DARLIN' COREY

DARLIN' COREY
Traditional

Wake up, wake up darlin' Corey,

What makes you sleep so sound?

The revenue officers are comin',

Gonna tear your still house down.

The first time I saw darlin' Corey,

She was standin' in the door,

Her shoes and stockings in her hands

And her feet all over the floor.

Go way from me darin' Corey,

Quit hangin' around my bed,

Pretty women run me distracted,

Corn liquor's killed me dead.

The next time I saw darlin' Corey,

She was standin' on the banks of the sea,

She had two pistols strapped around her body

And a banjo on her knee.

Last night as I lay on my pillow,

Last night as I lay on my bed,

Last night as I lay on my pillow,

I dreamed darlin' Corey was dead.

The last time I saw darlin' Corey,

She had a wine glass in her hand,

She was drinkin' that cold pizen liquor

With a low-down sorry man.

Go and dig me a hole in the meadow,

A hole in the cold, cold ground,

Go and dig me a hole in the meadow,

Just to lay darlin' Corey down.

Don't you hear them blue-birds singin'?

Don't you hear that mournful sound?

They're preachin' Corey's funeral

In the lonesome graveyard ground.

Footnote : A song I first heard sung by Glasgow-born Lonnie Donegan and printed in commemoration of the first anniversary of his death (3 November 2002). Lonnie Donegan was acknowledged as the 'King of Skiffle' but was, as he claimed himself in an interview on Radio Scotland, shortly before his death, a folksinger. He was born Anthony James Donegan in Dennison, Glasgow, (29 April 1931), but changed his name in honour of the black American guitarist Lonnie Johnson. His first hit 'Rock Island Line' was inspired by the great Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly, which proved a major hit in both the USA and UK and reached some 3 million sales. Between 1956 and 1962 he achieved some 26 Top Ten Hits, including use of much American folk material such as 'Cumberland Gap', 'Grand Coulee Dam' , 'Battle of New Orleans' and 'Pick a Bale of Cotton'. His folk and jazz roots led to a career spanning over 50 years in the music business.