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For an in-depth discussion of this track, see the album notes: tinyurl[dot]com/V4NATnotes

lyrics

I went down to Joe’s barroom
On the corner of the square
A goodly crowd had gathered
And the drinks were a-flowing there.

I sat down by McKinney
His eyes were bloodshot red
He leaned to me and whispered
And this is what he said:

“I went down to the infirmary
And I looked in a window there
Saw my girl stretched out on a white bed
So cold, so pale, so fair.

“Sixteen coal black horses
Hitched to a rubber-tired hack
Took seven pretty girls to the graveyard
Only six of them came back.

“Six crap shooters for pall bearers
And a chorus girl to sing me a song
Put a jazz band on my hearse top
To sing as I roll along.

“Now my story is ended
Give me one more drink of booze
And I’ll be on my way, boys
For I’ve got those gambling blues.”

credits

from Survey of Traditional Music, Vol. 4: The Anglo​-​African Exchange, released August 7, 2023
Recorded by Mark Wilson, Oneida, TN, 7/23/07. Previously unissued.

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Field Recorders' Collective

The Field Recorders’ Collective is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and distribution of noncommercial recordings of traditional American music, material that is unavailable to the general public.

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