Rock Lyrics: African-American Roots
(disk titled, Roots of Rock New)
Materials below are from the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Culture; The Alan Lomax Collection; Ella
Jenkins' African American Folk Rhythms;Slave Songs, by Jerry Silverman, Chelsea House Publishers, 1994;
and Slave Songs of the United States, by William Francis Allen et al, Dover Publications, (1995; first published
1867).
On board: running list of qualities and characteristics.
Africa
1) Meme Bakor (Sierra Leone)
2) Bar Di Ni Enbar (Sierra Leone)
3) Lament (Nubian)
4) Seal Lion Woman (African game song) (:38)
What do you hear? Community singing, sometimes call-and-response, sometimes nonverbal vocals, raw
instruments (hand clapping), spirituals.
New World
1450-c.1850 Era of the Middle Passage (mainly 1750-1850). By some estimates, 22 million Africans are
transported as slaves to the Americas; only half survive the voyage (from Gale's Literature Resource
Center/Encyclopedia of Literature).
5) Run, Nigger, Run (New World game song) (:42)
Code songs about
escape.
This song "speaks of the 'patrollers' who watched the roads in many parts of the South on the lookout for
slaves who were away from their plantations without passes or who had overstayed the time allowed them in
their passes for visits to neighboring plantations. The patrol system was set up partly to guard against slave
uprisings."
Follow the Drinking Gourd (spiritual) [not on disk]
(An example of a song with coded meaning. The "drinking gourd" is the Big Dipper, and a directional aide for
slaves in the Underground Railroad. Some songs contained coded insults or jokes aimed at slave masters!)
My old master promised me
That when he died he'd set me free.
Lived until his head got bald,
My old mistress promised me,
"Sara, I'm gonna set you free."
She lived till her head got slick and bald
And gave up thinking about dying at all.
And the Lord couldn't kill her with a big green maul.
(Chorus.)
Chorus: Come along little children, come along.
Cone while the moon is shining bright.
Come along little children, come along.
We're gonna raise a ruckus tonight
Yes, they both done promised me
But their papers didn't set me free.
A dose of pizin helped them along;
May the devil preach their funeral song. (Chorus.)
6) Run, Old Jeremiah (New World ring shout; earliest type of Afro-American religious song) (4:34)
By myself (5 tx)
You know I've got to go.
You got to run.
I've got to run.
I've got to run.
By myself. (3)
I got a letter, (2)
Ol' brown skin.
Tell you what she say.
"Leavin' tomorrow
Tell you goodbye,
Tell you goodbye."
O my Lordy. (6)
Well, well, well. (2)
O my Lord.(2)
O my Lordy. (2)
Well, well, well. (2)
I've got a rock.
You got a rock.
Rock is death.
O my Lordy.
O my Lord.
Well, well, well.
Run here, Jeremiah. (2)
I must go
On my way. (4)
Who's that ridin' the
chariot? (2)
Well, well, well...
(NEW LEADER)
One morning'
Before the evening
Sun was goin' down (3)
Behind them western
hills.(3)
Old number twelve
Comin' down the track.
(3)
See that black smoke.
See that old engineer.
See that engineer. (2)
Tol' that old fireman
Ring his ol' bell
With his hand.
Rung his engine bell. (2)
Well, well, well.
Jesus tell the man,
Say, I got your life
In My Hand;
I got your life
In My Hand. (2)
Well, well, well.
Ol' fireman told,
Told that engineer,
Ring your black bell,
Ding, ding, ding,
Ding, ding, ding,
Ding, ding, ding, ding.
Ol' fireman say
????
????
????
That morning',
Well, well, well (2)
Ol' fireman say,
Well, well,
I'm gonna grab my
Old whistle too.
Wah, wah, ho,
Wah, wah, wah, ho (etc.
Mmmmmmmmm.
Soon, soon, soon.
Wah-------o.
Well, well, well.Ol'
engineer,
I've got your life
In my hands. (2)
Tol' your father, (2)
Well, well, well,
I was travellin', (2)
I was ridin' (3)
Over there. (2)
Ol' engineer.
This is the chariot.
HOLLERS
7) Joe the Grinder (very mournful holler) (2:01)
. O Lord, a few days longer, now, man. (3x)
ii. They call me Joe the Grinder, O baby.
iii. When I roll my long time down, I'm goin' home.
8) Old Alabama (prison group work song; casual call-and-response)) (3:05)
9) Did You Feed My Cow (very polished call-and-response) (:47)
10) Prisoner Commenting on Lead-Singing (2:08)
11) Wade in the Water (spiritual)
12) Wayfaring Stranger (spiritual)
What happens when you Christianize African-American
spirituals? You get _____________.
