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Blues Lyrics - Charley Patton
Green River Blues
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by
Charley Patton
recording of 1929-1934
from
Charley Patton: Founder Of The Delta Blues (Yazoo L-1020)
I see a river rollin' like a log
I wade up Green River, rollin' like a log
I wade up Green River, Lord, rollin' like a log
Think I heard the Marion
whistle blow
I dreamed I heard the Marion whistle blow,
and it blew just like my baby gettin' on board
I'm goin' where the Southern cross the Dog
I'm goin' where the Southern cross the Dog
I'm goin' where the Southern cross the Dog
Some people say the Green River blues ain't bad
Some people say the Green River blues ain't bad
Then it must-a not been the Green River blues I had
It was late one night, everything was still
It was late one night, baby, everything was still
I could see my baby up on a lonesome hill
How long evenin' train been gone?
How long, baby, that evenin' train been gone?
You know I'm worried now but I won't be worried long
I'm goin' away, but may get lonesome here
I'm goin' away, baby, you may get lonesome here
Yes, I'm goin' away, baby, it may get lonesome here
__________
Note 1: the Marion, probably a steamboat named after the town of
Marion
, Arkansas
Note 2: the junction of the Southern and the Dog (Yazoo & Mississippi Valley - Y&MV) railroad lines
W.C. Handy the "Father of the Blues" wasn't an ordinary
Delta
bluesman. Handy studied music as a youth, playing the cornet and traveling the South with dance bands playing minstrel and tent shows. Later in life he became a songwriter, bandleader and publisher.
Legend is that while waiting for an overdue train in Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1903 that he heard an itinerant bluesman playing slide guitar and singing about "goin' where the Southern cross the Dog", referring to the junction of the Southern and Yazoo & Mississippi Valley railroads farther south near Moorhead. Handy called it "the weirdest music I had ever heard".
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