INTRO (Spoken: Penitentiary Blues)
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, Big Brazos *, here I come
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, (Spoken: Hoo, Lord have mercy!) Big Brazos, here I come
You know I'm gon' do time for another man, when it haven't been a thing poor Lightnin' done
They say you oughta been on Braz', nineteen and ten, Bud Russell drove pretty women just like he did, ugly mens
Ahhnnnnnn, Big Braz', whoa, Lord, yes, here I come
Fixin' to do time for another man, and ain't nothin' poor Lightnin' done (Spoken: Well, you oughta be 'shame')
SOLO
Yeah, you know my mama called me, I answered, "Ma'am", she says, "Son, you tired of workin'?", I said, "Mama, yes, I am."
Papa called me, I answered, "Sir", he said, "Son, if you tired of workin', why in the hell you gon' stay there?", I couldn't,
No, I just couldn't help myself
You know a man can't help but feel bad, when he doin' time for someone else
CODA (Spoken: You better watch it, all the time)
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, Big Brazos *, here I come
Mmmmmmmmmmmm, (Spoken: Hoo, Lord have mercy!) Big Brazos, here I come
You know I'm gon' do time for another man, when it haven't been a thing poor Lightnin' done
They say you oughta been on Braz', nineteen and ten, Bud Russell drove pretty women just like he did, ugly mens
Ahhnnnnnn, Big Braz', whoa, Lord, yes, here I come
Fixin' to do time for another man, and ain't nothin' poor Lightnin' done (Spoken: Well, you oughta be 'shame')
SOLO
Yeah, you know my mama called me, I answered, "Ma'am", she says, "Son, you tired of workin'?", I said, "Mama, yes, I am."
Papa called me, I answered, "Sir", he said, "Son, if you tired of workin', why in the hell you gon' stay there?", I couldn't,
No, I just couldn't help myself
You know a man can't help but feel bad, when he doin' time for someone else
CODA (Spoken: You better watch it, all the time)
* - The Brazos River è uno dei principali fiumi del Texas. ( ndr )
Contributed by Pluck - 2022/8/31 - 11:58
×
![]()
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.
The Texas Almanac link below has more info on it including various explanations for how that name came to be.
In the book (and film) titled Racehoss, a former convict who served time in a penitentiary on the Brazos writes that the place was referred to by the convicts as "the burnin' hell."
So you might say that the men who tried to escape from the prison by running to the river were running from hell to the arms of God.
Nota da :
Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics - Weenie Campbell