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by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of in February 1928, Chicago, Illinois
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone
47022), copyright
notice
Hey, hey, mama, that ride has come and gone
I say hey, hey, mama, that ride has come and gone
I just can't see what in the world is you waiting on
I've done met a mama, she ain't long in or tall
I say I got another mama, she ain't long in or tall
But to tell you the truth, man, she's as soft as a butter
ball
She got every movement from her head down to her toe
She got every movement from her head down to her toe
And she can break in on the dollar, man busting it where she
goes
She was my best mama, but she wouldn't treat me right
I said she was my best mama, but she wouldn't treat me
right
She wouldn't do nothin' but barrelhouse
all night long
I'm gonna get a mama, I mean with lots of buck
I'm gonna get a mama, I mean with lots of buck
I want to be gone mama, so I can change my luck
Be gone mama, be gone
Top
by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of July 1928, Chicago
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone 47022)
& Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1928) (Document
DOCD-5019), copyright
notice
Hangman's rope sho' is tough and strong
Hangman's rope sho' is tough and strong
They gonna hang me because I did something wrong
I wanna tell you the gallis1 Lord's a fearful
sight
I wanna tell you the gallis Lord's a fearful sight
Hang me in the mornin', and cut me down at night
Mean ole hangman is waitin' to tighten up that noose
Mean ole hangman is waitin' to tighten up that noose
Lord, I'm so scared I'm trembling in my shoes
Jury heard my case and they said my hands was red
Jury heard my case and they said my hands was red
And judge he sentenced me be hanging till I'm dead
Crowd 'round the courthouse and the time is going fast
Crowd 'round the courthouse and the time is going fast
Soon a good-for-nothin' killer is gonna breath his last
Lord, I'm almost dyin', gasping for my breath
Lord, I'm almost dyin', gasping for my breath
And a triflin'2 woman waiting to celebrate my
death
__________
Note: in some states that had the death penalty, hanging was
still the preferred method of execution until the 1950's.
Nowadays all states have converted to poison injections, gas
or the electric chair. Issued by Paramount under catalogue
no. 12679B;
Note 1: gallis, gallows, a frame usually of two upright
posts and a transverse beam from which criminals are hanged,
called also gallows tree;
Note 2: triflin', to talk in a jesting or mocking manner or
with intent to delude or mislead or to treat someone or
something as unimportant.
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by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of February 1928, Chicago, Illinois
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1928) (Document
DOCD-5019) & Best
of Blind Lemon Jefferson (Wolf
16), copyright
notice
I want to shake hands with my partner and ask him how come
he's here
I want to shake hands with my partner, ask him how come he's
here
I had a wreck with my family, they're gonna send me to the
electric chair
I wonder why they electrocute a man at the one o'clock hour
of night
And I wonder why they electrocute a man at the one o'clock
hour of night
Because the current is much stronger, when the folks has
turned out all the lights
I sat in the electrocutin' room, my arms folded up and
cryin'
I sat in the electrocutin' room, my arms folded up and
cryin'
And my baby asked the question, was they gonna electrocute
that man of mine?
Lemon, get me a taxi to take me away from here
Lemon, get me a taxi to take me all away from here
I haven't had a good friend in this world, since they lead
Lemon to the electric chair
I feel like jumpin' in the ocean, I feel like jumpin' in the
deep blue sea
I feel like jumpin' in the ocean, and like jumpin' into the
deep blue sea
But nothin' like that wrecked in my heart when they brought
my electrocuted daddy to me
__________
Note: issued by Paramount under catalogue no. 12608.
Top
by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of early 1927, Chicago, Illinois
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone
47022), copyright
notice
I had a dream last night all about my gal
I had a dream last night all about my gal
You can tell that sweet papa ain't feelin' so well
I'm goin' away mama, just to wear you off my mind
I'm goin' away sweet mama, just to wear you off my mind
So if I live here in Chicago, money's gonna be my crime
This house is lonesome, my baby left me all alone
I said this house is lonesome, my sugar left me all
alone
If your heart ain't rock, sugar's must be marble stone
Play that thing...
Sure is good...
Play it like you live...
