Wake, O Wake- R. Jones (NC) 1940 Warners REC
[Anne & Frank Warner; Traditional American Folk Songs, 1984. Recorded 1940.
Rebecca King Jones was over 70 when visited by the Warners in 1940. She usually wore a calico dress, apron, boots and a sunbonnet. She lived alone in a little cabin in the woods at Crab Tree Creek, between Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina.
R. Matteson 2016]
Wake, O Wake You Drowsy Sleeper - sung by Rebecca King Jones Crab Tree Creek, near Raleigh, North Carolina
"Wake, O wake you drowsy sleeper
Wake, O wake, it is almost day
How can you sleep, you cruel creature
When you have stol'n my heart away?"
"O Hush, hush, hush, don’t you wake my mother
No songs of love will she let me hear
If you sing songs, go court some other
And whisper lowly in my ear."
"My father he lies in the next room, simple
A-taking of his natural rest
And in his hand he holds a weapon
He says he’ll kill the one that I love best."
"Come go with me, you will stop my pining
Sit you down by the side of me
And lay your loving arms around me
And say you’ll love no one but me."
"I’ll go with you to some lonesome valley
I’ll spend the rest of my days with you
Although my meat may be pretty berries
And the water that I drink be the morning dew."
"Pretty flowers were made to bloom, love,
Pretty stars were made to shine
And pretty girls were made for boys, love,
And maybe you were made to be mine."