Folktunes.org - Clarence Ashley

The House Carpenter - Clarence Ashley

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 09:12:40 -0500

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Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

We'll met we'll met said an old true love
We'll met we'll met said he
I'm just returning from the salt salt sea and it's all for the love of thee

Climb in climb in my old true love
And have a seat with me
It's been three-fourths of a long long year since together we have been

Well I can't come in or I can't sit down
For I haven't but a moment's time
They say you're married to a house carpenter and your heart will never be mine

Now it's I coulda married a king's daughter here
I'm sure she'da married me
But I've forsaken her crowns of gold and it's all for the love of thee

Now will you forsaken your house carpenter
And go along with me
I'll take you where the grass grows green on the banks of the deep blue sea

She picked up here little ()
And kisses gave him three
Says stay right here my little darling babe and keep your pappa company

Well they hadn't been on ship but about two weeks
I'm sure it wasn't three
Well his true love began to weep and mourn and () most bitterly

Says are you a-weepin' for my silver or my gold
Says are you weeping for my store
Are you weeping for that house carpenter whose face you'll never see any more

No it's I'm not a-weepin' for your silver or your gold
Or neither for your store
I am weeping for my darling little babe whose face I'll never see any more

Well they hadn't been on ship but about three weeks
I'm sure it wasn't four
'Til they sprung a leak in the bottom of the ship and they sunk for to rise no more

Notes:

Recorded on April 14, 1930 in Atlanta, Georgia. This ballad was collected by Child as "The Daemon Lover" (Child No. 243), of which there are several variants. Harry Smith noted that the original version in the British Isles had a "supernatural theme" which didn't make it to North America.

My Sweet Farm Girl - Clarence Ashley

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:59:39 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

My sweet farm girl, she's jolly of my pride
My sweet farm girl, she's jolly of my pride
She knows I know how to keep her satisfied

So early in the morning I cut her grass you bet
So early in the morning I cut her grass you bet
Pull up the hose; I keep her lawn all wet

I close her fire; I shake her ashes down
I close her fire; I shake her ashes down
We eat our breakfast, then we ride on back to town

I keep her garden all free from bugs and weeds
I keep her garden all free from bugs and weeds
I plow her land, and then I sow my seeds

I trim her hedges; I clean out her back yard
I trim her hedges; I clean out her back yard
She loves her daddy because I'm long and hard

Notes:

Recorded on December 1, 1931 in New York City. Ashley plays guitar and sings, with Gwen Foster on guitar and harmonica. The sexual connotations are rather obvious.

Dark Holler - Clarence Ashley

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:40:32 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

I was born in old Viginia
South Carolina I did go
There I courted a pretty little woman
But her age I did not know

Well her hair was brown and curly
Her cheeks were rosy red
On her dress she wore white lilies
Oh the cares that I have ()

When I'm asleep I'm dreaming about you
When I wake I have no rest
Ever' moment seems like an hour
Oh the pain () my breast

I'd rather be in some dark holler
Where the sun don't ever shine
For you to be some other man's darling
When you ain't no longer mine

Pappa says I must not marry
Momma saya it'll never do
But little girl if you are willing
I will run away with you

For I'd rather be in some dark holler
Where the sun don't ever shine
For you to be some other man's darling
When you ain't no longer mine

When I'm asleep I'm dreaming about you
When I wake I have no rest
Ever' moment seems like an hour
Oh the pain () my breast

Notes:

Recorded on October 23, 1929 in Johnson City, Tennessee. This tune has become a bluegrass standard under this name, as well as "Dark Holler Blues" and "East Virginia Blues." It shares the same melody as "Greenback Dollar," and performers often mix the lyrics of the two in ever differing versions.

Coo Coo Bird - Clarence Ashley

Forrest Oliphant — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:32:52 -0500

MP3 url: [link]

Source webpage: [link]

Lyrics:

Gonna build me a log cabin
on a mountian so high
So I can see Willie
as he goes on by

Um hmm hmm...

Oh the coo-coo is a pretty bird
She wobbles when she flies
She never hollers coo-coo
'Til the fourth day of July

I've played cards in England
I've played cards in Spain
I'll bet you ten dollars
I'll beat you next game

Jack of diamonds, Jack of diamonds
I've known you from old
Now you've robbed my poor pockets
Of my silver and my gold

Um hmm hmm...

I've played cards in England
I've played cards in Spain
I'll bet you ten dollars
I beat you this game

Oh the coo-coo is a pretty bird
She wobbles when she flies
She never hollers coo-coo
'Til the fourth day of July

Notes:

Recorded on October 23, 1929 in Johnson City, Tennessee. Greil Marcus describes this tunes as a "folk-lyric" tune "made up of verbal fragments that had no direct or logical relationship to each other." Ashley's banjo is tuned to G-modal, also referred to as Sawmill tuning. Some folklorists note that the cuckoo is an ancient symbol for the coming of summer.