I got the blues so bad, it hurts my feet to walk
I got the blues so bad, it hurts my feet to walk
This house is on my brain, it hurts my tongue to talk
Lonesome house blues...
__________
Note: a second guitar accompanyment on this song may have
been played by Huddie "Leadbelly"
Ledbetter.
Top
by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of September 1929, Richmond, Indiana
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone
47022), copyright
notice
I'm flyin' to South Carolina, I've got to go there this
time
I'm flyin' to South Carolina, I've got to go there this
time
Woman and tell me, Texas, about to make me lose my mind
Long distance, long distance, would you please give me a
credit call
Long distance, long distance, would you give me please your
credit call
Walk up to my girl in South Carolina, who looks like her
hands done squalled1
Just wanna ask my baby, what in the world is she been
doin'
Wanna ask my baby, what in the world is she been doin'
Give your lovin' to another joker and its sure gonna be my
ruin
Eh, long distance, I can't help but moan
Mmm mmm, I can't help but moan
My baby's voice sounds so sweet, almost wrecked the
telephone
You don't know your love, you're wrapped deep so far from
you
You don't know your love, your letter, I said she's so far
from you
You can get a long distance moan, and you don't care what
you do
I think I hear the tele buzzin', get my darlin' off my
mind
Oh you tele-parties, get my baby off my mind
This long distance moan about to worry me to death this
time
__________
Note 1: squalled, phonetically correct, no clue what it
could mean in this context or if it is really the correct
text. If you do please mail
me.
Top
by probably Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of October 1929, Richmond
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone
47022), copyright
notice
I bought a spray last night 'n I sprayed all over my
house
I bought a spray last night 'n I sprayed all over my
house
Mosquitoes all around my door won't let nobody come out
Mosquitoes all around me, mosquitoes everywhere I go
Mosquitoes all around me, mosquitoes everywhere I go
No matter where I go, they sticks their bills in me
I would say gallinipper1, these gallinippers
bites too hard
I would say gallinipper, these gallinippers bites too
hard
I stepped back in my kitchen and they springing up in my
back yard
__________
Note: Issued by Paramount under catalogue No. 12899;
Note 1: gallinipper, any of various insects such as a large
mosquito or crane fly, mainly used in the south and
midland.
Top
by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of 19
from , copyright
notice
Just one kind favor I ask of you
One kind favor I ask of you
One kind favor, I ask of you
To see that my grave is kept clean
If you ever hear a church bell toll
If you ever hear a church bell toll
If you ever hear, a church bell toll
You'll know by that I'm dead and gone
Dig my grave with a silver spade
Dig my grave with a silver spade
Dig my grave, with a silver spade
Mark the place where I would lay
Just one kind favor I ask of you
One kind favor I ask of you
One kind favor, I ask of you
See that my grave is kept clean
See that my grave is kept clean
See my grave is kept clean
__________
Note: see also See
That My Grave Is Kept Clean
Top
by probably Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of September 24 1929, Richmond
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone 47022)
& Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1929) (Document
DOCD-5020), copyright
notice
I'm achin' all over, baby, b'lieve I got the pneumonia this
time
I'm achin' all over, baby, b'lieve I got the pneumonia this
time
An' it's all on account of that low-down gal of mine
Slippin' round the corners, running up alleys too
Slippin' round the corners, running up alleys too
Watching my woman trying to see what she goin' do
Sat out in the streets one cold, dark, stormy night
Sat out in the streets one cold, dark, stormy night
Trying to see if my good gal going to make it home all
right
Wearin' B.V.D.'s1 in the winter, prowling 'round
in the rain
Wearin' B.V.D.'s in the winter, prowling 'round in the
rain
Runnin' down baby, give me this pneumonia pain
__________
Note: diseases of the lungs accounted for a large number of
deaths among the black community in the late 1920's and
early 1930's, mainly caused by insufficient clothing,
housing and medical care. Especially recently arrived
migrants form the south, unaccustomed to the cold northern
climate, improperly housed and with hardly any or no access
to medical care had to pay a high price in human lives.
Issued by Paramount under catalogue no. 12880;
Note 1: B.V.D.'s, trademark, generally used for
underwear.
