Mighty Day

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Commemorating the great Galveston Flood, which began on September 8, 1900. I recorded this song with minor differences in 1961, when I worked as accompanist for the Chad Mitchell Trio on their album, 'Mighty Day On Campus.'

We are now in the height of hurricane season and have already suffered loss from hurricane Georges. A strong hurricane can do as much damage as a nuclear bomb, and should be respected.

Lyrics:
Em B7
I remember one September,
Em B7
When storm winds swept the town;
Em Am
The high tide from the ocean, Lord,
B7 Em
Put water all around.
Em Em7
cho: Wasn't that a mighty day,
A Am
A mighty day
Em
A mighty day,
B7
Great God, that morning
Em
When the storm winds swept the town!

There was a sea-wall there in Galveston
To keep the waters down,
But the high tide from the ocean, Lord,
Put water in the town.

The trumpets warned the people,
'You'd better leave this place!'
But they never meant to leave their homes
Till death was in their face.

The trains they all were loaded
With people leaving town;
The tracks gave way to the ocean, Lord,
And the trains they went on down.

The seas began to rolling,
The ships they could not land;
I heard a Captain crying,
'God, please save a drowning man!'

The waters, like some river,
Came a-rushing to and fro;
I saw my father drowning, God,
And I watched my mother go!

Now death, your hands are icy;
You've got them on my knee.
You took away my mother,
Now you're coming after me!

Home On The Range

In the mid to late 40s, I was in love with the Wild West. I had cowboy boots, two cap guns, a cowboy hat, and Roy Rogers was my hero. It was a magical time when the lines between good and evil were so clearly defined, and the good guys always won. I have wonderful memories of riding the range of Chicago on my bicycle, and singing the cowboy songs that I heard on the radio. This was one of those songs. According to Alan Lomax, it was first printed in 1911, and for twenty years attracted practically no attention. It is said to have been sung on the doorstep of Franklin D. Roosevelt's home by a group of newspaper reporters the night he was first elected president. So here it is in honor of the late Roy Rogers.
Lyrics:
[G] Oh give me a home where the [C] buffalo roam
And the [G] deer and the antelope [D] play
Where [G] seldom is heard a [C] discouraging word
And the [G] skies are not [D] cloudy all [G] day

Chorus
Home home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope [D] play
Where [G] seldom is heard a [C] discouraging word
And the [G] skies are not [C] cloudy
The [G] skies are not [C] cloudy
The [G] skies are not [D] cloudy all [G] day

How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the lights from the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours

Oh give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Flows leisurely down the stream;
There the graceful, white swan goes gliding along
Like a maid in a heavenly dream

Chorus

Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free
The breezes so balmy and light
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all of the cities so bright

Chorus

Note on Author:

Dr. Brewster Higley (b. 1822) of Indiana wrote this song when he lived in Kansas. The words were printed in a local paper (1873) and became a favorite song along the cattle trails. First published in 1910. The author never saw nor received a cent of royalty. His last home was in Shawnee, Ok., where he died May 17, 1911.

Thanks to David Fox for providing this information.

� Arr. 1998 McGuinn Music Roger McGuinn

John Henry

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The legend of John Henry dates back to the early 1870s during the building of the Big Bend Tunnel through the West Virginia mountains by C & O Railroad workers. To carve this tunnel, then the longest in the United States, men worked in pairs to drill holes for dynamite. One man used a large hammer to pound a huge drill, while another man screwed it into the rock.

John Henry was renowned for his strength and skill in driving the steel drills into the solid rock. One day the captain brought a newly invented steam drill to the tunnel to test. Which was stronger, man or machine? John Henry, the strongest steel driver of them all, beat the steam drill, but according to the song, the effort killed him.

Lyrics:
A
When John Henry was a little baby,
E7
Just a sittin' on his mammy's knee,
A7 D7
Said the Big Bend Tunnel on that C & O Road
A
Gonna be the death of me, Lord God
E7 A
Going to be the death of me.'

