(Front cover: hand drawn, mimeographed with watercolor(?) self portrait embellishment… Words handwritten, not typed)
(Title)
Biggest Thing
True Love
Grand Coolee* Dam
Jackhammer John
This Land
Talking Blues
Ship in the Sky
East Texas Red
Bed On Your Floor
Hard Traveling
With an introduction by the author
April 3rd, 1945
Copyright 1945 W. Guthrie
3520 Mermaid Ave., Brooklyn,24, New York
(Typos and mis-spelling* intact throughout… some cross-outs in original)
BOOK ONE,TEN SONGS
COPYRIGHT: WOODY GUTHRIE (signature) 25 (cents)
IN THESE TEN SONGS you will hear a lot of music of a lot of races. Songs of every color. Every people loves and copies the songs and the music, the ideas, the customs, of all the other races.
SONGS LIKE THESE soak into every wall, hall, factory, every hull of every ship, every hammer coming down on every anvil, every seed falling down into every row, every hand moving with a dust rag, a wheel, a lever, a dial, a handle, a button pushed.
IF YOU WILL LISTEN TO YOURSELF while you do your work you will hear yourself hum and sing your own song about your own life. You are making up a folk song. You have really made up a whole ballad. If you take the time to write down all of those whirling words and tunes in your own mind about the folks that you know you would be famous as a composer.
I HAVE NEVER HEARD a nation of people sing an editorial out of a paper. A man sings about the little things that help him or hurt his people and he sings of what has got to be done to fix this world like it ought to be. These songs are singing history. History is being sung. I have sung them in several hundred Union Halls and not one single time have I seen them fail. People clap and yell. Get hot and sweat, unloosen their collars, and sing on for hours.
OUR SHIPS ARE MANNED BY MEN OF ALL TONGUES and colors and I saw the whole world there before my eyes while I sang to the men a dozen spells a day, between working hours washing dishes. No matter who you are or where you’re from, no matter what your color or your language, you will taste, hear, see and feel an old spark of your whole life somewhere in these songs. Cubans, Mexicans, Philipinos*, Chinese, Scotch, Irish, Russian, French and German, all have told me, "This sounds exactly like it is in my country". These songs are a world mixture. The tunes and the words have been sung across all of the oceans by all of us, and up out of the past dark centuries.
I HAVE WALKED AND LISTENED to these songs in the TennesseeValley* and heard versions on top of Pike’s Peak and along the Columbia River. But I did not hear any of them on the radio. I did not hear any of them in the movie house. I did not hear a single ounce of our history being sung on the nickel juke box. The Big Boys don’t want to hear our history of blood, sweat, work, and tears, of slums, bad housing, diseases, big blisters or big callouses*, nor about our fight to have unions and free speech and a family of nations. But the people want to hear about all of these things in every possible way. The playboys and the playgals* don’t work to make our history plain to us nor to point out to us which road to travel next. They hire out to hide our history from us and to point toward every earthly stumbling block.
TEN SONGS -2-
HOLLYWOOD SONGS DON'T LAST. Broadway songs are sprayed with hundreds of thousands of dollars to get them sprouted and going. They sprout, they burst they bloom and they fade. Wagonloads of your good money are shoveled and scattered onto them, but they are not our true history and we don't take them deep into our heart.
THE MONOPOLY ON MUSIC pays a few pet writers to go screwy trying to write and rewrite the same old notes under the same old formulas and the same old patterns. The songs have no soul. They sound sissified, timid, the spinning dreams of (illegible) neurotic screwballs. How can they be otherwise when they have no connection with the work and the fight of the whole human race? They are bad. They are hurtful, poisonous, complacent, distracting, full of jerky headaches and jangled nerves. I have seen soldiers and sailors on ships sail these insane records over into the water by the dozens. I have heard fighting men in war zones scream and demand that the gibbery* radio be shut off or it would be smashed.
SEVERAL MILLION SKULLS HAVE BEEN CRACKED WHILE OUR HUMAN RACE has worked and fought it's way up to be union. Do the big bands and the orgasm girls sing a single solitary thing about that? No. Not a croak. Our spirit of work and sacrifice they cannot sing about because their brain is bought and paid for by the Big Money Boys who own and control them and who hate our world union. They hate our real songs, our fight songs, our work songs, our union songs because these are the Light of Truth and the mind of the racketeer cannot face our Light. I would not care so much how they choose to waste their own personal lives but it is your money that they are using to hide your own history from you and to make your future a worse one. Some day you will have a voice in how all of your money is spent and then your songs will have some meaning. The British Government and the Soviets were forced to take over all of these things and their songs, records and programs are a thousand times better, they had to milk out all traces of complacency, sissiness*, cowardliness, and tendencies to run and hide, or to turn into a nation of jerks. They took away all racial hatred, racial teasing, racial insults, racial jokes that were narrow and yellow, and it has been for the good of their people. They sing of the dignity of the work of the people and no racketeer cashes in on foney* sexual fits. Workers smile and work and soldiers smile and fight, with no rattled brain frothers* to wreck your nerves.
