Knoxville Girl

Here's another "murdered girl" song, with definitely the most gruesome description yet. I find the chord progression here really sweet, and it's the song for which I first learned to play the boom-chuk-chuk of waltz time. The version I learned is from the Louvin Brothers, although the song comes from England originally.

I met a little girl in Knoxville

| D | D | D | D |

A town we all know well

| G | G | D | D |

And every Sunday evening

| D | D | D | D |

Out in her home I'd dwell

| E | E | A7 | A7 |

We went out for an evening walk

| D | D | D | D |

About a mile from town

| G | G | D | D |

I picked a stick up off the ground

| D | D | D | D |

And knocked that fair girl down

| A7 | A7 | D | D |

She fell down on her bended knee

For mercy she did cry

Oh, Willie dear, don't kill me here

I'm unprepared to die

She never spoke another word

I only beat her more

Until the ground around me

With her blood did flow

I grabbed her by her golden curls

And I drug her around and around

Threw her into the river

That flows through Knoxville town

Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl

With the dark and roving eye

Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl

You can never be my bride

I started back to Knoxville

Got there about midnight

My mother she was worried

And woke up in a fright

Dear son, dear son, what have you done

To bloody your shirt so?

I told my anxious mother

I was bleeding at my nose

I called for me a candle

To light my way to bed

I called for me a handkerchief

To bind my aching head.

Rolled and tumbled the whole night through

As troubles was for me

Like flames of hell around my bed

And in my eyes could see

They carried me down to Knoxville

And put me in a cell

My friends all tried to get me out

But none could go my bail

I'm here to waste my life away

Down in this dirty old jail

Because I murdered that Knoxville girl

The girl I loved so well

Murder Ballads

I have a (perhaps morbid) fascination with a folk song phenomenon I call "Poor Ellen Smiths" after the first example of it I heard. These ballads about men who murder their girlfriends--out of jealousy, madness, drink, what have you--have many common themes, but what interests me is the tone of the songs. They are usually told from the killer's POV, and they are always oddly sympathetic with him, even as they describe, often in gruesome detail, the murder itself. Collecting these songs is an ongoing pet project of mine.

• "Poor Ellen Smith"
• "Knoxville Girl"
• "Little Sadie"
• "Down In The Willow Garden"
• "Tom Dooley"
• "Pretty Polly"
• "Banks Of The Ohio"
• "Jealous Lover"
• "Delia's Gone," Johnny Cash
• "Omie Wise"

Jealous-Hearted Me

When I decided to learn the chords to this song, I didn't know how to play a bar-F chord, which played heavily in the tab I could find online. So I made it up. I think it is awesome. This version is heavily influenced by the Ma Rainey version, which predates the Carter Family recording, so I've listed both in the tags.

It takes a rocking chair to rock

| A - E |

Takes a rubber ball to roll

| A - E |

Takes the man I love to satisfy my soul

| A - E | A7 |

Because I'm jealous, jealous

| D |

Jealous-hearted me

| D | A |

I said I'm jealous

| E |

Jealous as I can be

| E | A |

You can have my money

You can have my home

But for god's sake women leave my man alone

[chorus]

I got a stove in the kitchen

And it bakes it nice and brown

But I need a papa to turn my damper down

[chorus]

I'm gonna buy me a bulldog

To watch him while he sleeps

Watch that man of mine on his midnight creep

[chorus]

[repeat verse 1]

[chorus]

Moaning the Blues

Pretty much the sexiest blues song of all time. I haven't figured out what the last intelligible word of the song is--strut would make more sense, but doesn't strictly rhyme with was. Of course, as Tom Lehrer put it, it sounds more ethnic if it ain't good English and it don't even gotta rhyme. From the crooning of Victoria Spivey.

ETA: Suzy Thompson suggests bug may be the mystery word at the end of the third verse. Sounds pretty good to me. She's also given the OK on the chords, although she suggests a C7, which seems solid to me.

[intro]

| G - G7 | C7 | G - D7 | G |

Now, you talk about the black snake blues

| G | G7 |

Well, you haven't heard no moaning yet

| G | G7 |

Moaning all day long

| C7 | C7 | G | G |

And when you hear this moaning

| D7 |

It's moaning you will never forget

| D7 | G | G |

Ahhhh-ohhh

| G | G | G7 | G7 |

Ahhhh-ohhh

| G | G | G7 | G7 |

Mmmmmmm

| C7 | C7 |

Ahh-ohh

| G | G |

Well, I know I can moan,

| D7 |

I don't see how I lost my happy home

| D7 | G | G |

Well, it was on a Sunday morning

I didn't feel so good

I felt like a cow when she had lost her cud

I began my moaning all day long

And when you hear me moaning

You can bet sweet mama feel good.

