like to see those lyrics.

-Joe Offer-

---

DONE LAID AROUND (DT Lyrics)

Done laid around and played around this old town too long
Summer's almost gone and winter's coming on
Done laid around and stayed around this old town too long
And I feel like I want to travel on

The chilly wind will soon begin and I'll be on my way
Gone a lonesome day, gone a lonesome day
The chilly wind will soon begin and I'll be on my way
And I feel like I want to travel on

There's a lonesome freight at six oh eight, coming through the
town
I'll be homeward bound, I'll be homeward bound
A lonesome freight at six oh eight, coming through this town
And I feel like I want to travel on
@travel
filename[ DONELAID
TUNE FILE: DONELAID
CLICK TO PLAY
SOF

Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE LAID AROUND VIETNAM TOO LONG
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 01:52 PM

Ah, found it at this site (click)!
-Joe Offer-

---

I'VE LAID AROUND VIETNAM TOO LONG

CHORUS:
I've laid around and played around Vietnam too long
Summer's come and gone, monsoon's coming on.

LBJ and Ho Chi Minh, they don't get along
They don't get along,
Ho Chi Minh and LBJ, they don't get along
And I feel like I need to travel on.

(Chorus)

McNamara betrayed us with his rules to fight the war,
His rules to fight the war, his way to fight the war.
Yes, McNamara betrayed us with his rules to fight the war,
His rules to fight the war, and I think I need to be moving on.

(Chorus)

LBJ's little daughters are getting married off,
Getting married off, getting married off.
LBJ's little daughters are getting married off,
They'll soon be married off, and I'd like to be moving on.

(Chorus)

Papa writes to Johnny, but Johnny can't come home,
Johnny can't come home, no Johnny can't come home.
Papa writes to Johnny, but Johnny can't come home,
He's been in the Hanoi Hilton too long.

(Chorus)

Want to see my honey, want to see her bad,
I want to see her bad, yes, I want to see her bad.
I want to see my honey, I need her oh so bad
And I feel like I need to be going home.

(Chorus)

Black pajama Viet Cong are coming after me,
They're coming after me, they're coming after me.
The black pajama, straw lampshade hats
Are every where I see and I feel like I need to be going home.

(Chorus)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 02:41 PM

Tune same as Two Dollar Bill?

~S~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOhEPxRh0aM

---

https://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=1258

Two Dollar Bill

Cat. #1258 (MFH #872) - As sung by Ollie Gilbert, Mountain View, Arkansas on October 26, 1971

https://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/_Files/1258.mp3'

VERSE 1
Th black smoke's arisin' must be a train
Th black smoke's arisin' must be a train
Th black smoke's arisin' must be a train
I'm on my long journey home

CHORUS:
I lost all my money but a two dollar bill
Two dollar bill, a two dollar billl
I lost all my money but two dollar bill
I'm on my long journey home

VERSE 2
O, it's dark an' a rainin' but I must go on
Dark an' a rainin' but I must go on
It's dark an' a rainin' but I must go on
I'm on my long journey home

---

Ballad Index:

Two Dollar Bill (Long Journey Home)

DESCRIPTION: Singer has lost "lost all my money but a two dollar bill"; he's homesick, lonesome and blue. He sees the smoke of a train, and says he's on his long journey home.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936 (recording, Monroe Brothers)
KEYWORDS: poverty homesickness loneliness train travel lyric nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Cohen/Seeger/Wood-NewLostCityRamblersSongbook, p. 177, "My Long Journey Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Jim Eanes, "Long Journey Home" (Blue Ridge 201, n.d.)
Monroe Brothers, "My Long Journey Home" (Bluebird B-6422, 1936)
New Lost City Ramblers, "My Long Journey Home" (on NLCR03, NLCRCD1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Worried Man Blues" (tune)
NOTES [17 words]: This should not be confused with the song composed by Rosa Lee and Doc Watson, "Your Long Journey." - PJS
File: CSW177

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2025 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: Mr Happy
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 03:12 PM

what a truly tremendous response- thank you one & all!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 03:21 PM

Try this: Gotta Travel On
Billy Grammer's big hit of 1959 (See Masato's post on the audio at Honkingduck). by Paul Clayton. Note- Davis Lazar, Larry Ehrlach and Tom Six are added to the credits at many sites.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 03:23 PM

Oops! Record Lady, not Honkingduck!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 03:30 PM

Nathan in Texas- The "Done hung around" verse from Dylan. Entire lyrics at Gotta Travel On

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: i feel like i'm gonna travel on
From: Mr Happy
Date: 15 Oct 02 - 03:49 PM

superb!! thankyou, guest

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Sep 23 - 01:17 AM

I looked far and wide after making up some last year and forgetting. Finally I found this great video! Love to find other blues bends and verses to this potentially versatile tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUXhxh7Agv0&t=4s

Subject: 1927 Ollis Martin this tune Police and High Sherif
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Sep 23 - 01:22 AM

Police and High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUXhxh7Agv0

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Sep 23 - 01:17 AM

I looked far and wide after making up some last year and forgetting. Finally I found this great video! Love to find other blues bends and verses to this potentially versatile tune.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUXhxh7Agv0&t=4s

Subject: 1927 Ollis Martin this tune Police and High Sherif
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Sep 23 - 01:22 AM

