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RAILROAD SONGS |
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engine's notable achievements, as in the song given by Edwin Swain, sung by the Negroes in Florida, and referring to a special called the "Alligator."
Railroad Song
Jes' lemme tell you whut de 'Gator done: LeP St. Louis at half-pas' one. 'Rived Port Tampa at settin' ob de sun. Gee! whoo! Tearin' up some dust!
Or if he wishes to express an idea of speed and ease of motion, he may compare a person's gait — perhaps actual, perhaps figurative — to that of his favorite train, as in the fragment reported by Professor W. H. Thomas, of Texas:
Run so easy and he run so fast, Run just like the Aransas Pass. Oh, baby, take a one on me!
The coming of a train may mean only the pleasurable excitement of a journey, in prospect or merely imagined, as in a fragment sung by Negroes in Angelina County, Texas. This, like many secular songs of the Negro, ends with religious enthusiasm.
Better git yo' ticket, Better git yo' ticket, Train's a-comm*. Lord-ee-ee, Lord-ee-ee! XJm-um-um-um-um-um-um-um.
Hold your bonnet, Hold your shawl, Don't let go that waterfall. Shout, Sister Betsy, shout!
The colored man may express a secret connection between himself and the train, as in the repetitious ditty given by Lemuel Hall, of Mississippi:
Don't you leave me here, Don't you leave me here! I 'm Alabama bound, I'm Alabama bound.
Don't you leave me here! Ef you do de train don't run.
I got a mule to ride,
I got a mule to ride. Don't you leave me here! |
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