When I was down in Georgia, I was doing mighty well
When I was down in Georgia, I was doing mighty well
Since I been here in Chicago, I been catching a plenty hell.
Says I'm going down to the station, ain't going to take no one's advice
Says I'm going down to the station, ain't going to take no one's advice
Says I'm going back to Georgia, where I can get my red beans and rice *.
Now these Chicago women, have give me such a hard way to go
Now these Chicago women, have give me such a hard way to go
Says they done took all my black money, and they got me running from door to door.
Now I been setting here looking, way down that lonesome road
Now I been setting here looking, way down that lonesome road
Says I'm raggedy and I'm hungry, and I ain't got no place to go.
Now I been rolling, I been rolling from sun to sun
Said I been rolling, I been rolling from sun to sun
Says I got where I can't get no loving, not until my payday comes.
When I was down in Georgia, I was doing mighty well
Since I been here in Chicago, I been catching a plenty hell.
Says I'm going down to the station, ain't going to take no one's advice
Says I'm going down to the station, ain't going to take no one's advice
Says I'm going back to Georgia, where I can get my red beans and rice *.
Now these Chicago women, have give me such a hard way to go
Now these Chicago women, have give me such a hard way to go
Says they done took all my black money, and they got me running from door to door.
Now I been setting here looking, way down that lonesome road
Now I been setting here looking, way down that lonesome road
Says I'm raggedy and I'm hungry, and I ain't got no place to go.
Now I been rolling, I been rolling from sun to sun
Said I been rolling, I been rolling from sun to sun
Says I got where I can't get no loving, not until my payday comes.
* Il "red beans and rice " (dall'inglese "fagioli rossi e riso") è un piatto unico statunitense semplice e molto popolare, facente parte della cucina creola della Louisiana. I fagioli con il riso erano anche il piatto preferito di Louis Armstrong,
Contributed by Pluck - 2025/6/15 - 13:49
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La figura protagonista di “Red Beans and Rice” è verosimilmente autobiografica.
Kokomo Arnold è nato infatti in Georgia e si è trasferito, in età giovanile, al Nord in cerca di migliori condizioni di vita, dal momento che il lavoro di bluesman non gli consentiva di sopravvivere.
Ma la traccia di questo significativo blues può essere considerata anche il racconto di uno dei numerosissimi migranti (siamo nell’ordine di milioni) che negli anni ’30, a causa della Grande Depressione che aveva colpito gli Stati Uniti, si trasferirono in una delle grandi città del Nord, quale appunto la citata Chicago, per fuggire dalla povertà.
Al Nord però dovettero affrontare molteplici difficoltà per reperire un lavoro dignitoso e remunerativo, a causa dei diffusi pregiudizi razziali e sociali e della concorrenza degli altri emigranti, sia afroamericani che bianchi, causa di conflittualità e tensioni.
Delusione, frustrazione, solitudine e povertà: le parole chiave del testo, associate a un’intensa nostalgia delle proprie origini e abitudini di vita.
Pluck