This is a Bible Story sort of brought up to streamline. It’s told like a big tall tale but I’ll stand for the truth of it. I’ll meet any living person in a public debate at high noon on the green grass of Union Square to prove that it is nothing but pure unwatered* goldplated* facts. Never do I stretch the facts even a smillionth* of an inch. I tell you how a man jumped up across the ocean and I guess you know him well, his name is Adolf Hitler, we’ll burn his soul in hell. This world is digging Slavery’s grave and when this work is done that will be the biggest thing that man has ever done.
TEN SONGS -3-
GRAND COOLEE DAM If you ever want to build a house orlight* up a town, or bring the people power, the secret is this: Sing about your people, not about your millionaire play folks. The rich ones hired airplanes full of entertainers and stars to come up to Oregon, Washington, Montana and Wyoming and tell the people that they didn’t need no Coolee Dam at all, that is, not for the next couple of centuries. Take too much work and materials and would make the wheels run entirely too nice and light up the country entirely too bright. The world didn’t need no more houses with electricity in them, no more factory towns singing with light metals and aluminum, no more flying fortresses zipping through the clouds. Then I sung another little song to sort of put these airplane loads of fonies* back in their place.
THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME: After we built the Coolee Dam we had to sell the people out there a lot of bonds to get the money to buy the copper wire and high lines and pay a whole big bunch of people at work and I don’t know what all. We called them Public Utility Bonds, just like a War Bond, same thing. (And a lot of poltitians* told the folks not to buy them but we sold them anyhow). The main idea about this song is, you think about these eight words all the rest of your life and they’ll come a bubbling up into Eighty Jillion* all Union. Try it and see. THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.
HARD TRAVELING This is not a song about the hard trav-
eling* of the working people, not about the moonstruck mystic traveling of the professional vacationists*. Song about a man that has rode the flat wheelers, kicked up cinders, dumped the red hot slag, hit the hard rock tunneling, hard harvesting, the hard rock jail, looking for a woman that’s hard to find.
JACKHAMMER JOHN I guess I went by a million names and nobody knows me yet. And I don’t guess I even know my own self yet. Maybe I don’t know my own country here yet. I danced my duck on the whippachuck* and skippered* the blue canoe. I outworked old Paul Bunyan and six of his blue babe oxes*. I can knock down more rock with my jackhammer in ten minutes than old Pecos Bill can by riding a cyclone to a dead stop. I hired out up here on this Saint Lawrence Seaway just lately and I ain’t seen nobody around here that can turn out half as much work with both hands as I can with one. My name’s Jackhammer John and I say we need more seaways, more shipways*, more skyways, shiptrails* and barge lines, more loading ports and more hands at work around here. My old jackhammer runs whitehot* to win this war and to kill fascism, but she runs a lot hotter to build this old world back up again. Gonna be a nice old world to look at when we all get to working together on her.
BED ON YOUR FLOOR I sing this song mainly just to make you think that I had a little run in with a man and had to lay him dead down on the floor, that the sheriff’s on my trail with his big forty four, that the clock’s striking midnight with daylight to go. But the mainest* reason why I’m singing it is just to get to lay my head in a bed on your floor.
TEN SONGS -4-
TALKING BLUES. Me talking. Me a talking. Out of my way folks this is me. Just me just me. You don’t have to tell me who I am, I already know it’s me. I know you’re likeing* it and it’s tick-ling me smack smooth to death.
EAST TEXAS RED is a tale that I heard riding the freights and bumming around down along the Southeast Texas Gulf. Story of a man that thinks (or thought) like a fascist, I mean like a bully, or something super drooper. He thought he could push other folks around or sock them in jail if they sassed him back. He had the power to make a work slave out of you just for speaking your mind in front of him. He caused hundreds of thousands of men, woman*, kids to worry, to wonder, to walk the long walk, to bow down their heads and cry. Red and men like him have been a part of an old wore out slave system in a lot of states, actually giving him the power of a Nazi Storm Trooper. This song will show you that East Texas Red didn’t get his business fixed.