Police and High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUXhxh7Agv0&t=4s

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jul 25 - 05:01 AM

dear folks on geting other verses to the song got to travel on. just saturday morning i said to my friend to put one of the earlier songs that inspired by paul clayton to come wif these words we know today. in olis martin's 1929 original song the tune is the same but the wiods don't stay much in the song we know today.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GUEST,The Og
Date: 07 Jul 25 - 10:24 AM

There's a lonesome freight at 6:08 comin' through the town,
Comin' through the town, yeah, I'll be homeward bound,
There's a lonesome freight at 6:08 comin' through the town,
And I feel like I gotta travel on.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Oct 25 - 05:39 AM

the song Police and High Sheriff is now avalable on an album on Amazon Music called the stuff that dreams are made of an album that is all unknown blues singers from the 1920s whos histories are unknown to the public. from joe.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GerryM
Date: 05 Oct 25 - 02:25 AM

The album to which anonymous guest immediately prior refers was released in 2006. Here's a link to a write-up on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stuff_That_Dreams_Are_Made_Of_(album)

As for "unknown blues singers", I know a few of them, and I'm far from being a student of the era: Son House, Memphis Minnie, Tommy Johnson, Memphis Jug Band, Dock Boggs, Grayson & Whitter. A few others, I've heard of, but I'll admit that most of the names mean nothing to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GUEST,keberoxu
Date: 07 Oct 25 - 08:34 AM

I forget which album it is, but
the Weavers recorded this song on one of their Vanguard albums,
And I remember the last line of the chorus as
"I feel like I wanna travel on."

Subject: RE: Origins: Gotta Travel On (Paul Clayton)
From: GUEST,Bari Ramsey
Date: 28 Sep 26 - 04:33 PM

"Gotta Travel On" is said to derive from a prison work song "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff," collected by Carl Sandburg and first published in his 1927 book The American Songbag. The entire book (now out of copyright) can be found scanned online, and the song is on page 213. Sandburg indicated he collected it from inmates at the Kentucky Penitentiary in Frankfort.

A couple of caveats though:
1 - Sandburg said the song was in a galloping rhythm. That would be 3/4. But he published it in 4/4.
2 - "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff" is set to essentially the same music as "Gotta Travel On," but there are no lyrics in common between the two. Zero.

Sandburg, 1927:
Yonder comes the high sheriff ridin' after me,
Ridin' after me, yes, ridin' after me.
Yonder comes the high sheriff ridin' after me,
O it's captain, I don't want to go.

Been down to Frankfort servin' out my time,
Servin' out my time, yes, servin' out my time.
Been down to Frankfort servin' out my time,
O it's captain, I don't want to go.

Apparently, no one ever released a sound recording that I can find under the title "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff."

Later that same year, 1927, a song titled "Police and High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down" was recorded by Ollis Martin for Gennet Records and released the following year.

Martin, 1927:
Hangin' around and foolin' about sure get you down
Sure get you down, sure get you down
Hangin' around and foolin' about sure get you down
If you hang around and foolin' 'bout too long

Police and the High Sheriff come a-ridin' down
Ridin' down, ridin' down
Police and the High Sheriff's come a-ridin' down
And you know you don't want to go

Hangin' around the skin game will sure get you down
Sure get you down, sure get you down
Hangin' around the skin game will sure get you down
If you hang around the skin game too long

Thirty days in the jailhouse will sure get you down
Sure get you down, sure get you down
Thirty days in the jailhouse will sure get you down
If you stay in the jailhouse too long

God's in the road, rider, come and carry you down
Carry you down, carry you down
God's in the road, rider, come and carry you down
And you know you don't want to go

This version was recorded by several other artists in 1928 and into the 1930's. It was consistently bluesier than the ultimate version "Gotta Travel On" a few years later.

In 1957, folk singer Paul Clayton wrote his much revised version "Gotta Travel On" for the new folk revival movement. It was recorded first by Pete Seeger, then by numerous artists, for many years, including Bill Monroe, Bob Dylan, Anita Bryant, etc. An early release by Harry Berlafonte in 1958 was essentially the same but titled "Done Laid Around." Unlike the 1920's versions, many versions of "Gotta Travel On" were downright jolly, such the 1959 version by the Weavers. The song was a staple of American folk clubs and "hootenannies."

Clayton, 1957:
I've laid around and played around this old town too long
Summer's almost gone yeah winter's coming on
I've laid around and played around this old town too long
And I feel like I've gotta travel on

High sheriff and police riding after me
Riding after me yes coming after me
High sheriff and police riding after me
And I feel like I've gotta travel on

Papa writes to Johnny but Johnny can't come home
Johnny can't come home no Johnny can't come home
Papa writes to Johnny but Johnny can't come home
Cause he's been on that chain gang too long

Want to see my honey want to see her bad
Want to see her bad oh I want to see her bad
Want to see my honey want to see her bad
She's the best gal this poor boy's ever had

So apparently, Clayton picked up a bit of the Martin version, but the rest was new, whether he wrote it himself or collected it from some subsequent unknown folk-process evolution of the song. Either way, it's reported he never received any composing royalties at all.

Conclusion: "Gotta Travel On" uses a 1927 folk prison tune with mostly 1957 folkie-style pop-song lyrics.