Country Blues > Country Blues Lyrics
Blind Lemon Jefferson lyrics
uncle bud:
My turn to solicit help on some lyrics. This is one of those Lemon in C things I'm working on and probably my favorite along with Lonesome House Blues of the Lemon tunes using this C accompaniment. This one was one of the earlier instances of it in the Lemon "oeuvre", and has cool stuff packed into it, including a verse that uses the Black Horse Blues guitar part and an ending that uses something similar to the Black Horse solo.
Chock House Blues
1)
So many wagons, it have cut that good road down ???
I said so many wagons have cut that good road down ???
And the girl I love her mama don't want me around
2)
Baby I can't drink whiskey but I'm a fool 'bout my homemade wine
Baby I can't drink whiskey but I'm a fool 'bout my homemade wine
Ain't no sense in leavin' Dallas they makes it there all the time
3)
These here women want these men to act like a ???
I said these women want these men to act like a ???
Grab a pick and shovel and roll from sun to sun???
4)
I got a girl for Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday too
I got a girl for Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday too
I'm gonna (sweeten up??? clean up???) on the Saturday what the women through the week going to do
5)
Don't look for me on Sunday I wanna take (pigmeat? baby?) to Sunday school
Don't look for me on Sunday I wanna take (pigmeat? baby?) to Sunday school
She's a fine-looking fair brown but she ain't never learned Lemon's rule
The Eric Sackheim book suggests "These here women want these men to act like some ox from dawn" for verse three. Don't know that I hear that. Not sure about the opening lines of verse one either, which I've taken from Sackheim.
The mp3 file is attached for scholarly purposes...
Richard:
My thoughts by verse number -
1. I think it's correct - and refers to cutting\making the road with wagon wheels.
3. "These here women want these men to act like a ?????? dog"
"Grab a pick and shovel and roll from sun to sun" surely just meaning non stop work?
4. I hear 'sweeten up' not 'clean up'
5. I hear 'baby' not 'pigmeat' - he'd be a bit naughty with pigmeat at Sunday school!!
Well, it's a start :)
frankie:
Great tune - all kinds of cool stuff going on!
--- Quote from: uncle bud on March 27, 2004, 09:44:25 AM ---So many wagons, it have cut that good road down ???
I said so many wagons have cut that good road down ???
And the girl I love her mama don't want me around
--- End quote ---
I think that's right - the road to his woman's house has ruts in it from the traffic generated (by her suitors, or tricks, maybe?). The woman who runs the house lets the other men visit, but not Lemon...
--- Quote from: uncle bud on March 27, 2004, 09:44:25 AM ---These here women want these men to act like a ???
I said these women want these men to act like a ???
Grab a pick and shovel and roll from sun to sun???
--- End quote ---
I think the "sun to sun" line is right - working from sunup to sundown. In this context, the "ox from dawn" makes sense, but doesn't really sound satisfying...
--- Quote from: uncle bud on March 27, 2004, 09:44:25 AM ---I'm gonna (sweeten up??? clean up???) on the Saturday what the women through the week going to do
--- End quote ---
I hear 'sweeten up'.
--- Quote from: uncle bud on March 27, 2004, 09:44:25 AM ---Don't look for me on Sunday I wanna take (pigmeat? baby?) to Sunday school
--- End quote ---
I'm undecided about this - either way, I think the sense of the verse would be the same, no?
GhostRider:
Hi UB:
This is a fun tune. You're goin' to have a nimble thumb after you get that turnaround down.
I think verses 1 and 2 are exactly as you have written them.
Verse three. " some ox from dawn" is wrong as this passage (as you noted) begins with a definate "a" sound. I hear (after about 25 listenings) "am ox from dawn" (maybe his an sounds like am). I'm pretty sure of the "from dawn", as I don't hear a "g" at the end (I thought it was dog at first).
Verse 4 I hear "sweeten up" as well.
Verse 5 I hear "pigmeat"
I wonder what "Lemon's Rule" was.
After looking around the internet I found out that a Chock House is " 'chock house'- which refers to a place where they serve a very potent form of home brew." Fits with verse 2.
Best of luck,
Alex
uncle bud:
Thanks fellers for the help. For the last verse I lean towards pigmeat the first time, baby the second, but like frankie am still really undecided. The "ox from dawn" line is a mystery. As Alex notes it sounds something like "am ox from dawn" or "a mox from dawn" which obviously ain't right. Plus in the 2nd repeated line I don't really hear an "fr" sound in "from dawn". Difficult!
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