The warden led a prisoner down the hallway to his doom
I stood up to say good-bye like all the rest
And I heard him tell the warden just before he reached my cell
'Let my guitar playing friend do my request.' (Let him...)
Sing me back home with a song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
I recall last Sunday morning a choir from 'cross the street
Came to sing a few old gospel songs
And I heard him tell the singers 'There's a song my mama sang.
Can I hear once before we move along?'
Sing me back home, the song my mama sang
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
Sing me back home before I die
I stood up to say good-bye like all the rest
And I heard him tell the warden just before he reached my cell
'Let my guitar playing friend do my request.' (Let him...)
Sing me back home with a song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
I recall last Sunday morning a choir from 'cross the street
Came to sing a few old gospel songs
And I heard him tell the singers 'There's a song my mama sang.
Can I hear once before we move along?'
Sing me back home, the song my mama sang
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
Sing me back home before I die
Contributed by Dead End - 2012/9/24 - 10:31
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Album “Sing Me Back Home”
“La scena canonica dell’ultima passeggiata – il dead man walking – è, come in Green, Green Grass of Home, l’argomento di “Sing Me Back Home”. Merle Haggard introduce però un elemento che altre canzoni trascurano: sebbene avvenga dentro la prigione, anche l’ultima passeggiata è a suo modo un rituale pubblico, perché avviene sotto gli occhi degli altri carcerati, e lo sguardo del narratore non è quello del condannato ma quello dello spettatore – “La guardia condusse un prigioniero lungo il corridoio verso il suo destino, mi alzai come tutti gli altri per dirgli arrivederci…”. L’ultimo desiderio del condannato è questa volta una canzone:
riportami a casa con una canzone
fai tornare in vita i miei ricordi
portami via e riporta indietro il tempo
Portami a casa con una canzone prima di morire.”
(Alessandro Portelli, da “Note Americane. Musica e culture negli Stati Uniti”, Shake/Acoma edizioni, 2011)