DON’T LIE TO ME. Song about a family that worked on the railroad. Built the railroad. Killed by the railroad. Never did ride the nice big easy coach nor drive the big engine on account of a disease called Jim Crow. A disease as bad if not worse than the cancer. But now we’re fighting a war to kill every trace of this plague called White (or any other color) Supremacy. Jim Crow and Fascism are one and the same vine. And this song will be sung by me and by you a thousand years after fascism is killed, this song we’ll sing the first thing in the morning of our new union world. I know. I know because I happen to be the daddy of all of this whole big family of nations. A song about a family by the big fast railroad that always whistled on past them. You will sing this story like this was your family because this song will go to show you that we are all in the same big family. I got some awful wise children. They’ll build some awful fast railroads in the air.
Woody Guthrie
(signature, handwritten
address below… )
3520 Mermaid Ave.,
Brooklyn,24,N.Y.
(sketch below of stick figure with guitar running, buildings in background)
(hand written notes on the page bottom along with self portrait singing and playing…)
"Fascism fought/ Indoors and out/ Good & bad weather/ Full & empty halls"
"If you want to get in touch with me, here is the dope:
Variety Programs/ 80 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y./ Phone GR:3-3323
THE BIGGEST THING
THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE
Words and Music by. . . .Woody Guthrie
(sheet music, hand drawn, lyrics below were typed in all caps)
I'M JUST A LONESOME TRAVELER THE GREAT HISTORICAL BUM
I'M HIGHLY EDUCATED FROM HISTORY I HAVE COME
I BUILT THE ROCK OF AGES THAT WAS THE YEAR OF ONE
AND THAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
I WORKED THE GARDEN OF EDEN 'TWAS IN THE YEAR OF TWO
JOINED THE APPLE PICKER'S UNION AND ALWAYS PAID MY DUE
I'M THE MAN THAT SIGNED THE CONTRACT TO RAISE THE RISING SUN
AND THAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
I WAS STRAW BOSS ON THE PYRAMIDS AND TOWER OF BABEL TOO
I OPENED UP THE OCEAN LET THE MIGRANT CHILDREN THROUGH
I FOUGHT A MILLION BATTLES AND I NEVER LOST A ONE
THAT'S ABOUT THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
I BEAT THE DARING ROMAN AND I BEAT THE DARING TURK
DEFEATED NERO'S ARMY WITH THIRTY MINUTES WORK
I MET THE GREATEST LEADERS AND LICKED THEM EVERY ONE
THAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
I WAS IN THE REVOLUTION WHEN WE SET THE COUNTRY FREE
ME AND A COUPLE OF INDIANS THAT DUMPED THE BOSTON TEA
WON THE BATTLE AT VALLEY FORGE AND BATTLE OF BULLY RUN
AND THAT'S ABOUT THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
THERE'S A MAN ACROST* THE OCEAN AND I GUESS YOU KNOW HIM WELL
HIS NAME IS ADOLF HITLER AND I'LL BURN HIS SOUL IN HELL
I KICKED HIM IN HIS PANZERS AND I PUT HIM ON THE RUN
AND THAT'S ABOUT THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE
THERE'S WAREHOUSE GUYS AND TEAMSTERS AND GUYS THAT SKIN THE CATS
WOMEN THAT RUN THE BIG MILL THE FURNACE AND THE BLAST
WE'LL STOP THESE AXIS RATTLESNAKES AND THIEVES OF OLD NIPPON
AND THIS WILL BE THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
THERE MINES AND MILLS AND FACTORIES THAT RUN FOR THIS BIG LAND
BACKING UP THE SERVICE MEN THAT FIGHT ON EVERY HAND
THE JOB IS AWFUL TOUGH AND WILL TAKE US EVERY ONE
BUT THIS WILL BE THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
WELL I BETTER QUIT MY TALKING 'CAUSE I TOLD YOU ALL I KNOW
BUT PLEASE REMEMBER PARDNER WHEREVER YOU MAY GO
THE WORLD IS DIGGING SLAVERY'S GRAVE AND WHEN THE JOB IS DONE
THIS'LL BE THE BIGGEST THING THAT MAN HAS EVER DONE.
**************************************************************
THIS WORLD IS YOUR WORLD TAKE IT EASY BUT TAKE IT.
(HAND WRITTEN NOTE IN MARGIN… )
"Like to have your ideas for my next songbook. W.G."
BIG GRAND COOLEE DAM
Words and Music by . . . Woody Guthrie
(Sketch of factory and houses with hand written note
"Recorded by ASCH Records/ U.S. Dept. Interior/ Bonneville Power Admin./ Portland, Ore."
hand written sheet music follows, then lyrics.)