Top
by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of February 1928, Chicago, Illinois
from Blind Lemon Jefferson (Ace CDCH 399)
& Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1928) (Document
DOCD-5019) & Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone 47022)
& King
of the Country Blues [LP] (Yazoo
1069) & Matchbox
Blues (Indigo 2075),
copyright
notice
Getting tired of sleeping in this lowdown lonesome cell
Lord, I wouldn't have been here if it had not been for
Nell
Lay awake at night and just can't eat a bite
Used to be my rider
but she just won't treat me right
Got a red-eyed captain
and a squabbling boss
Got a mad dog sergeant, honey, and he won't knock off
I'm getting tired of sleeping in this lowdown lonesome
cell
Lord, I wouldn't 've been here if it had not been for
Nell
I asked the government to knock some days off my time
Well, the way I'm treated, I'm about to lose my mind
I wrote to the governor, please turn me a-loose
Since I don't get no answer, I know it ain't no use
I'm getting tired of sleeping in this lowdown lonesome
cell
Lord, I wouldn't have been here if it had not been for
Nell
I hate to turn over and find my rider gone
Walking across my floor, Lordy, how I moan
Lord, I wouldn't have been here if it had not been for
Nell
I'm getting tired of sleeping in this lowdown lonesome
cell
__________
Note: issued by Paramount under catalogue no. 12622.
Top
by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of May 1927, Chicago, Illinois
from Blind Lemon Jefferson (Ace CDCH 399)
& Blind
Lemon Jefferson, Vol. 2 (Document
5018) & Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone 47022)
& Best
of Blind Lemon Jefferson (Wolf
16), copyright
notice
Backwater1 rising, Southern peoples can't make no
time
I said, backwater rising, Southern peoples can't make no
time
And I can't get no hearing from that Memphis girl of
mine
Water in Arkansas, people screaming in Tennessee
Oh, people screaming in Tennessee
If I don't leave Memphis, backwater spill all over poor
me
People, since its raining, it has been for nights and
days
People, since its raining, has been for nights and days
Thousands people stands on the hill, looking down were they
used to stay
Children stand there screaming: mama, we ain't got no
home
Oh, mama we ain't got no home
Papa says to the children, "Backwater left us all alone"
Backwater rising, come in my windows and door
The backwater rising, come in my windows and door
I leave with a prayer in my heart, backwater won't rise no
more
__________
Note: this song refers to the catastrophic great
Mississippi flood of 1927. Issued by Paramount under
catalogue no. 12487;
Note 1: backwater, mostly old river beds which are left to
take the excess flood water to relieve pressure on the
levees
(embankments). As the height of the water is excessive,
however, breaches in the levee walls are deliberately made
at certain points to allow particular areas to flood and
thus lessen the pressure of water. These are the
"backwaters," which occur in the St. Francis Basin to the
west of the river between Memphis
and Helena, in the great Yazoo-Mississippi
Delta north of Vicksburg,
in the Tensas Basin west of Natchez,
and at other selected points.
Top
traditional OR by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of 1928
from Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1928) (Document
DOCD-5019) & King
of the Country Blues [LP] (Yazoo
1069) & Matchbox
Blues (Indigo 2075),
copyright
notice
Well, there's one kind of favor I'll ask of you
Well, there's one kind of favor I'll ask of you
There's just one kind of favor I'll ask of you
You can see that my grave is kept clean
And there's two white horses following me
And there's two white horses following me
I got two white horses following me
Waiting on my burying ground
Did you ever hear that coffin' sound
Have you ever heard that coffin' sound
Did you ever hear that coffin' sound
Means another poor boy is under ground
Did you ever hear them church bells tone
Have you ever hear'd them church bells tone
Did you ever hear them church bells tone
Means another poor boy is dead and gone
Well, my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
And, my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
Well, my heart stopped beating and my hands turned cold
Now I believe what the bible told
There's just one last favor I'll ask of you
And there's one last favor I'll ask of you
There's just one last favor I'll ask of you
See that my grave is kept clean
__________
Note: see also One Kind Favor.
