ON THE TRAIL OF NEGRO FOLK-SONGS

A Collection Of Negro Traditional & Folk Songs with Sheet Music Lyrics & Commentaries - online book

	BLUES	279
	Judge, you done me wrong, — Ninety-nine years is sho' too long! Judge, oh, Judge, you done me wrong, — Ninety-nine years is sho' too long! Come to think of it, it is rather long! Howard Snyder heard one of the workers on his plantation in Mississippi singing the following song, which could not be called entirely a paean in praise of life: I Wish I Had Someone to Call My Own I wish I had someone to call my own; I wish I had someone to take my care. I'm tired of coffee and I'm tired of tea; I'm tired of you, an' you're tired of me. I'm tired of livin' an' I don't want to die; I'm tired of workin', but I can't fly. I'm so tired of livin' I don't know what to do; You're tired of me, an' I'm tired of you. I'm tired of eatin' an' I'm tired of sleepin'; I'm tired of yore beatin' an' I'm tired of yore creepin'. I'm so tired of livin' I don't know what to do; I'm so tired of givin* an' I've done done my do. I've done done my do, an' I can't do no mo'; I've,got no money an' I've got no hoe. I'm so tired of livin' I don't know what to do; You're tired of me, an' I'm tired of you. Other interests of the colored man's life besides love are shown in a song reported by Professor Thomas, of Texas. Note the naive con­fusion of figures in the first stanza, "a hard card to roll"
	JACK O' DIAMONDS