Well, I always been in trouble, ‘cause I’m a black-skinned man.
Said I hit a white man, [and they] locked me in the can
They took me to the stockade, wouldn’t give me no trial
The judge said, "You black boy, forty years on the hard rock pile."
Trouble, trouble, sure won’t make me stay,
Trouble, trouble, jail break due someday.
Wearin’ cold iron shackles from my head down to my knee
And that mean old keeper, he’s all time kickin’ me.
I went up to the walker and the head boss too
Said, "You big white folks, please see what you can do."
Sheriff winked at the policeman, said, "I won’t forget you nohow,
You better come back and see me again, boy, about 40 years from now."
Went back to the walker, he looked at me and said,
"Don’t you worry about 40, ‘cause in five years you’ll be dead."
Trouble, trouble, makes me weep and moan
Trouble, trouble, every since I was born.
Trouble, trouble, sure won’t make me stay,
Trouble, trouble, jail break due someday.
Said I hit a white man, [and they] locked me in the can
They took me to the stockade, wouldn’t give me no trial
The judge said, "You black boy, forty years on the hard rock pile."
Trouble, trouble, sure won’t make me stay,
Trouble, trouble, jail break due someday.
Wearin’ cold iron shackles from my head down to my knee
And that mean old keeper, he’s all time kickin’ me.
I went up to the walker and the head boss too
Said, "You big white folks, please see what you can do."
Sheriff winked at the policeman, said, "I won’t forget you nohow,
You better come back and see me again, boy, about 40 years from now."
Went back to the walker, he looked at me and said,
"Don’t you worry about 40, ‘cause in five years you’ll be dead."
Trouble, trouble, makes me weep and moan
Trouble, trouble, every since I was born.
Trouble, trouble, sure won’t make me stay,
Trouble, trouble, jail break due someday.
inviata da Alessandro - 19/3/2010 - 11:44
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Album “Chain Gang”, con il gruppo dei Carolinians.
Come si può leggere più diffusamente nella scheda biografica, il padre di Josh White fu di fatto ucciso dai bianchi, pestato a sangue e trascinato dietro ad un cavallo sotto gli occhi dei familiari e poi lasciato morire in un manicomio... Lo stesso Josh – nella sua giovinezza errabonda al fianco di musicisti e cantanti ciechi, come Blind Man Arnold, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake e Blind Joe Taggert – fu costretto molte volte ad assistere alle violenze ed alle brutalità inflitte ai suoi fratelli di colore: pestaggi, roghi, omicidi, linciaggi, impiccagioni e crocifissioni…