Blind Lemon Jefferson's most famous folk song contains a
wish that has been fulfilled by some of his many admirers. A
group of contemporary artists came together to get him a new
headstone. The grave is in the segregated section of the
Wortham, Texas, cemetery on Highway 14, some 85 miles south
of Dallas. So, if you're in the 'hood... This is a picture
of his grave. For more info and pictures see this
site.
Top
by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of circa June 1926, Chicago, Illinois
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone
47022), copyright
notice
I've got your picture, and I'm going to put it in a
frame
I've got your picture, I'll put it in a frame, Shuckin'
Sugar
And then if you leave town, we can find you just the
same
Now if you don't love me, please don't dog me around
If you don't love me, please don't dog me around, Shuckin'
Sugar
Like you dog me around, I'll know you'll put me down
I know my baby, thinks she wanting all of me
I know my baby, thinks she wanting all of me, Shuckin'
Sugar
Everytime she smiles, she shines a light on me
Oh big fair brown, something's goin' on wrong
Oh big fair brown is, something's goin' on wrong, Shuckin'
Sugar
Its this woman I love, she's gone from here and gone
Ah, listen fair
brown, don't you wanna go
Ah, listen fair brown, don't you wanna go, Shuckin'
Sugar
Well, you take it 'cross the water, where a brown-skinned
man can't go
All them worries here, worries everywhere
I have worries here, worries everywhere, Shuckin' Sugar
Man, I just started home and I might be worried there
Well, I'm of tired of marriage, and I'm tired of this
settlin' down
I said I'm tired of this marriage, tired of this settlin'
down, Shuckin' Sugar
I only wanna be like I am in a different kind of town
Top
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That
Black Snake Moan
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soundclip
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by Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of circa June 1926, Chicago,
Illinois
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone
47022), copyright
notice
I - I ain't got no mama now
I - I ain't got no mama now
She told me late last night, "You don't need no
mama no how"
Mmm, mmm, black snake crawlin' in my room
Mmm, mmm, black snake crawlin' in my room
Some pretty mama better come and get this black
snake soon
Ohh-oh, that must have been a bed bug, baby a
chinch can't bite that hard1
Ohh-oh, that must have been a bed bug, honey a
chinch can't bite that hard
Ask my sugar for fifty cents, she said "Lemon,
ain't a child in the yard"
Mama, that's all right, mama that's all right for
you
Mama, that's all right, mama that's all right for
you
Mama, that's all right, most seen all you
do2
Mmm, mmm, what's the matter now?
Mmm, mmm, honey what's the matter now?
Sugar, what's the matter, don't like no black snake
no how
Mmm, mmm, wonder where my black snake gone?
Mmm, mmm, wonder where this black snake gone?
Black snake mama done run my darlin' home
__________
Note: Jefferson's first single for Paramount was
also his most successful recording. An excellent
example of how Blind Lemon used overtly suggestive
sexual imagery without becoming salacious;
Note 1: Chinch bug, defined in different terms as a
type of bed bug and as another insect which is
destructive to types of lawn grass;
Note 2: lyric is garbled, "Most seen all you do" is
a best guess.
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![[Blind Lemon Jefferson on Okeh record label]](../photographs/blind_lemon_jefferson_78.gif)
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by probably Blind
Lemon Jefferson
recording of October 10 1929, Richmond
from Blind
Lemon Jefferson (Milestone 47022)
& Complete
Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1929) (Document
DOCD-5020) & King
of the Country Blues [LP] (Yazoo
1069), copyright
notice
Heard a baby crying, what do this mama mean
Heard a baby crying, what do this mama mean
He's crying 'bout his sweet milk, and she won't feed him
Jersey cream
Well, he crawled from the fireplace, stopped in the middle
of the floor
Well, he crawled from the fireplace, stopped in the middle
of the floor
Says, "Mama, ain't that your second daddy standing back
there in the door?"
Well she grabbed my baby, spanked him and tried to make her
leave him alone
Well she grabbed my baby, spanked him and tried to make her
leave him alone
I tried my best to stop her and she said, "The babe ain't
none of mine"
The woman rocks the cradle, I declare she rules the home
The woman rocks the cradle, I declare she rules the home
Married man rocks some other man's babe, fool thinks he is
rockin' his own
__________
Note: issued by Paramount under catalogue No. 12880.
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