Ahhhh-ohhh

Ahhhh-ohhh

Mmmmmmm

Ahh-ohh

Lord, I know I can moan,

I don't see how I lost my home

Well, if I'm the only one in my family

To take a biscuit to pieces

And put it back just like it was

With my moaning all day long

Yes, I can kick my legs high

And you oughta see me do the bug.

Ahhhh-ohhh

Ahhhh-ohhh

Mmmmmmm

Ahh-ohh

Ahhh-ohhhhhhh

Ahhhhh-ohhhhhhhhhh

Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Jug Band

• "Jealous-Hearted Me," Carter Family
• "Winding Stream," Carter Family
• "Stormy Waters," Jimmy Martin
• "Dark and Stormy Weather," Carter Family
• "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room," Carter Family
• "I Ain't Gonna Marry," a la Kweskin Jug Band
• "Bury Me Beneath The Willow Tree," Carter Family
• "Sugar Babe," a la Kweskin Jug Band
• "Going To The West"
• "What Was I Supposed To Do?"
• "Rose Of My Heart"
• "I Wish I'd Stayed In The Wagonyard"
• "Fan It," Texas Sheiks
• "Under The Chicken Tree"

Stormy Waters

My mother, as a bluegrass musician, talks about de-Jesus-ifying songs, replacing Jesus with something more secular. This is one song she never really did that with, probably because it felt too awkward. It's from the singing of Jimmy Martin, but I'll always hear it in the key my mom sings it in. There's a beautiful counterpoint harmony on the chorus, which I've provided in parentheses. Where parentheses are absent, the lyrics are in unison.

Capo 3

Though pilgrim on earth I may journey alone

| D | D | G | D |

Knowing not what the future may hold, may hold

| D | D | A7 | A7 |

I'd rather have Jesus and sing a sweet song

| D | D | G | D |

Than to covet their silver and gold

| D | A7 | D | D |

Stormy waters around me

(stormy cold waters drift all around me)

| G | G | D | D |

And the tempest and fury may roll

(tempest... roughly may roll)

| D | D | D | D |

But I have my dear Saviour

(but I still have... Jesus my saviour)

| G | G | D | D |

How he helps me nobody can know

(helps me... no one can know)

| D | D | A7 | A7 |

When it seems I'm forsaken

(Often it seems... I am forsaken)

| D | D | D | D |

And my earthly friends misunderstand

(Earthly... friends... misunderstand)

| G | G | G | G |

Stormy cold waters can drift all around me

(Stormy waters around me)

| D | D | D | D |

As I hold to god's unchanging hand

| D | A7 | D | D |

Angry billows may toss me and cause me to fear

Stormy waters around me may roll, may roll

I'll hold to the hand of my Saviour so dear

He's the shepherd that's keeping my soul

[chorus]

Though I have disappointments so often I sigh

And my cabin is humble and bare, and bare

Someday I'll inherit a mansion on high

Where the beauties of heaven I'll share

[chorus]

These Pinchbacks, Take Them Away

What is a pinchback? I'm not really sure. It might refer to P. B. S. Pinchback, or to a miser, or to someone who produces cheap and/or tawdry goods. Or possibly it simply refers to pinch-back suits, which were fashionable in the 19-teens. Bessie Smith cannot tell us, so we must speculate. I kind of prefer the title I thought up when I found this track unlabeled: Working Man.

I fell in love with a sweet man once

He said he loved me too

He said if I'd run away with him

What nice things he would do

I've traveled around from town to town

How happy I would feel

But don't you know he would not work

Girls, take this tip from me

Get a working man when you marry

And let all these sweet men be

Doll, it takes money to run a business

And with me I know you girls will agree

There's one thing about this married life

That these young girls have got to know

That if a sweet man enters your front gate

Turn out your lights and lock your door

Yes, get a working man when you marry

And let all these pinchbacks be

Doll, it takes money to run a business

And with me I know you girls will agree

And if this panic stays on much longer

I'll hear all these young girls say

That it's a long way to Oklahoma

But these little pinchbacks, take them away.