WELL THE WORLD HAS SEVEN WONDERS THAT THE TRAVELLERS ALWAYS TELL
SOME GARDENS AND SOME FLOWERS I GUESS YOU KNOW THEM WELL
BUT NOW THE GREATEST WONDER IS IN UNCLE SAM'S FAIR LAND
IT'S THAT KING COLUMBIA RIVER AND THAT BIG GRAND COOLEE DAM!
SHE HEADS UP THE CANADIAN ROCKIES WHERE THE RIPPLING WATERS GLIDE
COMES RUMBLING DOWN HER CANYON TO MEET THAT SALTY TIDE
OF THAT WIDE PACIFIC OCEAN WHERE THE SUN SETS IN THE WEST
IN THAT BIG GRAND COOLEE COUNTRY THE LAND I LOVE THE BEST.
SHE WINDS DOWN HER GRANITE CANYON AND SHE BENDS ACROSS THE LEA
LIKE A SILVER RUNNING STALLION DOWN HER SEAWAY TO THE SEA
CAST YOUR EYES UPON THE GREATEST THING YET BUILT BY HUMAN HANDS
ON THAT KING COLUMBIA RIVER IT'S THAT BIG GRAND COOLEE DAM.
IN THAT MISTY CRYSTAL GLITTER OF HER WILD AND WINDWARD SPRAY
WE CARVED A MIGHTY HISTORY OF THE SACRIFICES MADE
SHE RIPPED OUR BOATS TO SPLINTERS BUT SHE GAVE US DREAMS DREAM
OF THE DAY THE COOLEE DAM WOULD CROSS THAT WILD AND WASTED STREAM
WE ALL TOOK UP THIS CHALLENGE IN THE YEAR OF THIRTY THREE
FOR THE FARMER AND THE FACTORY AND ALL OF YOU AND ME
WE SAID ROLL ALONG COLUMBIA, YOU CAN RAMBLE TO YOUR SEA
BUT RIVER WHILE YOU'RE RAMBLING YOU CAN DO A LITTLE WORK FOR ME!
NOW IN WASHINGTON AND OREGON YOU HEAR THE FACTORIES HUM
MAKING CHROME AND MAKING MANGANESE AND LIGHT ALUMINUM
AND YOU SEE A FLYING FORTRESS WING HER WAY FOR FREEDOM LAND
SPAWNED UP ON THAT KING COLUMBIA BY THAT BIG GRAND COOLEE DAM.
******************
For more copies of this song book: WOODIE GUTHRIE
3520 Mermaid Avenue,
Brooklyn, 24, New York
(illustration below… rough sketch… framed pic of river and dam?
Words, "More songbooks?" and arrow pointed to address)
T H I S L AND
Words and Music by: W.W. Woody Guthrie
(sketches, sheet music… )
CHORUS: THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND THIS LAND IS MY LAND.
FROM THE REDWOOD FOREST TO THE NEW YORK ISLAND
THE CANADIAN MOUNTAIN TO THE GULF STREAM WATERS
THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.
AS I GO WALKING THIS RIBBON OF HIGHWAY
I SEE ABOVE ME THIS ENDLESS SKYWAY
AND ALL AROUND ME THE WIND KEEPS SAYING:
THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.
I ROAM AND I RAMBLE AND I FOLLOW MY FOOTSTEPS
TILL I COME TO THE SANDS OF HER MINERAL DESERT
THE MIST IS LIFTING AND THE VOICE IS SAYING:
THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.
WHERE THE WIND IS BLOWING I GO A STROLLING
THE WHEAT FIELD WAVING AND THE DUST A ROLLING
THE FOG IS LIFTING AND THE WIND IS SAYING
THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.
NOBODY LIVING CAN EVER STOP ME
AS I GO WALKING MY FREEDOM HIGHWAY
NOBODY LIVING CAN MAKE ME TURN BACK
THIS LAND IS MADE FOR YOU AND ME.
