—Traditional, popularized by Huddie Ledbetter

Well, you wake up in the mornin', hear the ding-dong ring,
You go marchin' to the table, see the same damn thing,
Well, it's on the table, knife and fork and a pan,
If you say a thing about it, you're in trouble with the man.

Chorus:
Let the Midnight Special shine its light on me,
Let the Midnight Special shine its ever-lovin' light on me.

Yonder comes Miss Rosie, how'n the world do you know?
Well, I know her by her apron, and the dress she wore.
Umbrella on her shoulder, piece o' paper in her hand,
She goes marchin' to the captain, says, I want my lifetime man.

Chorus

Well, yonder's Doctor Melton, how'n the world do you know?
'Cause he gave me a tablet on the day before.
Well, there never was a doctor traveled by sea or land
What could cure the fever of a convict man.

Chorus

Now Rosie said she loved me, but I believe that was a lie,
'Cause she ain't been to see me since away last July.
She brought me a little coffee, she brought me a little tea,
She brought me just 'bout everything but that jailhouse key.

Chorus

I'm goin' away to leave you, and my time ain't long.
The man is gonna call me, and I'm goin' home.
Then I'll be done all grievin', whoopin', hollerin' and a-cryin',
Then I'll be done all my studyin' 'bout my great long time.

Chorus

Now if you go to Houston, man, you better walk right,
Oh, you better not stagger, and you better not fight.
Sheriff Benson will arrest you, and he'll carry you down,
And if the jury finds you guilty, you're penitentiary bound.

Chorus

Verse & Chorus:

I

IV

I

V   :|

—1876 Henry C. Work

My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopped  short — never to go again,
When the old man died.

In watching its pendulum swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy.
And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four when he entered at the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride;
But it stopped  short — never to go again,
When the old man died.

Chorus:
Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tock, tick, tock),
His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tock, tick, tock),
It stopped  short — never to go again,
When the old man died.

My grandfather said that of those he could hire,
Not a servant so faithful he found;
For it wasted no time, and had but one desire,
At the close of each week to be wound.
And it kept in its place, not a frown upon its face,
And its hands never hung by its side.
But it stopped  short — never to go again,
When the old man died.

Chorus

It rang an alarm in the dead of the night,
An alarm that for years had been dumb;
And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight,
That his hour of departure had come.
Still the clock kept the time, with a soft and muffled chime,
As we silently stood by his side;
But it stopped  short — never to go again,
When the old man died.

Chorus

Verse:

I – V	I – IV	I – V	I
I – V	I – IV	I – V	I
I	IV – I	I	V
I    V	I – IV	I – V	I

Chorus:

I	I	I	I
I – V	I – IV	I – V	I