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Girl of Constant Sorrow/Man Of Constant Sorrow (Sharp No. 167-C, "In Old Virginny")
Traditional Song and “Blues”- Appalachian region, widely known.
ARTIST: Sung by Sarah Ogan Gunning -- A Girl of Constant Sorrow", Folk Legacy (1965)/Topic (GB) (1967).
Performed on Nathan Hicks' dulcimer made in early 1930s. Performers: Richard Matteson -dulcimer, with Kara Pleasants- vocal, and Zach Matteson- fiddle, in December 2011. Listen: [Girl of Constant Sorrow] Recorded by Bob Hitchcock.
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental Tunes DATE: 1913 Burnett; 1917 Sharp. Earlier through the “Drowsy Sleeper” branch (see notes).
EARLY RECORDING INFO: Emry Arthur (C 1540; 1928);
RECORDING INFO: The best-known period version of "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" was Emry Arthur's 1928 recording (Vo 5208) Emry Arthur, "Man of Constant Sorrow" (Paramount 3289, 1931); "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow" (Vocalion 5208, c. 1927). The Stanley Brothers, "I'm A Man of Constant Sorrow" (Columbia 20816, 1951). Roscoe Holcomb, "Man of Constant Sorrow" (on Holcomb-Ward1) Rounder 1010, Ed Hayley - "Parkersburg Landing" (1976). Frank Proffitt, "Man of Constant Sorrow" (on FProffitt01). Baez, Joan. Very Early Joan, Vanguard VSD 79446/7, LP (1982), cut#B.01. Country Gentlemen. Yesterday and Today. Vol 2, Rebel SLP-1527, LP (1973), cut#A.03. Dylan, Bob. Bob Dylan, Columbia KCS 8579, LP (1962), cut#A.04. Haley, Ed. Parksburg Landing, Rounder 1010, LP (1976), cut# 10. Holcomb, Roscoe. Roscoe Holcomb and Wade Ward, Folkways FA 2363, LP (1962), cut#A.06. Krater Brothers. Singin' for Fun, Flight 7, LP (197?), cut#B.02. Leftwich, Brad. Say Old Man, County 2714, CD (1996), cut# 6. Seeger, Mike. Old Time Country Music, Folkways FA 2325, LP, cut# 13 (I'm a Man of Constant Sorrow). Sessions, Bob. Room at the Top, JHU, LP (197?), cut#B.01. Spradlin, Retta. Gettin' Up the Stairs: Traditional Music from the Cumbe... Vol.1, County 786, LP, cut# 14. Stanley Brothers. Stanley Brothers on the Air, Wango 115, LP (1976), cut#A.03c. When Scopes Collide, Pacific Arts PAC 102, LP (197?), cut# 5 (Man of Constant Sorrow);
OTHER NAMES: “Farewell Song;” “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow;” Same tune as “Girl of Constant Sorrow” Life of Sorrow ; Maid of Constant Sorrow;
SOURCES: Richard Burnett's songbook; Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 113, "Man of Constant Sorrow", Darling-NAS, p. 260, "Man of Constant Sorrow"; Silber-FSWB, p. 57, "Man of Constant Sorrow". Old Time Herald, Old Time Herald OTH, Ser (1987-), 6/7, p36a (I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow);
NOTES: The first published versions of “Man Of Constant Sorrow” are the “Farewell Song” from a 1913 songbook printed by Richard Burnett of Monticello, Ky. and “In Old Virginny” from Sharp’s English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. Both “The Farewell Song” and Sharp’s “In Old Virginny” Version C are early versions of “The Man of Constant Sorrow,” which is a branch of “East Virginia Blues.”
Richard Burnett was born in 1883, married in 1905, and blinded in 1907. The second stanza of "Farewell Song" mentions the singer has been blind six years, which would date it at 1913. In later years, Richard Burnett was asked about the song. He himself could not remember, at that time, if he had composed it, or copied it, or -- perhaps most likely -- adapted it from something traditional. Charles Wolf: What about this "Farewell Song" -- "I am a man of constant sorrow" -- did you write it?' Richard Burnett: No, I think I got the ballet [sic] from somebody -- I dunno. It may be my song...” Man of Constant Sorrow -- Richard Burnett's Story,", Old Time Music, No. 10 (Autumn 1973), p. 8. Lyrics as printed in "Songs Sung By R. D. BURNETT. The blind man. Monticello - - - Kentucky." (no date); reprinted ibid. p. 10.
Although Emry Arthur who first recorded “I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow” (C 1540 in 1928) also claims to have composed this piece, a significantly different version was found in the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1957. A companion song, “Girl of Constant Sorrow” is also sung to the “Man of Constant Sorrow” tune.
I categorize the various branches of the related songs under “In Old Virginny” from Sharp’s No. 167- English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. These are separate branches:
1) “Man of Constant Sorrow/Girl of Constant Sorrow” or “East Virginia Blues”
2) “East Virginia” including the “Dark Holler” Versions
2a) “Dark Hollow”- Browning
3) “East Virginia” including “Greenback Dollar” versions (Carter Family).
3a) Hoyt Axton’s “Greenback Dollar”
4) “Darling, Think of What You’ve Done” versions including Tammy LaRue’s.
5) “Awake! Awake! ( Sharp No. 57 see: Version 4)” “ The Drowsy Sleeper”.
This is the “Oh Molly Dear (Go Ask Your Mother)-(Mike Seegar)”
“Silver Dagger;” and “Katie Dear” branch.
The English version is entitled, “Arise! Arise!”
With the “O Brother Where Art Thou?” phenomena “The Man of Constant Sorrow” has become a crossover pop hit. Sarah Ogan Gunning had reworked the lyrics in 1936 with the title, “Girl of Constant Sorrow.”
Sarah's recomposition of the traditional "Man" into a more personal "Girl" took place about 1936 in New York, where her first husband, Andrew Ogan, was fatally ill. The text was descriptive of loneliness away from home and anticipated her bereavement; the melody she remembered from a 78 rpm hillbilly record (Emry Arthur) [probably Vocalion Vo 5208, 1928] she had heard some years before in the mountains. Archie Green, liner notes for "Sarah Ogan Gunning -- A Girl of Constant Sorrow", Folk Legacy (1965)/Topic (GB) (1967).
Girl of Constant Sorrow- lyrics from Sarah Ogan Gunning: Performed on Nathan Hicks' dulcimer made in early 1930s. Performers: Richard Matteson -dulcimer, with Kara Pleasants- vocal, and Zach Matteson- fiddle, in December 2011. Listen: [Girl of Constant Sorrow] Recorded by Bob Hitchcock.
I am a girl of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my days.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The state where I was born and raised.
My mother, how I hated to leave her,
Mother dear who now is dead.
But I had to go and leave her
So my children could have bread.
Perhaps, dear friends, you are wonderin'
What the miners eat and wear.
This question I will try to answer,
For I'm sure that it is fair.
For breakfast we had bulldog gravy,
For supper we had beans and bread.
The miners don't have any dinner,
And a tick of straw they call a bed.
Well, we call this hell on earth, friends,
I must tell you all goodbye.
Oh, I know you all are hungry,
Oh, my darlin' friends, don't cry.
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