13) Choose Your Seat and Sit Down (sound of a spiritual, but in church)
2
"Out of this singing style...the blues
have developed. The listener will
notice the same use of falsetto
stops, the same drop of the voice
at the end of the lines that
characterize the blues. The singers
generally do not refer to these
work songs as singing at all. They
say they are 'just hollerin'" (Shirley
10).
"The words are improvised each
time the songs are sung, the lines
coming out of a stock of phrases
and verses that have been sung
before or else directly out of the
immediate thoughts of the singer.
Each singer generally has his own
melody or 'holler'; but these
melodies are so free that each
time the song is enunciated it is a
new recreation of the singer's
feelings at the moment of
performance. The 'hollers' on this
record were recorded in the
penitentiary and for this reason the
texts are colored by the thoughts
of the convict."
14) Where Shall I Be (Professor Johnson) (gospel)
15) Beautiful Tomorrow (Mahalia Jackson) (gospel)
What happens when you secularize gospel? You get _______________.
16) Two White Horses (early blues) (2:29)
This piece has a typical blues stanza: one line repeated two or more times, followed by an end line. The final
word of the end line may, or may not, rhyme with the final word of the previous lines. The presence of repeated
lines harks back to the various complex types of call-and-response (or leading and basing) in slave songs out
in the fields or at religious meetings. Also evident here, and typical of blues verse, is a caesura (or pause)
about mid-way through each line.
Now, two white horses standin' in a line.
Now, two white horses standin' in a line.
Now, two white horses standing' in a line.
Gonna take me to my buryin' ground.
Did you ever hear that coffin sound?
Did you ever that coffin?
Did you ever that coffin?
You know now poor boy's in the ground.
Please dig my grave with a silver spade.
Please dig my grave with a silver spade.
Please dig my grave with a silver spade.
You can let me down with a golden chain.
It's one kind favor I'll ask of you.
It's one kind favor I'll ask of you.
It's one kind favor I'll ask of you.
Take pains see my grave be kept clean.
Did you ever hear that church bell tone?
Did you ever hear that church bell?
Did you ever hear that church bell?
You know now poor boy's dead and gone.
Now, two white horses standin' in a line.
Now two white horses standin' in a line.
Now, two white horses standin' in a line.
Gonna take me to my buryin' ground.
Did you ever hear a coffin sound?
Did you ever hear that coffin?
Did you ever hear now?
You know now poor boy's in the ground.
3
17) Another Man Done Gone (early blues; note secular content) (1:27)
This is another of the very earliest blues (between 1890 and 1910). In this piece, one line is repeated four times
in each stanza. This song is coded, about the escape of a negro from a chain gang. "I'm going to walk your
log" = "I'm going to chastise you." Notice how elements of the holler, work song, and spiritual can be heard in
all of these early blues.
18) Possession Over Judgment Day (Robert Johnson) (2:39) (BLUES; biscuit roller reference; religious but
morphs into super secular)
If I had possession over judgment day,
If I had possession over judgment day.
Lord the little woman I'm lovin' wouldn't have no right to pray.
And I went to the mountain lookin' far as my eyes could see.
And I went to the mountain lookin' far as my eyes could see.
Some other man got my woman and the lonesome blues got me.
And I rolled an' I tumbled and I cried the whole night long.
And I rolled an' I tumbled and I cried the whole night long.
Boy, I woke up this mornin' and my biscuit roller gone.
Had to fold my arms and I slowly walked away.
[Spoken] (I didn't like the way she done.
Had to fold my arms and I slowly walked away.
I said in my mind, "Yo' trouble gonna come some day."
Now run here baby, set down on my knee.
Now run here baby, set down on my knee.
I wanna tell you all about the way they treated me .
Crossroad Blues (Robert Johnson) (2:41) [Not on disk]
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees.
I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees.
Asked the Lord above, have mercy now, save poor Bob if you please.
Standin' at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride. I tried to flag a ride.
Didn't nobody seem to know me, everybody passed me by.
Standin' at the crossroads, risin' sun goin' down.
Standin' at the crossroads baby, the risin' sun goin' down.
I believe to my soul now, po' Bob is sinkin' down.
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown.
You can run, you can run, tell my friend Willie Brown.
That I got the crossroad blues this mornin', Lord, I'm sinkin' down.
I went to the crossroad, mama, I looked east and west.
I went to the crossroad, babe, I looked east and west.
Lord, I didn't have no sweet woman, ooh well, babe, in my distress.
4
19) Empty Bed Blues (Bessie Smith)
I woke up this mornin' with an awful achin' head
I woke up this mornin' with an awful achin' head
My new man had left me just a room and empty bed.
Women blues singers
dominated the scene for a
period!
Bought me a coffee grinder, got the best one I could find
Bought me a coffee grinder, got the best one I could find
So he could grind my coffee, 'cause he had a brand new grind
He's a deep sea diver with a stroke that can't go wrong
He's a deep sea diver with a stroke that can't go wrong
He can touch the bottom and his wind holds out so long.
