Poor Boy Blues Lyrics I Cant Write My Own Name

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I work too hard, baby, that's why I look so beat. I strain every nerve in my attainments, tryin' to make my poor ends meet - Gabriel Brown, Got No Money Blues

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Topic: Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home (Read 8939 times)

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Hi all,
"Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home" is a song that has had a very wide circulation among Country Blues musicians, much as has "Railroad Bill". I thought to do a thread collecting different versions of the song. Just for the sake of clarity, simple inclusion of the phrase "poor boy" in a title or lyric does not place it in this song family. For example, neither Booker White's version of "Poor Boy" or Willie Lofton's "Poor Boy" belong in this family, since they're altogether different songs. In order to fall in the family, the phrase "poor boy, long ways from home" needs to featured prominently in the lyric.

Carl Hodges' "Poor Boy Blues" was recorded in Saluda, Virginia in 1979 by Kip Lornell. Hodges accompanied himself out of E position in standard tuning. The song is most often played out of Vestapol with a slide, but is played in other tunings/positions, too. I like the roughness of Carl Hodges sound; it's not one I would normally associate with a Virginia player at all. The way he just whacks the strings with his right thumb sounds really good to me.

Poor old boy, stood on the road and cried
Poor old boy, stood on the road and cried
Poor old boy, got nowhere to --

Poor old boy, long ways from home
Poor old boy, long ways from home
Poor old boy, stood on the road and cried

Poor old boy, don't know which-a-way to go
Poor old boy, don't know which-a-way to go
Poor old boy, stood on the road and cried

SOLO X 2

Poor old boy, long ways from home
Poor old boy, long ways from home
Poor old boy, got nowhere to go

Poor old boy, stood on the road and cried
Poor old boy, stood on the road and cried
Poor old boy, got nowhere to go

All best,
Johnm

« Last Edit: May 13, 2014, 02:33:53 PM by Johnm »

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Hi all,
John Hurt played his version of "Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home" out of C position in standard tuning. It has a raggy, danceable feel quite different from other versions of that song that I've heard. John Hurt either didn't have many verses for the song or could only recall two when he recorded it. His version of the song is unfamiliar to me, and I didn't know he played it.

I'm a poor old boy and a long ways from home
Feel like I ain't got no friend
(guitar finishes verse)

SOLO

I'm a poor old boy and a long ways from home
I feel like I ain't got no friend
I'm a poor old boy and a long ways from home
I feel like I ain't got no friend

Oh please, please, let me stay all night
I'm a poor old boy and a long ways from home
Oh please, please, let me stay all night
I'm a poor old boy and a long way from home

SOLO

All best,
Johnm

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Hi all,
Cat Iron recorded "Poor Boy, A Long, Long Way From Home" accompanying himself in Vestapol with a slide, as many or most versions of that song have been played. He spends a lot of time playing time in between his verses, just vamping. What a tremendous singer he was.

I'm a poor old boy, I'm a long, long ways from home
I'm a poor old boy, I'm a long ways from home
I'm a poor old boy, I'm long way from home

Ain't got nobody to feel and care for me
Ain't got nobody to feel and care for me
Says, all I had done caught the train and gone

Says, I went to the depot, I looked up at the sign
Said, I went to the depot, I looked up at the sign
Said, nothing I see would bring my baby back

Vicksburg on a high hill, N'awleans just below
Vicksburg on a high hill, N'awleans just below
If she don't come tomorrow, next day be my boat

Tell, if you don't want me, whyn't you tell me so?
Woman, if you don't want me, whyn't you tell me so?
If you don't want me, whyn't you tell me so?

All best,
Johnm

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John, I agree you've got three great and disparate examples of the song there.

There are a couple of strange things about the Cat Iron version. First, in the second verse, while I agree that you've probably correctly transcribed the word "feel," it doesn't really make sense. As I listened, I thought he was going to sing "feed," and that you had it wrong, but I hear "feel" also.

Second, the stock line "Vicksburg on a high hill, N'awleans just below" is rendered just a little different than normal--it's usually Natchez down below. A little odd, because Natchez is pretty close to Vicksburg, but New Orleans is pretty far, and I don't think I've ever heard the line sung this way.

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Hi Kokomo,
Yes, Cat Iron is singing "feel and care". The more common complaint in lyrics is that the singer has no one to "feel my care". Robert Johnson, Skip James and a host of other singers used that line. I think Cat Iron was working off of that.
What's especially strange about Cat Iron not citing Natchez as being "just below" Vicksburg is that he was a resident of Natchez and recorded there.
All best,
Johnm

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Hi all,
Unlike most of the songs that Herman E. Johnson recorded, "Po' Boy" was what might be called a Blues Standard rather than an original number, though Johnson gave it plenty of individual touches. He played it in Spanish with a slide, with the slide closely tracking the sung melody. As he gets near the end of the song, from verse three on, he reiterates the last line of the form, messing with it and sometimes concluding phrases with the slide (indicated by a dash). This vocal device of repeating the last line of a verse was often employed by Texas Alexander, whose voice bore some similarity to Herman Johnson's, though Johnson's voice is deeper than Alexander's.

I'm the poor boy and a long ways from home
I'm a poor boy and a long ways from home
I'm a poor boy here and I ain't got nowhere to go

I ain't got nowhere to lay my weary head (2)
Rather than fer (sic) you to leave I would rather see you dead

When I left her house, she followed me to her door (2)
"You ain't got no money, man, I'd rather see you go,
Man, I'd rather see you -----, and I'd rather see you go

SOLO

I am talking on that long distance phone (2)
Tryin' to call my little gal but I think she been gone too long,
I think she have been gone too -------

Now, tell me, gal, what you want me to do (2)
I tried so hard and I can't get along with you
I just can't get along with ----, get along with ----, I can't get along with ---

All best,
Johnm

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Hi all,
Ramblin' Thomas recorded "Poor Boy Blues" at the same November of 1928 session as "Ramblin' Man", and like "Ramblin' Man", "Poor Boy Blues" was played lap-style slide in Vestapol. "Poor Boy Blues" is probably the earliest exposure a lot of folks had to Ramblin' Thomas' music, for Harry Smith included it on his Anthology of American Folk Music. The song has a distinct Pre-Blues quality, and employs two-line stanzas much like Texas Alexander's "Levee Camp Moan" and "Section Gang Blues", both of which sound as though they had work song origins. The third and fourth verses are a bit baffling, as are other blues lyrics about being on the sea or water. Thomas phrases his vocal right on top of the guitar playing the melody, and the match of voice and instrument is terrific.