Midnight Special

by Leadbelly
 recording of 19
from Leadbelly [Virgin] (Virgin 7243), copyright notice

 Well you wake up in the morning, hear the ding dong ring,
 You go a-marching to the table, see the same [bad word] thing
 Well, it's on a one table, knife, a fork and a pan,
 and if you say anything about it, you're in trouble with the man

 Let the midnight special, shine her light on me
 Let the midnight special, shine her ever-loving light on me

 If you ever go to Houston, you better walk right, you better not stagger, you better not fight
 Sheriff Benson will arrest you, he'll carry you down
 And if the jury finds you guilty, penitentiary bound

 Yonder come little Rosie, how in the world do you know
 I can tell her by her apron, and the dress she wore
 Umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand
 She goes a-marching to the captain, says, "I want my man"

 "I don' believe that Rosie loves me", well tell me why
 She ain't been to see me, since las' July
 She brought me little coffee, she brought me little tea
 Brought me [bad word] near ever'thing but the jailhouse key

 Yonder comes doctor Adams, "How in the world do you know?"
 Well he gave me a tablet, the day befo'
 There ain't no doctor, in all the lan'
 Can cure the fever of a convict man