"Sing it H A R D T R A V E L I N G
like words and music by: W.W. Woody Guthrie
you
mean it"
I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING I BEEN HITTING SOME HARD HARVESTING
I THOUGHT YOU KNOWED I THOUGHT YOU KNOWED
I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING I BEEN HITTING SOME ROUGH HANDLING
WAY DOWN THE ROAD WAY DOWN THE ROAD
I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING CUT THAT WHEAT AN STACK THAT HAY
HARD RAMBLING HARD GAMBLING TRYING TO MAKE A DOLLAR A DAY
I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING
LORD LORD
I BEEN A RIDING THEM FAST RATTLERS I BEEN MAKING A LAYIN IN A HARD ROCK JAIL
I THOUGHT YOU KNOWED I THOUGH YOU KNOWED
I BEEN RIDING THEM FLAT WHEELERS I BEEN LAYING OUT NINETY DAYS
WAY DOWN THE ROAD WAY DOWN THE ROAD
I BEEN A RIDING THEM BLIND PASSENGERS MEAN OLD JUDGE HE SAY TO ME
DEAD ENDERS KICKIN UP CINDERS IT'S NINETY DAYS FOR VAGRANCY
I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING
LORD LORD
I BEEN WORKING IN A HARD ROCK TUNNEL
I THOUGHT YOU KNOWED I BEEN HITTING THAT LINCOLN HIGHWAY
I BEEN LEANING ON A PRESSURE DRILL I THOUGHT YOU KNOWED
WAY DOWN THE ROAD I BEEN HITTING THAT SIXTY SIX
HAMMER FLYING AIR HOSE SUCKIN WAY DOWN THE ROAD
SIX FEET OF MUD I SURE BEEN MUCKING HEAVY LOAD AND A WORRIED MIND
I BEEN HAVING SOME HARD TRAVELING LOOKING FOR A WOMAN
LORD THAT'S HARD TO FIND
I BEEN A HAVIN SOME HARD OLD
TRAVELING LORD
JACKHAMMER JOHN (Hand written title)
Words & Music by: W.W. Woody Guthrie
(hand written sheet music)
I'M JACKHAMMER JOHN JACKHAMMER JACKHAMMER
A JACKHAMMER MAN WHERE YOU BEEN
BORN WITH A JACKHAMMER BEEN OUTTA CHASIN THEM
IN MY HAND GALS AGAIN
LORD LORD I GOT THEM HO HO HO WELL I GOT THEM JACKHAMMER BLUES JACKHAMMER BLUES
JACKHAMMER MAN SEE MY WOMAN
FROM A JACKHAMMER TOWN WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN
BUILT EVERY PORT GRAB MY HAMMER
FROM THE NORTH POLE DOWN AND GO TO TOWN
LORD GOD I GOT THEM YES FOLKS
JACKHAMMER BLUES I GOT THEM JACKHAMMER BLUES
HAMMERED IN THE RAIN MADE EVERY STATE IN THE
HAMMERED IN THE DUST RED WHITE AND BLUE
HAMMERED IN THE BEST LOOKING FOR A JACKHAMMER JOB TO DO
AND I HAMMERED IN THE WORST RIDE EASY
HAMMERED IN THE EAST I GOT THEM
HAMMERED IN THE WEST JACKHAMMER BLUES
HAMMERED TO THE ONE GOT A JACKHAMMER WOMAN
THAT I LIKE THE BEST JUST AS SWEET AS PIE
HEY HEY HEY GONNA
I GOT THEM JACKHAMMER BLUES HAMMER ON THE HAMMER
TILL THE DAY I DIE
HAMMERED UNDER WATER LORD GOD HAVE MERCY
HAMMERED UNDER ROCK I GOT THEM
HAMMER ON THE RAILROAD JACKHAMMER BLUES
HAMMER ON THE DOCKS
YES YES YES
I GOT THEM JACKHAMMER BLUES
HAMMER IN THE MILL HAMMER IN THE MINE
HAMMERED OUTTA JAIL A HUNDRED TIME
GREAT GOOD GOD
I GOT THEM
JACKHAMMER BLUES
BED ON YOUR FLOOR (hand written)
Words & Music by: W.W. Woody Guthrie
(hand written sheet music, sketches… )
CHORUS: MAKE ME A BED RIGHT DOWN ON YOUR FLOOR
MAKE ME A BED RIGHT DOWN ON YOUR FLOOR
I'LL REST MY HEAD IN A BED ON YOUR FLOOR
I'M A POOR LONESOME BOY I'M A LONG WAY FROM HOME
I'M A POOR LONESOME BOY I'M A LONG WAY FROM HOME
AND I'LL REST MY HEAD IN A BED ON YOUR FLOOR
SHERIFF ON MY TRAIL WITH A BIG FORTY FOUR
SHERIFF ON MY TRAIL WITH A BIG FORTY FOUR
AND I'LL REST MY HEAD IN A BED ON YOUR FLOOR
CLOCK STRIKING MIDNIGHT AND DAYLIGHT TO GO
CLOCK STRIKING MIDNIGHT AND DAYLIGHT TO GO
AND I'LL REST MY HEAD IN A BED ON YOUR FLOOR
PULL DOWN YOUR SHADE AND LOCK UP YOUR DOOR
PULL DOWN YOUR SHADE AND LOCK UP YOUR DOOR
AND I'LL REST MY HEAD IN A BED ON YOUR FLOOR
THAT BULLY OF THE TOWN WON'T BULLY ME NO MORE
THAT BULLY OF THE TOWN WON'T BULLY ME NO MORE
'CAUSE I LAID HIM DEAD ON THE OLD BAR ROOM
FLOOR
I LAID A MAN DEAD DOWN ON THE FLOOR
I LAID A MAN DEAD DOWN ON THE FLOOR
SO I'LL REST MY HEAD IN A BED ON YOUR FLOOR.