Well John Henry said to the captain,
I'm gonna take a little trip downtown
Get me a thirty pound hammer with that nine foot handle
I'll beat your steam drill down, Lord God
I'll beat your steam drill down

Well John Henry hammered on that mountain
Till his hammer was striking fire
And the very last words that I heard that boy say was
Cool drink of water 'for I die, Lord God
Cool drink of water 'for I die

Well they carried him down to the graveyard
And they buried him in the sand
And every locomotive came a roarin' on by
They cried out, 'There lies a steel drivin' man, Lord God
There lies a steel drivin' man.

Well there's some say he came from Texas
There's some say he came from Maine
Well I don't give a damn where that poor boy was from
You know that, he was a steel drivin' man, Lord God
John Henry was a steel drivin' man

Well when John Henry was a little baby,
Just a sitting on his mammy's knee,
Said the Big Bend Tunnel on that C & O Road
Gonna be the death of me, Lord God
Gonna to be the death of me.'

� 1998 McGuinn Music – Roger McGuinn

Pushboat

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This Mississippi River song speaks of the hard life
spent by the boatmen who piloted pushboats. These narrow craft traveled
downstream, being steered by a long pole, pushed against the bank. This
was a very labor intensive occupation. There were long hours of slow
going, and songs like this made the time seem to pass a little more
quickly.
Lyrics:
G
Working on a push boat
G
From Cattletsburg to Pike,
Am C
I’m working on a push boat,
Em C
For Old Man Jeffery’s Ike. X2

Working on a push boat
For fifty cents a day;
Buy a dress for Cynthie Jane,
And throw the rest away. X2

Working on a push boat,
Water’s mighty slack;
Taking sorghum ‘lasses down
And bringing sugar back. X2

Going down Big Sandy
With Pete and Lazy Sam;
When I get to Cattletsburg,
I’ll buy myself a dram. X2

I wish I had a nickel,
I wish I had a dime;
I’d spend it all on Cynthie Jane
And dress her mighty fine. X2

The weather’s mighty hot, boys,
Blisters on my feet;
Working on a push boat
To buy my bread and meat. X2

Working on a push boat,
Working in the rain;
When I get to Cattletsburg,
Hello, Cynthie Jane! X2

� McGuinn Music 1998 Roger McGuinn

James Alley Blues, The

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The James Alley Blues is song number 61 in the Harry
Smith Anthology. It was originally recorded by Richard (Rabbit) Brown
in New Orleans, LA, on March 5, 1927. Brown was one of the first
musicians to learn the twelve bar blues pattern, and was one of the most
important New Orleans folk singers to record. He was famous for his
dramatic guitar playing, which was similar in style to that of blues
man, Willie Johnson.

I have tuned to the key of the original recording which is somewhere
between C and C#, and have emulated the tempo, and blues licks Brown
played.

Lyrics:
D
The times ain�t now nothin� like they used to be
G D
The times ain�t now nothin� like they used to be
A7 D
I�ll tell you the truth; won�t you take my word from me?

I�ve seen better days, but I ain�t puttin� up with these
I�ve seen better days, but I ain�t puttin� up with these
I had lot better times with the women down in New Orleans

Cause I was born in the country she thinks I�m easy to lose
Cause I was born in the country she thinks I�m easy to lose
She wants to hitch me to a wagon and drive me like a mule

I bought her a gold ring and I paid the rent
I bought her a gold ring and I paid the rent
She wants me to wash her clothes, but I got good common sense

If you don�t want me then why don�t you just tell me so?
If you don�t want me then why don�t you just tell me so?
It ain�t like a man got nowhere to go

I give you sugar for sugar, but all you want is salt for salt
I give you sugar for sugar, but all you want is salt for salt
If you can�t get along with me, then it�s you own fault

You want me to love you, but then you just treat me mean
You want me to love you, but then you just treat me mean
You�re my daily thought; you�re my nightly dream

Sometimes I just think that you�re too sweet to die
Sometimes I just think that you�re too sweet to die
And other times I think you ought to be buried alive

� 1998 McGuinn Music – Roger McGuinn

Handsome Cabin Boy, The

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A popular broadside ballad of shipboard carryings-on.
This version from Louis Killen; it derives from that sung by one of the
greatest ballad singers of all times, Jeannie Robertson of Aberdeen.
The sailors made up these tales to amuse themselves on their long
voyages.

