Author: Jim

Hand Me Down My Walking Cane

Jim,

—James A. Bland, 1880

I got high and landed in jail ( x3 )
Had no one for to go my bail,
My sins they have overtaken me.*

Chorus:
Hand me down my walking cane ( x3 )
I'm gonna leave on the midnight train,
My sins they have overtaken me.

Well the beans was tough and the meat was fat ( x3 )
Oh good God I couldn't eat  that
My sins they have overtaken me.

Come on mama, and go my bail ( x3 )
And get me out of this Nashville jail
My sins they have overtaken me.

Well if I  die in Tennessee ( x3 )
Ship my bones back C.O.D.
My sins they have overtaken me.

Hand me down my bottle of corn ( x3 )
I'll get drunk as sure as you're born,
My sins they have overtaken me.

If I'd a listened what Mama said ( x3 )
I'd be sleepin' in a feather bed
My sins they have overtaken me.

Hand me down my walking cane (x3)
I'm a gonna leave on the morning train
My sins they have overtaken me.

*or All my sins are taken away, taken away.

Chorus & Verse:

I I V I
IV I I – V I



Washed My Hands in the Muddy Water

Jim,

—Stonewall Jackson

I was born in Macon Georgia
They kept my daddy over in Macon jail
He told me if you keep your hands clean
You won't hear them bloodhounds on your trail

Well I fell in with bad companions
Robbed a man up in Tennessee
They caught me way up in Nashville
They locked me up and threw away the key

Chorus:
I washed my hands in muddy water
Washed my hands but they didn't come clean
Tried to do what my daddy told me
But I must have washed my hands in a muddy stream

I asked the judge now when's my time up
He said son you know we won't forget
If you try just to keep your hands clean
We might just make a good man of you yet

Oh I couldn't wait to get my time up
I broke out broke out of Nashville jail
I just crossed the state-line of Georgia
Well I can hear those bloodhounds on my trail

Verse & Chorus:

I V V I
I IV I – V I


Desvairada

Jim,



Doce de Coco

Jim,


Alfred Hitchcock Theme

Jim,

Reel de Joie

Jim,


Whoa Mule, Whoa!

Jim,



Poplar Bluff

Jim,




The Right String (But the Wrong Yo-Yo)

Jim,

—Speckled Red (Rufus George Perryman) 1930

You've got the right string, mama

But the wrong yo-yo
Don't come by here with your hard luck story
I passed this mo'nin' by the hardware store
I bought a brand new string
For my yo-yo

Went on down to the doctor
To get the string put on
He turned around
And put the string on wrong
No need to knockin' on nobody's door
You got the right string mama
But the wrong yo-yo

Get away from the window
Don't you knock on my door
You know your string don't fit my yo yo
You got the right string mama
But the wrong yo-yo

Mama told me, papa did too
Some of these women be the death of you'
You better find out which you crave
Some a-these women gonna
Take you to yo grave!

Now you see me comin'
Put your man outdoors
I ain't no stranger, I been here, before
No need a-knockin' on nobody's door
The right string, baby but the wrong yo-yo

Verse:

VI II V I
Alternate verses:

I took my yo-yo

And I went down town

I yo-yoed up

And I yo-yoed down

Looked in the window

Of a ten cent store

Everbody stood there looking

At my yo-yo

Saw this good looking redhead

Cute as could be

I said, "Hey, honey

You look just right for me"

But some dude walked up behind me

And said kinda low

"You got the right string, sonny

But that's my yo-yo"



Freight Train Boogie

Jim,

—Delmore Brothers
Casey Jones he was a mighty man

But now he's resting in the promised land

The kind of music he could understand

Was an eight wheel driver under his command
   
Chorus:
He made the freight train boogie

All the time

He made the freight train boogie

As he rolled down the line

He woke up the people all along the line
Oh how the boy can make a whistle whine
He said to the fireman, get a hold of you seat
I'm gonna make this ride to the boogie beat

Chorus

When the fireman started ringing the bell

Everybody on the line could tell

Casey Jones he was a coming to town,

On a big eight wheeler that was burnin' (flat on) the ground

Chorus

Verse:

I I V – I I
I I V – I I

Chorus:

IV IV I I
V IV I I