Laid down last night, hopin' I would have my peace, eee
I laid down last night, hopin' I would have my peace, eee
But when I woke up, Tom Rushen (1) was shakin' me
When you get in trouble, it's no use to screamin' and cryin', hmm
When you get in trouble, it's no use to screamin' and cryin', hmm
Tom Rushen will take you, back to the prison house flyin'
It were late one night, Halloway (2) was gone to bed, hmm
It were late one night, Halloway was gone to bed, hmm
Mister Day brought whiskey taken from under Halloway's head
An' it's boozy booze, now, Lord, to cure these blues
It takes boozy boo', Lord, to cure these blues
But each day seems like years in the jailhouse where there is no boo'
I got up this mornin', Tom Day was standin' 'round
I got up this mornin', Tom Day was standin' 'round
If he lose his office now, he's runnin' from town to town
Let me tell you folksies just how he treated me
Let me tell you folksies just how he treated me
Aw, he caught me yellin', I was drunk as I could be
I laid down last night, hopin' I would have my peace, eee
But when I woke up, Tom Rushen (1) was shakin' me
When you get in trouble, it's no use to screamin' and cryin', hmm
When you get in trouble, it's no use to screamin' and cryin', hmm
Tom Rushen will take you, back to the prison house flyin'
It were late one night, Halloway (2) was gone to bed, hmm
It were late one night, Halloway was gone to bed, hmm
Mister Day brought whiskey taken from under Halloway's head
An' it's boozy booze, now, Lord, to cure these blues
It takes boozy boo', Lord, to cure these blues
But each day seems like years in the jailhouse where there is no boo'
I got up this mornin', Tom Day was standin' 'round
I got up this mornin', Tom Day was standin' 'round
If he lose his office now, he's runnin' from town to town
Let me tell you folksies just how he treated me
Let me tell you folksies just how he treated me
Aw, he caught me yellin', I was drunk as I could be
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Note.
(1) Charley Patton was actually singing about Tom Rushing, who was elected sheriff of Merigold in 1928 and served in that office until 1932.
To explain the names and references in the song, Tom Rushing was the sheriff in Merigold ( Mississipi ) from 1928 to 1932; Tom Day was either Rushing’s deputy sheriff or his predecessor as sheriff of Merigold. Tom Day apparently lost the 1928 election to Tom Rushing. This is apparently what Patton means with the line, “If he lose his office now, he’s runnin’ from town to town.”
(2) “Halloway” was a local bootlegger who made illegal whisky. Patton’s line about “Mister Day brought whiskey taken from under Halloway’s head” apparently refers to the Sheriff’s seizure of illegal liquor from Halloway.
“An apparent arrest for drunkeness led Charlie Patton to concoct a sedate blues that smacks of an attempt to curry favor with the recently-installed high sheriff of Merigold, O.T. Rushing, who had assumed office in 1928 and would hold that position for the next four years
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