The guitar on this is a Rickenbacker 730L/12 acoustic, in two
inversions, E and with a capo on the second fret in the D position.

Lyrics:
E D E
It’s of a pretty female as you will understand
Her mind was set on rambling into a foreign land
She dressed herself in man’s attire and boldly did appear
And she engaged with a captain to serve him for a year.

The captain’s lady being on board, she seemed in great joy
To think that the captain had engaged such a handsome cabin boy
And many’s the time she cuddled and kissed, and she would have
liked to toy
But ’twas the captain found out the secret of the handsome cabin
boy

Her cheeks they were like roses, her hair was all a-curl
The sailors often smiled and said, he looks just like a girl
But eating the captain’s biscuit, well, her color it did destroy
And the waist did swell of pretty Nell, the handsome cabin boy.

It’s doctor, dearest doctor, the cabin boy did cry
My time has come, I am undone, surely I must die
The doctor ran with all his might, a-smiling at the fun
For to think a cabin boy could have a daughter or a son

Now when the sailors heard the joke, they all began to stare
The child belongs to none of us, they solemnly did swear
And the lady to the captain said ‘My dear I wish you joy
For it was either you or I betrayed the handsome cabin boy.’

Come all of you bold fellows and we’ll drink success to trade
And likewise to the cabin boy who was neither man nor maid
And if the wars should rise again, us sailors to destroy
Well, here’s hoping for a jolly lot more like the handsome cabin
boy.
� 1998 McGuinn Music – Roger McGuinn

Bound To Australia

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Lyrics:
D G
I am leaving old England, the land that I love
D A7 D A7
And I’m bound for across the sea;
D G
Oh, I’m bound for Australia, the land of the free
D A7 D
Where there’ll be a welcome for me.

When I board me ship for the southward to go
She’ll be looking so trim and so fine,
And I’ll land me aboard, with me bags and me stores
From the dockside they’ll cast off each line

Chorus

D G
So fill up your glasses and drink what you please
D A7 D A7
For whatever’s the damage I’ll pay
D G
So be easy and free, while you’re drinkin’ with me,
D A7 D
I’m a man you don’t meet every day!

To land’s end we’ll tow, with our boys all so tight,
Wave a hearty good-bye to the shore,
And we’ll drink the last drop to our country’s green land
And the next day we’ll nurse our heads sore.

We’ll then pass Cape Looin all shipshape and trim,
Then head up for Adelaide Port,
Off Semaphore Roads we will there drop our hook,
And ashore boys we’ll head for some sport.

Chorus

When I’ve worked in Australia for twenty long years,
One day will I head homeward bound,
With a nice little fortune tucked under me wing
By a steamship I’ll travel I’m bound

So ’tis good-bye to Sally and good-bye to Sue
When I’m leavin’ Australia so free
Where the gals are so kind, but the one left behind
Is the one that will one day splice me.

Chorus

� 1998 McGuinn Music Roger McGuinn

Finnegan's Wake

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Finnegan's Wake is an old Irish tune, but these words were added later for music-hall use during the Victorian era. Some Irish people have objected to them as an English inspired stereotype, but I first heard this song sung by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, at the Gate of Horn in Chicago, in the late 50s. To me, no one was more Irish than they were. Here it is in honor of Saint Patrick's Day.
Lyrics:
[C] Tim Finnegan lived on [Am] Walker Street
And a [F] gentle, Irishman, [G] mighty odd;
[C] He'd a beautiful brogue [Am] so rich and sweet
And to [F] rise in the world he [G] carried a [C] hod.
You see he'd a sort o' the [Am] tipplin' way
With a [C] love of the liquor poor [Am] Tim was born
And to [C] help him on with his [Am] work each day
He'd a [F] 'drop of the cray-thur' [G] every [C] morn.

Chorus:
[C] Whack fol the die do, [Am] dance to your partner
[F] Welt the floor, your [G] trotters shake;
[C] Wasn't it the [Am] truth I told you
[F] Lots of fun at [G] Finnegan's [C] wake!