MAKE ME A BED RIGHT DOWN ON YOUR FLOOR
MAKE ME A BED RIGHT DOWN ON YOUR FLOOR
BABY I'LL REST MY HEAD IN A BED ON YOUR FLOOR
(hand written note… "What's your request?/for my next song BOOK?"
TALKING BLUES
(Hand written title… great sketches here! Little faces with different expressions next to each
verse in the left margin. Angel, doodles, stick figures running and chasing in the right margin along with a tall stick figure and hand written down the right side…
"Main idea is to add your own verses/ If you don't/ You've got/ To/ FORFEIT SOMETHING"
IF YOU WANT TO GET TO HEAVEN TELL YOU WHAT TO DO
GOTTA GREASE YOUR FEET WITH SOME GOOD BEEF STEW
SLIDE IT RIGHT OUT OF THE DEVIL'S HAND
AND SLIDE IT OVER INTO THE PROMISED LAND BUT GO EASY GO GREASY
STANDING IN THE CORNER BY THE MANTLE PIECE
UP IN THE CORNER BY A BUCKET OF GREASE
I STUCK MY FOOT IN THAT BUCKET OF GREASE
AND GO A SLIP[PING UP AND DOWN THE MANTLE PIECE
HUNTING MATCHES. CIGARET* STUBS. SHORTAGE ON.
DOWN IN THE HENHOUSE ON MY KNEES
I THOUGHT I HEARD A CHICKEN SNEEZE
NOTHING BUT A ROOSTER SAYING HIS PRAYERS
THANKING HIS GOD FOR THE HENS UPSTAIRS
ROOSTER PREACHING. HEN A SINGING. HENOHOUSE* SHAKING.
DOWN IN THE HOLLER JUST SETTINGONNA* LOG
MY HAND ON MY TRIGGER AND MY EYE ON A HOG
PULLED THAT TRIGGER AND THE GUN WENT "BIPPPP'
I GRABBED THAT HOG WITH ALL MY GRIP
CAIN'T EAT HOGS EYES BUT I LOVE CHITLINS.
I GOT A GAL JUST OVER THE HILL
SHE WON'T KISS LIKE HER SISTER WILL
NEVER TAKES A BATH NOT EVEN A RUB
'FRAID SHE'LL SLIDE THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE TUB.
AWFUL SKINNY. BONY. CUT A MAN LIKE A RAZOR.
NOT A BIT OF USE IN WORKING SO HARD
I GOT A WOMAN IN THE RICH FOLKS YARD
WHEN SHE KILLS A CHICKEN SHE SENDS ME THE FEET
THINKS I'M WORKING WHEN I'M LOAFING THE STREET.
LISTENING TO ALL THE BACK TALK. GOSSIP.
NOT NO USE IN ME WORKING SO HARD
I GOT A WOMAN IN THE RICH FOLKS YARD
WHEN THEY KILL A CHICKEN SHE SENDS ME THE HEAD
THINKS I'M WORKING HARD WHEN I'M LAYING IN BED.
DREAMING ABOUT HER. TWO OTHER WOMEN.
LOTS OF FOLKS TELL YOU THAT A PREACHER WON'T STEAL
BUT I CAUGHT THREE DOWN IN MY CORN FIELD
ONE HAD A BUSHEL AND THE OTHER HAD A PECK
THE OTHER'N HAD A LONG COTTON SACK.
HALF FULL OR FULLER. ROASTING EARS. HEWASASSTEALING*.
WHEN I GET TO EATING PORK CHOPS I CAINT STOP
AINT NO KIND OF GRAVY I CAINTT* SOP
GRAB THAT BONE IN BOTH OF MY HANDS
AND LISTEN TO MY LIPS GO FLIPPPITYYY FLOPPPPP
BORN LIKING IT. SLICKER THE BETTER. EASE ON IN HOME.
