John Hardy, he was a desperate little man,
He carried two guns every day.
He shot a man on the West Virginia line,
You oughta seen John Hardy get away.
John Hardy, he got to the Keystone Bridge,
He thought that he would be free.
Up steps a man and takes him by his arm
Saying, “Johnny, walk along with me.”
He sent for his papa and his mama, too,
To come and go his bail.
But money won’t go a murdering case
And they locked John Hardy back in jail.
John Hardy, he had a pretty little girl,
The dress she wore was blue.
She came skipping through the old jail hall
Saying, “Poppy, I’ve been true to you.”
John Hardy, he had another little girl,
The dress she wore was red.
She followed John Hardy to his hanging ground
Saying, “Poppy, I would rather be dead.”
I’ve been to the east and I’ve been to the west,
I’ve been this wide world around.
I’ve been to the river and I’ve been baptized
And now I’m on my hanging ground.
John Hardy walked out on the scaffold high
With his loving little wife by his side.
And the last words she heard poor Johnny say,
“I’ll meet you in that sweet bye-and-bye.”
He carried two guns every day.
He shot a man on the West Virginia line,
You oughta seen John Hardy get away.
John Hardy, he got to the Keystone Bridge,
He thought that he would be free.
Up steps a man and takes him by his arm
Saying, “Johnny, walk along with me.”
He sent for his papa and his mama, too,
To come and go his bail.
But money won’t go a murdering case
And they locked John Hardy back in jail.
John Hardy, he had a pretty little girl,
The dress she wore was blue.
She came skipping through the old jail hall
Saying, “Poppy, I’ve been true to you.”
John Hardy, he had another little girl,
The dress she wore was red.
She followed John Hardy to his hanging ground
Saying, “Poppy, I would rather be dead.”
I’ve been to the east and I’ve been to the west,
I’ve been this wide world around.
I’ve been to the river and I’ve been baptized
And now I’m on my hanging ground.
John Hardy walked out on the scaffold high
With his loving little wife by his side.
And the last words she heard poor Johnny say,
“I’ll meet you in that sweet bye-and-bye.”
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2016/11/6 - 22:31
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Una delle più note ballate popolari americane, la cui prima incisione risale al 1924 ad opera di tali Samantha Bumgarner (banjo) ed Eva Davis (voce)
Da allora gli artisti che l'hanno interpretata non si contano: Carter Family, Lead Belly, , Pete Seeger, Joan Baez e tantissimi altri noti e meno noti.
Dato il titolo simile, il contesto geografico ed il tema comuni, quello del lavoro dei negri nella Virginia della seconda metà dell'800, viene spesso confusa e mescolata con un altro standard della musica popolare americana, John Henry
Il testo che propongo è quello reperito sul blog Kidnapping, Murder and Mayhem ed attribuito alla Carter Family che lo incise nel 1928.
La vicenda del minatore negro John Hardy è ben raccontata al link appena citato e anche sul bel sito Executedtoday, dedicato alla pena di morte e ai mille modi e motivi con cui nei secoli alcuni uomini hanno preteso di dare la morte a loro simili.
Già pensare alla vita che poteva fare un minatore negro nel bacino carbonifero di McDowell County, West Virginia nel 1893 induce ad immagini di una certa pesantezza...
Nell'ottobre del 1923 due di loro, ubriachi, litigarono furiosamente per un debito di gioco di qualche decina di cents, una somma che comunque poteva essere la paga di un giorno di durissimo lavoro. John Hardy uccise Thomas Drews, un altro negro, un altro minatore. John Hardy fu arrestato, processato, condannato a morte. Si pentì del suo delitto e si fece battezzare a fiume, come nella splendida sequenza del bellissimo film dei fratelli Coen “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”. Infine salì sulla forca di fronte ad una folla di 3.000 persone, un vero spettacolo, e mentre sotto il patibolo si beveva, si sghignazzava e si accendevano risse, John Hardy, che era un giovane uomo robusto nel fiore degli anni, ci mise 17 minuti e mezzo a morire, una morte infinita e chissà quanto dolorosa...