Bluegrass Messengers

Chapter III. Songs of the Lonesome Road

CHAPTER III
SONGS OF THE LONESOME ROAD

The blues par excellence are, of course, to be found
in those songs of sorrow and disappointment and
longing which center around the love relation. * But
the song of the "po' boy long ways from home" who
wanders "down that lonesome road" is rich in pathos
and plaintiveness. The wanderer is not unlike the
old singer who sang,

Sometimes I hangs my head an' cries
I'm po' little orphan chile in de worl'
Sometimes I feel like a motherless chile
Nobody knows de trouble I've had
This ol' worl's been a hell to me
I'm rollin' through an unfriendly worl'

Typical of the lonesome note in the present-day
songs of the wanderer are the following lines:

I'm gonna tell my mama when I git home
How people treated me way off from home

Freezin' ground wus my foldin' bed las' night

Got up in the mornin', couldn't keep from cryin'

My shoes all wore out

My clothes done tore to pieces

Trouble gonna follow me to my grave

Bad luck in family, sho' God, fell on me

Ain't got nuthin' to eat

Sick all night on de street

1 See Chapters VII and VIII for the songs of this type. This chapter
deals with more general lonesome songs.

36 Negro Workaday Songs

I been mistreated all my days

Po' boy got nowhere to lay his head

Well, rock was my pillah las' night

Clothes all wet, feet on the ground

Po' boy, dey don't give me no show

Law', I'm so worried I don't know what to do

I'm gonna ketch dat train, don't know where it's from

The workhouse settin' 'way out on lonesome road

Always wanderin' about

Nowhere to lay my head

Dis po' man's life is misery

Pocketbook was empty, my heart was full of pain

In the "Annals and Blues of Left Wing Gordon" 1 will
be found something of the story of one representative
of all those black folk who sing down the lonesome
road. Left Wing had traveled the lonesome road in
at least thirty-eight states of the union. His type is
legion. Here is another whose parents died before
he was eight years of age. Thence to Texas, and
Louisiana, across Mississippi to Georgia, then down
to Florida, back through South Carolina to his home
state, North Carolina. Abiding there shortly, thence
to Maryland and Washington, to St. Louis, thence to
Ohio, thence to New York, back to Philadelphia,
across again to Ohio, then the war and camp, and
armistice and more travels, with periods of "doing
time." Then back again to the lonesome road.

Nowhere is self-pity in the plaintive song better
expressed than in the forlorn Negro's vision of him-
self, the last actor in the wanderer drama, folks mourn-
ing his death, hacks in line, funeral well provided for.

1 See Chapter XII.

Songs of the Lonesome Road 37

Sometimes reflecting on his hard life, he pictures his
own funeral!

Look down po' lonesome road,
Hacks all dead in line;
Some give nickel, some give a dime,
To bury dis po' body o' mine.

Perhaps he will jump into the sea or off the mountain
or lay his head on a railroad track. Then folks will
miss him and mourn his tragic end. He feels that he
has more than his share of trouble and hard luck.
Sometimes he sings that he cannot keep from crying:

I can't keep from cryin'

Look down dat lonesome road an' cry

You made me weep, you made me moan

Woke up in de mornin', couldn't keep from cryin'

I got de blues an' can't keep from cryin'

The following songs show this note of hard luck,
weeping, and self-pity:

Ship My Po' Body Home

If I should die long way from home

Ship my po' body home.

Ax fer a nickel, ax fer a dime,

Ax fer a quarter, ship my po' body home,

Lawd, ship my po' body home.

Ain't got no money,
Ain't got nothin' to eat,
Sick all night on de street;
If I die long way from home
Ship my po' body home.

38 Negro Workaday Songs

Pity Po' Boy

Pity a po' boy

Stray 'way from home,

Pity a po' boy

Stray 'way from home.

If I ever gits back,

I sho' never mo' to roam;

If I ever gits back,

I sho' never mo' to roam.

I Rather Be in My Grave

I lef my rider standin' in back do' cryin',
"Lawd, please don't leave me behin'."

You mistreat me, you drove me from yo' do',
Good book say you got to reap what you sow.

I'm goin' 'way, Lawd, I'm goin' 'way,
I ain't comin' back, Lawd, at all.

If my mind don't change, Lawd,

If my mind don't change, I ain't comin' back.

Woke up this mornin', blues all around my bed,
Snatch up my pillow, blues all under my head.

I'm feelin' blue, mama, feel blue you know,
I feel blue all day long.

Lawd, I'm worried now, Lawd,
But I won't be worried long.

I feel like train, mama,
Ain't got no drivin' wheel.

I rather be daid in six foot o' clay,
I rather be in my grave.

Throw Myself Down in de Sea

Goin' up on mountain top,
Lord, goin' up on mountain top,
O Lord, goin' up on mountain top,
Throw myself down in de sea.