I WENT TO CHURCH THE OTHER NIGHT
SEE IF EVERYBODY HAD BEEN LIVING RIGHT
LADY GOT RELIGION AND WAVED HER HANDS
(Darn! The last couple of lines slipped off the mimeograph!!
Guess we'll have to add our own or forfeit something!)
EAST TEXAS RED A BALLAD BY WOODY GUTHRIE
(Hand written title, doodles and lead sheet)
DOWN IN THE SCRUB OAK TIMBER OF THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS GULF
THERE USED TO RIDE A BRAKEMAN AND A BRAKEMAN DOUBLE TOUGH
HE WORKED THE TOWN OF KILGORE AND LONGVIEW NINE MILES DOWN
US TRAVELERS CALLED HIM EAST TEXAS RED THE MEANEST BULL AROUND
I RODE BY NIGHT AND BY BROAD DAYLIGHT IN WIND AND SNOW AND SUN
I ALWAYS SEEN LITTLE EAST TEXAS RED SPORTING HIS SMOOTH RUNNING GUN
THE TALE GOT SWITCHED DOWN THE STEMS AND MAIN AND EVERYBODY SAID
THE MEANEST MAN ON THE SHINEY RAILS WAS LITTLE EAST TEXAS RED
IT WAS EARLY IN THE MORNING AND ALONG TOWARDS NINE OR TEN
A COUPLE OF BOYS ON THE HUNT OF A JOB STOOD IN THE BLIZZARDY WIND
HUNGRY AND COLD THEY KNOCKED ON THE DOORS OF THE WORKING FOLKS AROUND
FOR A PIECE OF MEAT AND A SPUD OR TWO TO BOIL A STEW AROUND
RED HE COMES DOWN THE CINDER DUMP AND HE FLAGGED THE NUMBER TWO
HE KICKED THEIR BUCKET OVER A BUSH AND HE DUMPED OUT ALL THEIR STEW
A TRAVELER SAID MISTER EAST TEXAS RED YOU BETTER GET EVERYTHING FIXED
'CAUSE YOU'RE GONNA RIDE YOUR LITTLE BLACK TRAIN JUST ONE YEAR FROM
TODAY
RED HE LAUGHED AS HE CLUMB THE BANK AND SWUNG ASIDE OF A WHEELER
THE BOYS CAUGHT A TANKER TO SEMINOLE AND WEST TO AMARILLO
THEY STRUCK THEM A JOB OF OIL FIELD WORKDAND* FOLLOWED A PIPE LINE DOWN
IT TOOK THEM LOTS OF PLACES TILL THE YEAR HAD ROLLED AROUND
ON ONE COLD AND WINTERY DAY THEY HOOKED THEM A GULF BOUND TRAIN
THEY SHIVVERED* AND SHOOK WITH DOUGH IN THEIR CLOTHES TO OLD KILGORE
AGAIN
OVER HILLS OF SAND AND HARD FROZE ROADS WHERE THE(x)COTTON WAGONS ROLL
ON PAST THE TOWN OF KILGORE AND ON TO OLD LONGVIEW
WITH THEIR WARM SUITS OF CLOTHES AND OVERCOATS THEY WALK INTO A STORE
THEY PAY A MAN FOR SOME MEAT AND STUFF TO FIX A STEW ONCE MORE
THE TIES THEY WALK BACK PAST THE YARDS TILL THEY COME TO THE SAME OLD
SPOT
WHERE EAST TEXAS RED JUST A YEAR AGO HAD DUMPED THEIR LAST STEW POT
THE SMOKE OF THEIR FIRE WENT HIGHER AND HIGHER A MAN COME DOWN THE LINE
HE DUCKED HIS HEAD IN THE BLIZZARDY WIND AND WAVED OLD NUMBER NINE
HE WALKED OFF DOWN THE CINDER DUMP TILL HE COME TO THE SAME OLD SPOT
AND THERE WAS THE SAME THREE MEN AGAIN AROUND THAT SAME LITTLE POT
RED WENT TO HIS KNEES AGAIN AND HE HOLLERED PLEASE DON'T PULL THAT TRIGGER
ON ME
I DID NOT GET MY BUSINESS FIXED BUT HE DID NOT GET HIS SAY
A GUN WHEELED OUT OF AN OVERCOAT AND IT PLAYED THE OLD ONE TWO
AND RED WAS DEAD WHEN THE OTHER TWO MEN SET DOWN TO EAT THEIR STEW
DON'T LIE TO ME
T R U E L O V E
Collected Version. . . . . . . Woody Guthrie
(hand lead sheet, doodles… )