He knows how to thrill me and he thrills me night and day
Lord, he knows how to thrill me, he thrills me night and day
He's got a new way of loving' almost takes my breath away.
Lord, he's got that sweet somethin', and I told my gal friend Lou
He's got that sweet somethin', and I told my gal friend Lou
From the way she's ravin', she must have gone and tried it too.
When my bed get empty, make me feel awful mean and blue
When my bed get empty, make me feel awful mean and blue
My springs are gettin' rusty, sleepin' single like I do
Bought him a blanket, pillow for his head at night
Bought him a blanket, pillow for his head at night
Then I bought him a mattress so he could lay just right
He came home one evening with his spirit way up high
He came home one evening with his spirit way up high
What he had to give me made me wring my hands and cry
He gave me a lesson that I never had before
He gave me a lesson that I never had before
When he got through teachin' me, from my elbow down was sore
He boiled my first cabbage and he made it awful hot
He boiled my first cabbage and he made it awful hot
Then he put in the bacon, it overflowed the pot
When you get good lovin', never go and spread the news
Yeah, it will double-cross you and leave you with them empty bed blues.
20) Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues (Ida Cox)
Lady Gaga, step aside!
One Hour Mama (Ida Cox) [not on disk]
5
I've always heard that haste makes waste
So I believe in taking my time
The highest mountain can't be raced
It's something you must slowly climb
I want a slow and easy man
He needn't ever take the lead
Cause I work on that long-time plan
And I ain't a lookin' for no speed
I'm a one hour mama
So no one minute papa
Ain't the kind of man for me
Set your alarm clock, papa
One hour, that's proper
Then love me like I like to be
I don't want no lame excuses
About my lovin' being so good
That you couldn't wait no longer
Now I hope I'm understood
I'm a one hour mama
And no one minute papa
Ain't the kind of man for me
I can't stand no greenhorn lover
Like a rookie goin' to war
With a load of big artillery
And don't know what it's for
He's got to bring me a reference
With a great long pedigree
And must prove he's got endurance
Or he don't mean that to me
I don't like no crowin' rooster
What just kicks a lick or two
Action is the only booster
Of just what my man can do
I don't want no imitation
My requirements ain't no joke
Cause I've got pure indignation
For a guy who's lost his stroke
I'm a one hour mama
So no one minute papa
Ain't the kind of man for me
Set your alarm clock, papa
One hour, that's proper
Then love me like I like to be
6
I may want love for one hour
Then decide to make it two
Takes an hour before I get started
Maybe three 'fore I'm through
I'm a one hour mama
So no one minute papa
Ain't the kind of man for me
What happens when you electrify blues? You get ______________.
21) Fat’s Blueberry Hill (rhythm and blues)
I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill,
On Blueberry Hill, where I found you.
The moon stood still on Blueberry Hill,
And lingered till my dreams came true.
The wind in the willow played
Love's sweet melody,
But all of those vows we made
Were never to be.
Though we're apart, you're part of me still,
For you were my thrill on Blueberry Hill.
22) Heard the News, There’s Good Rockin’ Tonight (Elvis) (very southern; example of very AfricanAmerican sound)
23) I Got a Woman Way Over Town (Elvis) (very southern; example of very African-American sound)
What kind of music gets mixed with the blues to FINALLY make rock and roll?
24) Intro to Louisiana Hay Ride [skip]
25) Elvis That’s All Right Mama (one of many songs that were from African-American combo bands)
26) Hound Dog (Big Mama Thornton) (rhythm & blues) (2:51) Thornton was know for her double-entendres.
This piece is apparently about a woman who throws out a gigolo, refusing to support him any longer.
You ain’t nuthin’ but a hounddog, quit snoopin’ around my door.
You ain’t nuthin’ but a hounddog, been snoopin’ around my door.
Well you can wag your tail, but I ain’t gonna feed you no more.
You told me you was high class, but I can see through that.
You told me you was high class, but I can see through that.
And daddy I know you ain’t no real cool cat.
7
Ah play it. You know you make me feel good.
Ah don’t mess around. I’ll wag your tail.
Ah get it. You’re an old hound dog.
You made me feel so blue, you made me weep and moan.
You made me feel so blue, yeah you made me weep and moan.
Cuz you ain’t lookin’ for a woman—all you’re lookin’ for is a home.
Compare Thorton’s lyrics to this version given to Elvis:
27) Hound Dog (Elvis's version; author unknown) (2:41)
You ain 't nuthin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time.
You ain 't nuthin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time.
Well you never caught a rabbit, and you ain 't no friend of mine.
Well you know you said you was high class; well that was just a lie.
Well you know you said you was high class; well that was just a lie.
Well you never caught a rabbit, you ain 't no friend of mine.
8