2. One mornin' Tim was rather full
His head felt heavy which made him shake;
He fell from the ladder and broke his skull
And they carried him home his corpse to wake.
They rolled him up in a nice clean sheet
And laid him out upon the bed,
With a gallon of whiskey at his feet
And a barrel of porter at his head.
Chorus:

3. His friends assembled at the wake
And Mrs. Finnegan called for lunch,
First they brought in tea and cake
Then pipes, tobacco and whiskey punch.
Biddy O'Brien began to cry
'Such a nice clean corpse, did you ever see?
'Tim, mavourneen, why did you die?'
'Arragh, hold your gob' said Paddy McGee!
Chorus:
4. Then Maggie O'Connor took up the job
'O Biddy,' says she, 'You're wrong, I'm sure'
Biddy gave her a belt in the gob
And left her sprawlin' on the floor.
And then the war did soon engage
'Twas woman to woman and man to man,
Shillelagh law was all the rage
And the row and eruption soon began.
Chorus:

5. Then Mickey Maloney raised his head
When a noggin of whiskey flew at him,
It missed, and fallin' on the bed
The liquor scattered over Tim!
Tim revives! See how he raises!
Timothy rising from the bed,
Says,'Whirl your whiskey around like blazes
Thanum o'n Dhoul! Did you think I'm dead?'
Chorus:

Brandy Leave Me Alone

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This can be taken either as a love song, or as a cry
for deliverance from alcohol abuse. It’s origins are said to be African.
In honor of February 14, I prefer to interpret this as a romantic song.
Lyrics:
E
Oh, Brandy, leave me alone
A
Oh, Brandy, leave me alone
B7
Oh, Brandy, leave me alone
E
Remember I must go home

My home it is far away
My home it is far away
My home it is far away
Remember I cannot stay

Oh Brandy, you broke my heart
Oh Brandy, you broke my heart
Oh Brandy, you broke my heart
Remember that we must part

Oh, Brandy, leave me alone
Oh, Brandy, leave me alone
Oh, Brandy, leave me alone
Remember I must go home

My home it is far away
My home it is far away
My home it is far away
Remember I cannot stay

Oh Brandy, you broke my heart
Oh Brandy, you broke my heart
Oh Brandy, you broke my heart
Remember that we must part

� 1998 McGuinn Music – Roger McGuinn

Cold Cold Coast of Greenland, The

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This is a variation of a mid seventeenth century
naval war ballad, The Lowlands of Holland. A newly married couple is
torn apart by the practice of recruiting young men against their will,
and placing them in harms way on whaling vessels. As a result of losing
her husband, the young woman goes insane and vows never to enjoy the
pleasures of life again. The last verse is a common theme in Greenland
whaling songs.
Lyrics:
Dm C
Last night I was a-married and on my marriage bed
Dm C Dm
There came a bold sea captain and he stood at my bed’s head
Dm C
Saying ‘Arise arise you brisk bonny lad and come along with me
Dm C Dm
To the cold cold coast of Greenland and the sperm whale fishery’

She held her love all in her arms a-thinking he might stay
Till the cru-el captain came again he was forced to go away
‘It’s many a bright and bold young man must sail this night with me
To the cold cold coast of Greenland and the sperm whale fishery’

Her love he went on shipboard and a lofty ship was she
With a score of bold young whaler men to bear him company
But the main mast and the riggin’ they lie buried in the sea
Off the cold cold coast of Greenland in the sperm whale fishery

Said the father to the daughter ‘What makes you so lament?
There’s many a lad in our town can give your heart’s content’
‘There is no lad in all our town, no lord nor duke said she
Can ease my mind now the stormy wind has claimed my love from me’

No shoe nor stocking I’ll put on nor comb go in my hair
Nor broad daylight nor candle light shall in my room appear
Nor shall I wed with any young man until the day I die
Now the cold cold coast of Greenland has parted my love and I

Oh Greenland is a dreadful place, a place that’s never green
It’s too wild a habitation for a lover to be in
Where the icebergs grow and the whales do blow and the sunset’s
never seen
And the cold cold coast of Greenland lies between my love and me

� 1998 McGuinn Music – Roger McGuinn