TRUE LOVE. TRUE LOVE MY HUSBAND WAS
DON'T LIE TO ME A RAILROAD MAN
TELL ME WHERE DID YOU SLEEP LAST NIGHT? KILLED A MILE AND A HALF
I SLEPT IN THE PINES FROM HERE
WHERE THE SUN NEVER SHINES I FOUND HIS HEAD
AND I SHIVVERED* IN AN ENGINE WHEEL
WITH A COLD DEADLY COLD BUT HIS BODY
I WISH TO THE LORD THEY NEVER DID FIND
I'D A NEVER BEEN BORN TRUE LOVE TRUE LOVE
OR DIED WHEN I WAS YOUNG TELL ME WHERE
I NEVER WOULD A KISSED WILL YOU GO
YOUR SWEET LIPS I'M GONNA GO
NOR HEARD YOUR RATTLING TONGUE WHERE THE COLD
TELL ME WHERE DID YOU GET WINDS BLOW
THEM PRETTY LITTLE SHOES GONNA WEEP
AND THE DRESS GONNA CRY
THAT YOU WEAR SO FINE GONNA MOAN
I GOT MY SHOES GONNA SIGH
FROM A RAILROAD MAN GONNA DANCE
GOT MY DRESS IN MY GOOD TIME CLOTHES
FROM A DRIVER IN THE MINE YES MY HUSBAND WAS
THE LONGEST TRAIN A RAILROAD MAN
I EVER DID RIDE WAS THE BEST
IT WAS A HUNDRED COACHES LONG IN THIS HIGH LONESOME WORLD
THE ONLY WOMAN THE ONLY THING
MY HEART EVER LOVED THAT HE EVER DONE WRONG
SHE'S ON THAT TRAIN AND GONE WAS TO MISS
THEM LONG STEEL RAILS JUST ONE
THEM SHORT CROSS TIES LITTLE CURVE
I'M TRAMPING TRUE LOVE TRUE LOVE
MY WAY BACK HOME DON'T LIE TO ME
LONGEST OLD TRAIN TELL ME WHERE
IN THIS WHOLE WIDE WORLD DID YOU SLEEP
COME ROUND JOE BROWN'S COAL MINE LAST NIGHT
HEADLIGHT COME AROUND I SLEPT IN THE PINE
WHEN THE SUN COME UP WHERE THE SUN
THE CABOOSE NEVER SHINES
WHEN THE SUN WENT DOWN AND I SHIVVERED*
WITH A COLD
DEADLY COLD
As you sing this song down along the years you will come to like it better and better.
And every time you sing it you will sing it just a little bit different.
One of these nights you will… (last line dropped off mimeograph).
SHIP IN THE SKY (Hand written title… lots of doodles, etc. )
Words & Music: W.W. Woody Guthrie
(lead sheet)
A CURLEY HEADED KID WITH A SUNSHINY SMILE
HEARD THE ROAR OF A PLANE AS IT SAILED THROUGH THE SKY
TO HER PLAYMATES SHE SAID WITH A BRIGHT TWINKLING EYE
MY DADDY RIDES THAT SHIP IN THE SKY!
MY DADDY RIDES THAT SHIP IN THE SKY
MY DADDY RIDES THAT SHIP IN THE SKY
MAMA'S NOT AFRAID SO NEITHER AM I
MY DADDY RIDES THAT SHIP IN THE SKY
A PUG NOSE KID THEN KICKED UP HIS HEEL
SAID MY DADY WORKS IN THE IRON AND STEEL
IF YOU'RE NOT AFRAID THEN NEITHER AM I
MY DADDY KEEPS YOUR DADDY UP THERE SO HIGH
MY DADDY KEEPS YOUR DADDY UP THERE SO HIGH
MY DADDY KEEPS YOUR DADDY UP THERE SO HIGH
IF YOU'RE NOT AFRAID THEN NEITHER AM I
'CAUSE MY DADDY KEEPS YOUR DADDY UP THERE SO HIGH
A FRECKLE FACE GIRL PINCHED HER TOE IN THE SAND
SAYS MY DADDY WORKS AT THE PLACE WHERE THEY LAND
SO YOU TELL YOUR MAMA DON'T BE AFRAID
'CAUSE MY DAD'LL BRING YOUR DADDY HOME AGAIN
(Hand written notes and doodles..)
I'M NOT LOST
HOW'S ALL/ YOUR/ FOLKS?
LIKE TO/ HEAR FROM YOU
HOW DO I GET/ OUT OF HERE/ TO THE/ CITY LIMITS?
I LIVE IN THAT (?)
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