Topic: Robert Wilkins Lyrics

[banjochris]

For what it's worth, I agree with John on the "I'll Go With Her" verse. Meanwhile, here is



I Do Blues

Now woman I do, woman God knows I do,
Woman I do, woman God knows I do
I do [he says "doos"] all for you that any poor man can do

I done did everything, woman but die for you,
I done did everything, woman but die for you,
Want you to tell me what more woman, do you want me to do?

Woman I done done, all I know to do
Woman I done done, all I know to do
I done did everything woman, but lay down and die for you

Now if you don't want me, give me your right hand,
Now if you don't want me, give me your right hand,
I'll go to my woman, and you can go to your man.

You better come here woman, sit down on my knee,
You better come here woman, sit down on my knee,
Oh and talk all night tell poor Timmy what you please.

Want you to tell me something, give my mind some ease,
Want you tell me something, give my mind some ease,
I can't be satisfied, woman, and I can't be pleased.

'Cause I'd rather be dead, buried on my face,
'Cause I'd rather be dead, buried on my face,
And to love you woman, you treat me this a way.

But I don't want nobody, baby don't want me.
I don't want nobody, baby don't want me.
I'd rather be somewhere, friend, buried on my knee.

I got something to tell you, tell you 'fore I go,
I got something to tell you, tell you 'fore I go,
Meet me down at the station, and kiss me 'fore I go.

'Cause I'm going up the country, coming here no more,
'Cause I'm going up the country, coming here no more,
Oh I love you woman, but you always treat me so.

If today the day, that you walked away.
If today the day, that you walked away.
Oh you told me you was, going, you was going to stay.


11 verses and an intro in 3:39!

[uncle bud]

I was fooling around with Losin' Out Blues and couldn't find the lyrics, so here they are. Wilkins sure crams them in there. It's played out of C position pitched around D, and it uses that wonderful Ab chord at the beginning of the form.



As always, corrections and comments welcome.

Losin' Out Blues - Robert Wilkins
C position, pitched at D

I'll forget that day, baby you walked away
I'll forget that day, baby you walked away
I'll forget the day baby you walked away
Didn't I hear you tell your daddy, "Your mama's going to stay"
That's the reason why I'm tellin' you
Baby, you're losin' out

Was early one morning, she come draggin' home
Was early one morning, she come draggin' home
Was early one morning, she come draggin' home
You oughta heard her cryin' "Daddy, your mama treated you wrong"
That's the reason why I'm tellin' you
Baby, you losin' out

"I left you that time, but I ain't gonna leave you no more
I left you that time, but I ain't gonna leave you no more
I left you that time, I ain't gonna leave you no more
When I leave you again, they'll be haulin' me away from your door
That's the reason why I'm tellin' you
Daddy, you'll be losin' out"

Friend, gonna ask you to follow me far as you can go
Gonna ask you to follow me far as you can go
Friend, gonna ask you to follow me far as you can go
When I leave that time, I won't be back no more
That's the reason why I'm tellin' you
Daddy, you'll be losin' out

Oh shush

Friend, I followed my baby to her buryin' place
I followed my baby to her buryin' place
I followed my baby to her buryin' place
Till I hung my head and cried, the poor girl had passed away
That's the reason why I'm tellin' you
Partner, I'm losin' out

You oughta heard me cryin', "Partner, what a lonesome grave"
You oughta heard me cryin', "Partner, what a lonesome grave"
You oughta heard me cryin', "What a lonesome grave
I'll never get another woman I think can take her place"
That's the reason why I'm tellin' you
Partner, I'm losin' out

You take me baby, long as I was your child
You take me baby, long as I was your child
You take me baby, long as I was your child
Hold me in your right arm and rock me by and by
So I can tell my partner, "Partner, I ain't losin' out"


edited to add change from LeftyStrat

[LeftyStrat]

Excellent song UB. One of the best on the "Original Rollin' Stone" disc, IMO.

