Author: Jim

Fortune

Jim,

Once I had a fortune, I locked it in my trunk,
I lost it all a-gambling one night when I was drunk.

Wish I had a pretty little hog/horse, corn to feed him on,
And a pretty little girl around the farm to feed him when I'm gone.

Chorus:
Fortune I had it, fortune I lost it,
Fortune I lost it one night when I was drunk.

Once I had a fortune but now I've lost it all,
Drinkin' and a gambling and playin' at the ball.

I'm packin' up my suitcase and now I say goodbye,
I'm gonna live a gamblin' man until the day I die.

I V-I I V
I IV I-V I

 

Chattanooga Mama

Jim,

—Allen Brothers

(to the tune of Deep Elum Blues)

When I walk into your parlor
Put my hat up on your rack
You can telephone your husband
Ain't no use in coming back.

Oh, Chattanooga mama,
Your papa's coming to town.
Gonna have you sweet mama
If I have to run you down.

If you want me to sweet mama,
I'll tell you what I'll do.
I'll bring my old guitar
Play these mean old blues for you.

Oh, Chattanooga mama,
Your daddy's coming to town
Gonna have you sweet mama
If I have to run you down.
What'ya say baby?

Take you in my arms sweet mama
I'll be good and treat you right
Then will fall asleep together
Tell the whole darned world good night.

Oh, Chattanooga mama,
Your daddy's coming to town
Gonna have you sweet mama
If I have to run you down.

Go to sleep now baby,
Your papa's done come home.

Verse

I I I I
I I I I7
IV IV IV IV

Chorus

I I I I
V V V V-I

 

Darling Nellie Gray

Jim,

There's a low green valley
By the old Kentucky shore
Where I whiled many happy hours a way
Just a sitting and a singing
By the little cottage door
Where lived my darling Nelly Gray

Chorus:
Oh my poor Nelly Gray
They have taken you away
And I'll never see my darlin' any more
I am sitting by the river
And I'm weeping all the day
For you've gone from the old Kentucky shore

When the moon had climbed the mountain
And the stars were shining too
Then I'd take my darlin Nelly Gray
And we'd float down the river
In my little red canoe
While my banjo so sweetly I would play

My eyes are getting blinded
And I cannot see my way
Hark, there's someone knocking at the door
Oh, I hear the angels calling
And I see my Nelly Gray
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore

One night I went to see her
But she's gone, the neighbors say
The white man bound her with his chain
They have taken her to Georgia
For to wear her life away
As she toils in the cotton and the cane.

My canoe is underwater now
And my banjo is unstrung
I'm tired of living any more
My eyes shall look downward
And my songs shall be unsung
While I stay on the old Kentucky shore

Oh my darling Nelly Gray
Up in heaven there they say
That they'll never take you from me anymore
I'm coming, coming, coming,
As the angels clear the way
Farewell to the old Kentucky shore

Verse

I IV I V
I IV I-V I

Chorus

IV I I V
I IV I-V I

 

Cindy

Jim,

—Traditional, also called Get Along Home Cindy

You ought to see my Cindy she lives way down south
She's so sweet the honey bees swarm around her mouth

Chorus:
Get along home Cindy Cindy
Get along home Cindy Cindy
Get along home Cindy Cindy
I'll marry you some day

The first I seen my Cindy she was standing in the door
Her shoes and stocking in her hand her feet all over the floor

She took me to her parlor she cooled me with her fan
She said I was the prettiest thing in the shape of mortal man

She kissed me and she hugged me she called me suger plum
She throwed her arms around me I thought my time had come

Oh Cindy is a pretty girl Cindy is a peach
She threw her arms around my neck and hung on like a leech

And if I was a sugar tree standing in the town
Each time my Cindy passed I'd shake some sugar down

And if had a needle and thread fine as I could sew
I'd sew that gal to my coat tails and down the road I'd go

I wish I was an apple a-hanging on a tree
Every time that Cindy passed she'd take a bite of me

Verse

I I I I7

Chorus

IV I IV V – I
Riley Puckett lyrics:

Cindy is like a cherry,
Cherry's like a rose
How I love my Cindy,
Ain't nobody knows

Chorus:
Get along home,
Get along home,
Get along home,
Cindy, fare you well.

Went upon the mountain,
Did my normal route
Put me in a coffee pot,
Blowed me out the spout

You may ride a grey horse,
I may ride a roan
Go and see the old gal,
You better leave mine alone

Went upon the mountain,
To give my horn a blow,
Every gal in Georgia,
Came runnin' to the door

I went down to Cindy's house,
Cindy wasn't at home
Set myself in a rockin' chair,
And rocked till she come home

Cindy in the summertime,
Cindy in the fall,
Can't have Cindy all the time,
Don't want Cindy at all.

Wish I had a needle and thread
Wish that I could sew
I'd sew that gal to my coat tails
And down the road we'd go

Yet more verses:

Cindy got religion,
She had it once before
When she heered my old banjo
She's the first one on the floor.

Cindy got religion
She swung round and round;
Got so full of glory, Lord,
Shook her stockin's down.

If I had a pretty gal
I'd put her on a shelf;
Ev'ry time she smiled at me,
I'd jump right up myself.