Songs of the Lonesome Road 39

Throw myself down in sea,

Lord, throw myself down in sea;
Goin' up on mountain top,
Throw myself down in sea.

Po' Nigger Got Nowhere to Go

Po' nigger got nowhere to go,
Po' nigger got nowhere to go,
Po' nigger got nowhere to go,
Nothin' but dirt all over de flo'.

Clothes am dirty rags,
Clothes am dirty rags,
Clothes am dirty rags,
Stuff in dirty bags.

Beds am ragged an' ol',
Beds am ragged an ol',
Beds am ragged an' ol',
No money to buy no mo'.

I Wish I Was Dead

Over de hill is de po' house,

Please don't let me go.

A place to sleep, somethin' to eat,

1 don't ast no mo',
I don't ast no mo'.

My clothes am done tore to pieces,
My shoes am all wo' out;
Got nobody to do my patchin',
Always wanderin' about,
Always wanderin' about.

Aint' got nobody to love me,
Nowhere to lay my head.
Dis po' man's life am a misery,
Lawd, Lawd, how I wish I was dead,
Lawd, Lawd, how I wish I was dead.

40 Negro Workaday Songs

Trouble All My Days l

Trouble, trouble,

Been had it all my days.

Trouble, trouble,

Got to mend dis nigger's ways.

Trouble, trouble,
I believe to my soul
Trouble gonna kill me dead.
Trouble, trouble.

But I's gwine away

To rid trouble off my min'.

But I's gwine away,

To rid trouble off my min'.

Fair brown, fair brown,
Who may yo' regular be?
If you got no regular,
Please take a peep at me.

Trouble, trouble,
Been had it all my day;
Believe to my soul
Trouble gonna kill me dead.

Say, look here, man,
See what you done done;
You done made me love you,
Now you tryin' to dog me 'roun'.

I Can't Keep From Cryin' 2

I received a letter that my daddy was dead,
He wasn't dead but he was slowly dyin'.
Just to think how I love him,
I can't keep from cryin'.

I followed my daddy to the buryin' ground,
I saw the pall-bearer slowly ease him down.

1 This song is very much like a popular phonograph record, Downhearted
Blues. Cf. also Trouble, Trouble Blues.

2 A somewhat condensed version of a phonograph song, Death Letter
Blues.

Songs of the Lonesome Road 41

That was the last time I saw my daddy's face.

I love you, sweet daddy, but I just can't take your place.

Po' Little Girl Grievin'

Po' little girl grievin',

Lawdy, Lawdy, po' little girl grievin',

Po' little girl grievin'.

Little girl wid head hung down,

Lawdy, Lawdy, little girl wid head hung down,

I'm sorry for little girl wid head hung down.

Sorry yo' man,
Sorry yo' man,
Lawdy, Lawdy, sorry
Yo' man done left you.

Standin' at station weepin',
Standin' at station weepin',
Lawd, standin' at station weepin'
'Cause her man done gone.

Don't treat me lak used to,

Lawd, girl don't treat me lak used to,

Dont' treat me lak used to.

Lawd, I don't know why,
Lawd, I don't know why,
Lawdy, Lawdy, I don't know why,
Don't treat me lak used to.

It won't be long,

Lawdy, Lawd, it won't be long,

Lawd, it won't be long.

The old line, "po' boy 'long way from home," is
still a favorite. In the Negro's songs and stories of
wanderings, home and father and mother are themes
of constant appeal, apparently much in contrast to the

42 Negro Workaday Songs

Negro's actual home-abiding experiences. The old
spirituals sang mostly of the heavenly home of dreams
and ideals as opposed to the experience in which
"this ol' world been a hell to me." In his wanderer
song of today the Negro's wish-dream to be back home
appears an equally striking contrast. Nowhere in the
workaday songs is childlike and wishful yearning so
marked as in these constant songs of homesickness and
of the desire for something that is not.

Always accompanying the singer's dreams of home
is his contrasting forlorn condition in the present hour.
It would be difficult to find better description of
situations than that in which he pictures himself as
tired and forsaken on the lonesome road, v Parts of
this picture may be gathered from thejyfollowing
lines taken here and there from his songs:

Take, oh, take me, take me back home

My sister's cryin' back home

If I die long way from home

My home ain't here an' I ain't got to stay

Lord, captain, won't you let me go home

Daddy sick, mammy dead,

Goin' back South, dat's where I'm bound.

Every mail day I gits letter from my mother,
Sayin', "Son, son, come home."

I'm one hundred miles from home
An' I can't go home this way.

1 didn't have no ready-made money,
I couldn't go home.

A place to sleep, something to eat,
I don't ast no mo'.