In the third verse, I've always heard:

"I left you that time, but I ain't gonna leave you no more
I left you that time, but I ain't gonna leave you no more
I left you that time, I ain't gonna leave you no more
When I leave you again, they'll be haulin'me away from your door

I've generally taken that to mean the next time she leaves, the hearse will be taking her away. Never claimed to have the best of ears when it comes to these lyrics though, so maybe I'm mistaken.

Lefty

[uncle bud]

Many thanks, Lefty. I think you're right, makes more sense too. I'll make the change above.

[tenderfoot84]

hi folks i've just been listening to 'black rat blues' from wilkins' last batch of (prewar) recordings.



there's a black rat up town, ...
there's a black rat up town, ...
if i catch him in my kitchen, boys he's gonna have me to kill

know if he's in my kitchen, man eat' up all of my bread
know if he's in my kitchen, man eat' up all of my bread
soon as daddy got his belly full, boys it started cuttin' up in my bed

i caught the wink of it's eye, [man it's] the keyhole in my door
i caught the wink of his eye, [man it's] the keyhole in my door
i'm gonna get my 44 out boy, I bet he won't come here no more

[break]

said that's the reason my baby, she don't speak well of me no more
that's the reason my baby, she don't speak well of me no more
i've got it so uneasy, partner i don't know where to go

cairo, cairo is my baby's home
cairo, cairo is my baby's home
now I'm go-r-in' home partner 'n' I swear it won't be long



i'm really crazy about this song but the i have no idea how he finishes the first two lines of verse one! i hope someone else can give it a crack.

robert wilkins' lyrics are always great but i think this is up there with the best of them. it bares no resemblance really to memphis minnie's 'black rat swing' musically but might share some more lyrics than the title - i haven't checked.

i think wilkins' is playing straight up and down possibly with a flatpick out of C standard capoed up one fret (i'm not sure here either). he could be playing out of d but i think the bass notes are easier to play in C.

i can fudge both guitar parts reasonably well but i think little son joe (from memory i think he's the second guitarist but i might be getting mixed up with the memphis minnie recording). the interplay between them is really really neat though and obviously impossible to reproduce - for me - solo.

the spoons help a fair bit too.

do others think that robert wilkins played in this style only in a group setting or that he changed his style in the years between his first recording and this one new stockyard and the other one i can't remember just now i think willie reed may have done this but i'd expect that given rev. wilkins' 60s recording that the first of my two suggestions is closer to the truth.

[Bunker Hill]

hi folks i've just been listening to 'black rat swing' from wilkins' last batch of (prewar) recordings.

there's a black rat up town, ...
there's a black rat up town, ...

Sounds to me like:

There's a black rat in town, man, it's most(?) to evil to kill (x2)

But that's from vinyl, rather than digital, source.

The song is entitled Black Rat Blues, are you confusing it with the Little Son Joe/Memphis Minnie title Black Rat Swing?

[banjochris]

It's "most too evil to live". I hear some other differences, too, ("44 out of pawn" for instance) but I'm at work and can't turn my volume up at the moment, so I'll post again later.
Chris

[tenderfoot84]

you're absolutely right about "i'm gonna get my 44 out of pawn" - great catch banjochris

bunker hill i also now hear "it's most too evil to kill" i definately hear the k sound in the second line.

thanks very much guys - almost there.

[banjochris]

Here's what I have -- I definitely don't hear "kill" in the first two lines of the first verse -- they're mostly minor differences to what you had.

There's a black rat up town, man he's most too evil to live,
It's a black rat up town, man he's most too evil to live,
If I catch him in my kitchen, boys he's gonna have me to kill.

Know he sneaks in my kitchen, man eat up all of my bread,
Know he sneaks in my kitchen, man eat up all of my bread,
Soon as he got his belly full, boys he started cuttin' up in my bed.

I caught the wink of his eye, man through the keyhole in my door,
I caught the wink of his eye, man through the keyhole in my door,
I'm going to get my 44 out of pawn, I bet he won't cut here no more.

