centuries from now musicians like Woody Guthrie will be considered among the eminent artists of our present times ... you've just got to hear this to know ...
my grandpa passed away and this was his favorite song i was the closet grandson he has ever had i love him, and miss hi but he is i,am rejoicing with him and i know he is in a happier place and aint suffering any more
American Folk has its roots in the music of English, Irish, French, and African immigrants. Consider "Barbara Allen" which has so many permutations someone actually made a movie documenting them. I love American folk, but it doesn't necessarily stand alone. If you've ever heard the Copper Family from England, that might give you some idea. There is no music "ours alone", and that makes me happy. :-) just my two bits.
This is the version from the Library of Congress recordings done by Alan Lomax in 1940, hence the lyrics may be different from a studio version. [Song] You've got to walk that lonesome valley You've got to walk it by yourself There's nobody here can walk it for you You've got to walk it by yourself You've got to sleep in a lonesome graveyard You've got to sleep there by yourself Nobody here can sleep there for you You've got to sleep there by yourself There's a road that'll take you to glory Through a valley not far away Nobody here can walk go there for you They can only point the way But you've got to walk that lonesome valley You've got to walk it by yourself There ain't nobody can walk it for you You've got to walk it by yourself Some people says that John was a baptist Some people says he was a Jew Oh, the Holy Bible tells us That he was a preacher too You've got to walk that lonesome valley You've got to walk it by yourself There's nobody here can walk it for you You've got to walk that lonesome valley by yourself [Dialogue] Woody: Man, there's lots of railroad blueses, Alan. I guess you know the kind of blues that come from the boys that ride the rods and walk the ties, knocking off them railroad ties... Alan Lomax: Have you done a lot of that, knocking off railroad ties, Woody? How many miles have you walked? Woody: There's not but about three ties that I haven't hit, and I'm gonna clip them off this summer. Alan Lomax: How do you walk on a railroad bed? Woody: I hit every other tie. But a lot of times they ain't not laid even, sometimes you have to get two at a time for a while, then get one a couple of times in order to get them straightened out. Some of them's closer together than others. And a lot of boys get their foot caught in between these ties, you know, there's been a lot of 'em get run over that way. Alan Lomax: Did you ever actually know of anybody to be run over that way? Woody: Yeah, one of the best friends that I ever had lived right next door to me, Alan, about two doors up the street. His name was Miles Reynolds, in Okemah, Oklahoma. When he was about 17 years old, he had to [take?] the freight train [in it?], and he fell down in between 'em and got run over.
i love your comment, "only the true and pure can do it right. I loved John Cash so much and I saw him in heaven a few months ago. He's doing fine. Lynett
To those who wanted to know what's up with the lyric discrepancy, I have your answer, and it's a good one. As Utah Philips put it, Folk singers took old Christian hymns, because they sounded pretty, but they changed the words so that they made more sense! Additionally, Woody Guthrie's song "I Ain't Got No Home" was a spin on the Carter Family's tune and Christian hymn "This World's Not My Home." To say the least, I love Guthrie and Folk music (and history), but that is a narrative that you can take to the heart c:
@kornelmaci This kind of song usually isn't learned from a book, and therefore its lyrics aren't really set in stone. Usually when you find Woody singing an old folk song, he makes up about half the lyrics, so you have to just listen if you want to sing it like him. But I think he'd probably just tell you to make up your own; you could probably do as good a job or better when it comes to the adlib stuff.
You might be interested in the woodyguthrie org website. It has the lyrics of all songs by Woody. It credits Woody with lyrics & music to Lonesome Valley. I'm guessing that, like the Carter Family, he collected traditional songs that had many variations, and then published a specific version as his own. It makes it hard to distinguish between original work and adaptations of traditional songs. Maybe the new Folkways publication will shed some light on this [see Smithsonian Folkways website]
think of the general picture, or what he's saying, listen carefully, weigh your options or thoughts of the lyrics in accordance with the general idea, and you'll get the lyrics.
Isn't that the truth! My friends and I really like Guthrie's music, but when we each play it on our phones or ipods, we have different versions causing me to sing the wrong words from time to time. Similar to MLK and his speeches if you care to notice.
you've gotta sle----ep in a lonesome graveyard You've gotta sle---ep there by yourself, Nobody here can sle-ep there for you, You've gotta sleep there by yourself. Weird second verse there @0:20 seconds