Look down dat lonesome road an' cry

Songs of the Lonesome Road 43

A variety of songs of home or home-folk, of sur-
cease from work, will be found wherever Negroes
sing. This fact is recognized by the publishers of
blues when they advertise, "These blues will make
every Negro want to hurry back home." The plain-
tive longing for home, alongside expressions of weeping
and self-pity, is the theme of most of the following
songs of the road :

I'm Goin' Home, Buddie

All 'round the mountain, Buddie,

So chilly and cold, Buddie,

But I'm goin' home, Buddie, I'm goin' home.

Take this hammer, Buddie,

Carry it to the boss, Buddie,

Tell him I gone home, Buddie, I gone home.

I got a wife, Buddie,

With two little children, Buddie,

Tell 'em I'm comin' home, Buddie, I'm comin' home.

That Ol' Letter

That ol' letter,
Read about dyin';
Boy, did you ever,
Think about dyin'?
Then I can't read it
- Now for cryin',
Tears run down,
Lawd, Lawd, tears run down.

Po' Homeless Boy

In de evenin' de sun am low,
In de evenin' de sun am low,
In de evenin' de sun am low,

44 Negro Workaday Songs

Dis po' homeless boy got nowhere to go,
Dis po' homeless boy got nowhere to go,
Nowhere to go.

Daddy sick, mammy daid,
Daddy sick, mammy daid,
Po' boy got nowhere to lay his haid,
Po' boy got nowhere to lay his haid,
Lay his haid.

Clothes all wo', feet on de groun',

Goin' back down South, dat's where Ps boun',

Where Ps boun'.

Home in a two-room shack,
Home in a two-room shack,
Home in a two-room shack,
Cook in de fire, pipe in de crack,
Cook in de fire, pipe in de crack,
Pipe in de crack.

Take Me Back Home

Take me, oh, take me,
Take me back home.

My mammy's weepin', daddy's sleepin',
In de ol' grave yard.

Take me, oh, take me,
Take me back home.

Please, Mr. Conductor

When I left home mother was ill,
And she needed the doctor's care,
That's the reason I came to the city,
I'll pay you my fare next time.

Please, Mr. Conductor,

Don't put me off this train.

The best friend I have in this world

Is waiting for me in pain.

Songs of the Lonesome Road 45

Captain, I Wanta Go Home

When I call on captain, Lawd, Lawd,
He ast me what I need.

Captain, captain, I tol' captain,
Lawd, I wanta go back home.

He tol' me, Lawd, why you want to go home, Shine?
Say you got to make your time.

Captain call me 'bout half pas' fo',
Captain, Lawd, I wouldn't go.

Want me to go in kitchen,
Draw water, make fire.

Captain, captain, what make you call me so soon?
Poor Shine, Lawd, captain, wish I was home.

I went out on road

Wid pick and shovel, too.

I pick a lick or two,

Captain, can't I go back home?

Captain, captain, won't you take me,

Lawd, Lawd, captain, won't you take me back?

My home ain't here, captain,
An' I ain't got to stay.

O Lawd, captain, captain, Lawd,
Won't you let me go home?

Will I Git Back Home?

Law', I do wonder,
Law', I do wonder,
Law', I do wonder,
Will I git back home, huh?
Will I git back home, huh?

Well cuckoo, cuckoo,
Keep on hollerin',
An' mus' be day, Law',
Mus' be day.

46 Nege.o Workaday Songs

Well whistle, whistle,
Keep on blowin',
An' time ain't long,
Uhuh, time ain't long.

Lawd, Lawd, I'm on My Way

Aint' had nothin' to eat,
Ain't had nowhere to sleep,
Freezin' ground wus my foldin' bed,
But I'm on my way,

Lawd, I'm on my way.

What makes you hold yo' head so high?
Any way you hold yo' head,
That's way you gonna die,
That's way you gonna die.

1 sho' don't want to go,
But I'm goin' up country
Singin' nothin' but you;
I'm goin' up country,
Singin' nothin' but you.

Goin' Down Dat Lonesome Road l

Goin' down dat lonesome road,
Oh, goin' down dat lonesome road,
An' I won't be treated this-a way.
Springs on my bed done broken down,
An' I ain't got nowhere to lay my head.

Now my mamma's dead an' my papa, too,

An' it left me alone wid you.

An' you cause me to weep an' you cause me to moan,

An' you cause me to leave my happy home.

Longest train I ever saw
Was nineteen coaches long.
Darlin' what have I done to you?
What makes you treat me so?
An' I won't be treated this-a way.

1 For the music of this song, see Chapter XIV. A song of this name has
been found in the Kentucky mountains, and a phonograph record (Lone-
some Road Blues) based on it has recently appeared. Cf. also The Lonesome
Road in Miss Scarborough's On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs, p. 73.