(break)

And that's the reason my baby, she don't speak well of me no more,
That's the reason my baby, she don't speak well of me no more,
It's got me so uneasy, partner I don't know where to go.

Cairo, Cairo is my baby's home
Cairo, Cairo is my baby's home
I'm goin' home, partner and I swear it won't be long.

[tenderfoot84]

phenomenal stuff!

yeah i agree with all of your changes but i still keep hearing 'kill' at the end of that second line. i must be imagining it! thanks very much for nailing the other bits i got half way on! i love this song.

[frankie]

Been thinking about this song lately - both in E, pitched in the basement, about C:



Rolling Stone - Part 1

Don't care how long she gone, don't care how long she stay (2x)

She's a rolling stone, she'll roll back home someday (2x)

Friend, it's train time now and I thought I heard it blow (2x)

Come, run, bring my suitcase, please, and let me go (2x)

'cause the train rolled up, stopped and made two lonesome blows (2x)

Hon' come kiss me goodbye, my time done come to go (2x)

Friend, as the train rolled off, she waved her hands at me (2x)

I looked out the window, friend, as far as I could see
I looked out the window, friend, far as I could see

Rolling Stone - Part 2



Oh, the last time I seen her standing on the station crying
Oh, the last time I seen her, she's standing on the station crying

Believe she told her friend, "Yon' go that man of mine" (2x)

I don't mind him going, he's gone and leave me here (2x)

Got to go back home, sleep all night by myself
Got to go back home, sleep, friend, all night by myself

Man, don't your house feel lonesome when your biscuit roller gone?
Man, don't your house feel lonesome when your biscuit roller's gone?

You stand in your back door and cry by yourself, alone
You stand in your back door, crying by yourself, alone

Crying, ain't it enough to make a poor man wish't he's dead and gone? (2x)

'cause that woman he loved, she's gone and left him 'lone (2x)

Oh, looks like I ain't seen her since six long months, today (2x)

Ain't it enough make a poor man, great God, walk away? (2x)

[frankie]

and this one....  one of my favorites...



Nashville Stonewall - cross-note tuning, pitched at about F

I stayed in jail, it was for thirty long days
I stayed in jail, it was for thirty long days
And that woman said she loved me, I could not see her face

I looked out the window, saw the long chain man
I looked out the window, saw the long chain man
Oh, he's coming to call us boys name by name

He's going to take me from here to Nashville, Tennessee
He's going to take me from here to Nashville, Tennessee
He's going to take me right back, boys, where I used to be

I got a letter from home, reckon how it read
I got a letter from home, reckon how it read
It read "Son, come home to your mama, she's sick and nearly dead."

I set down and cried, and I screamed and squalled
I set down and cried, and I screamed and squalled
Said, "How can I come home, mama, I'm behind these walls."

Every morning about four, boys might be half past
Every morning about four, boys might be half past
You ought to see me down the foundry, trying to do my task

Oh, the judge he sentenced me, boys, from five to ten
'cause the judge he sentenced me, boys, from five to ten
I get out, I'm going to kill that woman, I'll be right back again

[Johnm]

Thanks for posting those, Frank.  One of the things I especially admire about Robert Wilkins' renditions of these songs is the extent to which he trusts and utilizes his basic musical ideas.  These songs don't have that "I'm going to play every lick that I know on this song" quality.  Instead, they have . . . repetition.  You can't beat repetition when you start out with ideas as strong as those Robert Wilkins was building his songs around. 
All best,
Johnm 

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I was listening to Robert Wilkins' "Black Rat Blues" today, and it sounded like he sang "kill" at the end of the first line of the first verse, and changed it to "live" at the end of the second line of the first verse.  If anyone cares to give it a listen, I'd be interested to hear how you're hearing it.
All best,
Johnm

[Rivers]

I don't have that one unfortunately John. What collection is it on?