Gonna buy me a hammock1, carry it underneath through the tree
Gonna buy myself a hammock, carry it underneath through the tree
So when the wind blow, the leaves may fall on me
Go on, baby, you can have your way
Ball on, baby, you can have your way
Sister, every dog sure must have his day
Got me shackled, I'm wearin' a ball and...
They've got me shackled, I'm wearin' my ball and chain
An' they got me ready for that Parchman2 train
I went to the depot, I looked up at the board
I went to the depot, I looked up at the board
If this train has left, well, it's tearin' off up the road
Clothes I buy, baby, honey you gonna 'pre, ...
You're gonna appreciate, honey, all clothes I'll buy
I will give you all my lovin', baby, till the day I die
I went way up Red River, crawlin' on the...
I went up Red River, crawlin', on a log
I think I heard the Bob Lee3 boat when she moaned
__________
Note 1: as the first verse indicates, this song was mis-t**led when it was issued by Paramount Records, it should have been t**led "Hammock Blues";
Note 2: the state prison in Parchman, Mississippi, whose escapees often wandered into Patton's native Dockery, a Delta plantation town. Parchman was a complex of 15 labor camps covering a large area in Mississippi, a closed society of black men who were offered as "contract" labor to farms, railroads and industries of many sorts, passed around to do labor for the financial benefit of both the contractor and the state who sold them;
Note 3: Bob Lee was the name of one of the steamships operated by the Lee Line of Memphis
Gonna buy myself a hammock, carry it underneath through the tree
So when the wind blow, the leaves may fall on me
Go on, baby, you can have your way
Ball on, baby, you can have your way
Sister, every dog sure must have his day
Got me shackled, I'm wearin' a ball and...
They've got me shackled, I'm wearin' my ball and chain
An' they got me ready for that Parchman2 train
I went to the depot, I looked up at the board
I went to the depot, I looked up at the board
If this train has left, well, it's tearin' off up the road
Clothes I buy, baby, honey you gonna 'pre, ...
You're gonna appreciate, honey, all clothes I'll buy
I will give you all my lovin', baby, till the day I die
I went way up Red River, crawlin' on the...
I went up Red River, crawlin', on a log
I think I heard the Bob Lee3 boat when she moaned
__________
Note 1: as the first verse indicates, this song was mis-t**led when it was issued by Paramount Records, it should have been t**led "Hammock Blues";
Note 2: the state prison in Parchman, Mississippi, whose escapees often wandered into Patton's native Dockery, a Delta plantation town. Parchman was a complex of 15 labor camps covering a large area in Mississippi, a closed society of black men who were offered as "contract" labor to farms, railroads and industries of many sorts, passed around to do labor for the financial benefit of both the contractor and the state who sold them;
Note 3: Bob Lee was the name of one of the steamships operated by the Lee Line of Memphis