Lord, I feel so bad sometime
Seems like that I’m weakening every day
You know, I’ve begin to get grey since I got here
Well, a whole lot of worryin’ causin’ that
But I can feel myself weakening
I don’t keep well no more
I keeps sickly
I takes a lot of medicine but it looks like it don’t do no good
All I have to do is pray
That’s the only thing’ll help me here
One foot in the grave, look like
And the other one out
Sometimes looks like my best day
Gotta be my last day
Sometimes I feel like I never see
My little ol’ kids anymore
But if I don’t never see ‘em no more
Leave ‘em in the hands of God
You know, my sister
She’s like a mother to me
She do all in the world that she can
She went all the way along with me in this trouble
‘til the end
In a way
I was glad my poor mother had ‘ceased
Because she suffered with heart trouble
And trouble behind me
Sure woulda went hard with her
But if she were livin’
I could call on her sometime
But my ol’ father dead too
That’d make me
Me motherless and fatherless
It’s six of us sisters, three boys
Family done got small now
Looks like they’re dyin’ out fast
I don’t know
But God been good to us in a way
‘Cause ol’ death have stayed away a long time...
Lord, my worry sure carryin’ me down
Lord, my worry sure is carryin’ me down
Sometimes I feel like, baby, committin’ suicide
Yeah, sometimes I feel, feel like committin’ suicide
I got the nerve if I just had anything to do it with
I’m goin’ down slow, somethin’ wrong with me
Yes, I’m goin’down slow, somethin’ wrong with me
I’ve got to make a change while I’m young
If I don’t, I won’t ever get old.
Seems like that I’m weakening every day
You know, I’ve begin to get grey since I got here
Well, a whole lot of worryin’ causin’ that
But I can feel myself weakening
I don’t keep well no more
I keeps sickly
I takes a lot of medicine but it looks like it don’t do no good
All I have to do is pray
That’s the only thing’ll help me here
One foot in the grave, look like
And the other one out
Sometimes looks like my best day
Gotta be my last day
Sometimes I feel like I never see
My little ol’ kids anymore
But if I don’t never see ‘em no more
Leave ‘em in the hands of God
You know, my sister
She’s like a mother to me
She do all in the world that she can
She went all the way along with me in this trouble
‘til the end
In a way
I was glad my poor mother had ‘ceased
Because she suffered with heart trouble
And trouble behind me
Sure woulda went hard with her
But if she were livin’
I could call on her sometime
But my ol’ father dead too
That’d make me
Me motherless and fatherless
It’s six of us sisters, three boys
Family done got small now
Looks like they’re dyin’ out fast
I don’t know
But God been good to us in a way
‘Cause ol’ death have stayed away a long time...
Lord, my worry sure carryin’ me down
Lord, my worry sure is carryin’ me down
Sometimes I feel like, baby, committin’ suicide
Yeah, sometimes I feel, feel like committin’ suicide
I got the nerve if I just had anything to do it with
I’m goin’ down slow, somethin’ wrong with me
Yes, I’m goin’down slow, somethin’ wrong with me
I’ve got to make a change while I’m young
If I don’t, I won’t ever get old.
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2019/6/9 - 22:58
1956, Robert was gigging at a juke-joint when he shot a man dead; he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in Angola State Penitentiary. Blues researchers were seeking out the originators of the Blues all over the South and prisons were thought to be a fertile source. Robert was recorded in Angola and the tracks like ‘ Prisoner’s Talking Blues’, ‘Pardon Denied Again’ and ‘Angola Penitentiary Blues’ are heart-rending examples of the Blues born out of confinement.
If country Blues is about lamenting a hard life, with poverty, violence, illiteracy, jail-time and betrayal by your woman, then Robert Pete Williams certainly lived that life. Despite being an endlessly inventive guitarist and a desperately soulful singer, Robert was never a big selling artist, but his appearances at Blues Festivals around the world opened a window on the origins of the Blues. The pain in his voice and the emotional impact of his playing give his work an authenticity that few can match.
da :
Robert Pete Williams
All About Blues Music
https://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com
If country Blues is about lamenting a hard life, with poverty, violence, illiteracy, jail-time and betrayal by your woman, then Robert Pete Williams certainly lived that life. Despite being an endlessly inventive guitarist and a desperately soulful singer, Robert was never a big selling artist, but his appearances at Blues Festivals around the world opened a window on the origins of the Blues. The pain in his voice and the emotional impact of his playing give his work an authenticity that few can match.
da :
Robert Pete Williams
All About Blues Music
https://www.allaboutbluesmusic.com
Pluck - 2024/2/16 - 09:13
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Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Parole e musica di Robert Pete Williams (1914-1980), bluesman della Louisiana
In "Angola Prisoners' Blues", registrazioni degli etnomusicologi Harry Oster e Richard B. Allen nel penitenziario statale della Louisiana
Testo trovato sul blog The Daily Guru e corretto all'ascolto.
Evidentemente le note biografiche concernenti Robert Pete Williams su en.wikipedia non sono esattissime... Nel 1959 doveva essere ancora dentro, visto che è ad Angola che lo registrarono quell'anno... Comunque non è una cosa così importante... Importante è la tristezza, la devastazione interiore che scaturisce da questo blues davvero primordiale e straziante... Credo che se qualcuno dei suoi compagni di prigionia vi assistette, lo implorò di smettere...
In questo blues è concentrato tutto il sentimento di un uomo privato della libertà.
Tutta la prima parte è una spoken song che prepara il canto doloroso finale.
Il Blues, secondo me, è questa roba qua. Non altro.