Diamond Joe

Jim,

—Georgia Crackers

Diamond Joe come and get me,
My wife now done quit me
Diamond Joe, you better come get me
Diamond Joe

I'm gonna buy me a sack of flour
Cook a hoecake every hour.
Diamond Joe, you better come get me
Diamond Joe

I'm gonna buy me a piece of meat,
Cook me a slice once a week.
Diamond Joe, you better come get me
Diamond Joe

I'm gonna buy me a sack of meal.
Take a hoecake to the field.
Diamond Joe, you better come get me
Diamond Joe

I'm gonna buy me a jug of whiskey,
I'm gonna make my baby frisky.
Diamond Joe, you better come get me
Diamond Joe

I'm gonna buy me a jug of rum,
I'm gonna give my Ida some.
Diamond Joe, you better come get me
Diamond Joe

Diamond Joe come and get me,
My wife now done quit me
Diamond Joe, you better come get me
Diamond Joe

IV I I-V I

 

Gonna Get Trouble in Your Mind

Jim,

—Traditional

The New Lost City Ramblers version:
Days are breaking
Breaking in my heart
Thinkin' I must be gettin old
I got an old sweetheart

Chorus:
Gonna get trouble in your mind
Gonna get trouble in your mind

I went down to my gal's house
She said she loves me some
She throwed her arms around my neck
Like a grape vine round a gum

Then I went to see that gal
She was staning in the yard
And Johnny's arms around her
And a baby on the (bar? far?)

It's raining it's hailing
It's pouring from the sky
If my true love goes back on me
Then surely I will die

Trouble, trouble
Its trouble on my mind
If trouble don't kill me boys
I'll live until I die

Ain't That Trouble in Mind, Crockett Ward and His Boys, 1927

Trouble oh trouble
It's trouble all the time
If trouble don't kill me
I'll live a long long time

Chorus:
Ain't that trouble in mind
Ain't that trouble in mind

My mammy told me something
My daddy told me more
If I married in this world
Be trouble in my door

What my mammy tells me
Is sure to come to pass
Drinking and a gamblin'
Will be my ruin at last

What my daddy tells me
Is sure gone to be done
I'll be in the penitentiary
Before I'm twenty-one

Sometimes I have money
Sometimes I have none
When I get on a drunken spree
My money is soon all gone

Sometimes I drink one dram
And sometimes I drink two
When I get on a drunken spree
Hard tellin' what I'll do

If I marry in this world
Won't be for love nor riches
Gonna marry a girl 'bout six foot tall
So she can wear my britches

There'll be no trouble in mind
There'll be no trouble in mind

Verse 

I I IV IV
IV IV IV I

Chorus

|:  I I I – V I  :|

 



Birmingham Jail

Jim,

see also Down in the Valley

Roses love sunshine, violets love dew
Angels in heaven, know I love you
Know I love you, know I love you
Angels in heaven, know I love you

If you don't love me, love whom you please
Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease
Give my heart ease love, give my heart ease
Throw your arms round me, give my heart ease

Build me a castle, forty feet high
So I can see her, as she rides by
As she rides by love, as she rides by
So I can see her, as she rides by

Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of, the Birmingham jail
Birmingham jail love, Birmingham jail,
Send it in care of, the Birmingham jail

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

Bird in a cage love, bird in a cage
Dying for freedom, ever a slave
Ever a slave love, ever a slave
Dying for freedom, ever a slave

Verse (3/4)

I I I V
V V V I
I I I V
V V V I

 

Beware, O Take Care

Jim,

—Blind Alfred Reed

We know young men are bold and free
Beware o take care
They'll tell you they're friends but they're false you see
Beware o take care

Chorus:
Be-ware young ladies they're foolin' you
Trust them not they're foolin' you
Be-ware young ladies they're foolin' you
Beware o take care

They smoke, they chew, they wear fine shoes
Beware o take care
And in their pockets is a bottle of booze
Beware o take care

Chorus

Around their necks they wear a guard
Beware o take care
And in their pocket is a deck of cards
Beware o take care

Chorus

They put their hands up to their hearts
They sigh oh they sigh
They say they love no one but you
They lie oh they lie

Chorus

Verse:

I I V I
I I V I

Chorus:

/I* IV I V I
/I* IV I V I

*extra half measure!

 

Big Ball in Memphis

Jim,

—Georgia Yellow Hammers

(same tune as Two Dollar Bill, a.k.a. Long Journey Home)

Looked out at the window
What do you reckon I see
What do you reckon I see boys
And what do you reckon I see
Looked out at the window
What do you reckon I see
The high sherrif is right after me

Before I'd be arrested
I'd fight him at my door
Fight him at my door boys
I'd fight him at my door
Before I'd be arrested
I'd fight him at my door
Nobody to go my bond

Yonder comes my sweetheart
With a ten dollar bill
Ten dollar bill boys
Ten dollar bill
Yonder comes my sweetheart
With a ten dollar bill
She's going to go with me

There's a big ball in Memphis
And I'm bound to go
I'm bound to go boys
I'm bound to go
There's a big ball in Memphis
And I'm bound to go
Nobody to go with me

I hopped out of the window
And tore down the blind
Tore down the blind boys
Tore down the blind
I hopped out of the window
And tore down the blind
Doggone my rowdy times

I I I I
IV IV IV I
I I I I
V V I I

 

Big Eyed Rabbit

Jim,

—Fred Cockerham/Tommy Jarrell

Yonder comes a rabbit,
Skippin' through the sand,
Zip that rabbit, he don't mind,
Fry him in my pan, Lord
I'll fry him in my pan.

Chorus:
Big-eyed rabbit's gone, gone
Big-eyed rabbit's gone. (X2)

Yonder comes a rabbit,
Hard as he can run,
Yonder comes another one,
I'll shoot him with a double-barrel gun, gun
Shoot him with a double-barrel gun.

Yonder comes my darlin',
Just how do I know?
Tell by her pretty blue eyes,
Shinein' bright like gold, gold
Shinein' bright like gold.

Chorus:
I'm a rockin' in a weary land, land
Rockin' in a weary land. (X2)

Verse:

I I I IV
IV I I V
V I

Chorus:

|: I V V I :|