Two YouTube Examples Of (Railroad) Track Lining Songs That Include The Line "Jack the Rabbit, Jack The Bear"

Alan Lomax Archives, Feb 21, 2014

Retired gandy-dancer and work-song leader George Johnson sings some track-lining verses on the railroad outside Greenville, Mississippi. Shot by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long, August 31, 1978. For more videos from the American Patchwork fieldwork and information about Alan Lomax and his collections, visit: http://research.culturalequity.org . [02.16.08]

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about "Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear" lyrics in early 20th century African American (railroad) track lining song. 

This post showcases a 1978s film clip of retired gandy dancer and work-song leader George Johnson s that include the lyrics "Jack the rabbit. Jack the bear".  A transcription of that song is also included in this post.

This post also showcases a 1969  rendition of a track lining song that includes the lyrics "Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear".  A transcription of that song is also included in this post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/12/information-about-two-word-only.html for Part I of this pancocojams series.  That post presents some information bout gandy dancers their track lining songs. That post also presents some information about the fictional folk characters "Jack the rabbit" and "Jack the bear".

The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.

All copyright remains with their owners.

Thanks to George Johnson and other former gandy dancers for their cultural legacies. Thanks to Alan Lomax for his cultural legacy and thanks to the singer whose rendition of this track lining song is given in Example #2 in this pancocojams post. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/01/examples-of-up-and-down-road-i-go.html for the 2013 pancocojams post entitled "Examples Of The African American Track Lining Song "Up And Down The Road I Go" (Up & Down This Road I Go)" .That post includes two sound files and lyrics of that track lining song, including a verse with the words "Jack the rabbit/Jack the bear/can't you line 'em just one hair.". 

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SHOWCASED FILM CLIP THAT IS EMBEDDED IN THIS POST

From https://archive.culturalequity.org/node/1577
"George Johnson: Jack the Rabbit (1978)

Date recorded: August 31, 1978

Contributor(s): Recordist: Bishop, John; Recordist: Long, Worth; Recordist: Lomax, Alan; Performer: Johnson, George

Description: Retired gandy-dancer and work-song leader George Johnson sings some track-lining verses on the railroad outside Greenville, Mississippi. Shot by Alan Lomax, John Bishop, and Worth Long, August 31, 1978.

Subject(s):

Genre: track-lining song, work song

Location: Greenville, Washington County, Mississippi, United States

Track Number: 142

Archive ID: wV9jy3NgiAA

Belongs to: Mississippi Delta and Hill Country (1978)" 

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PANCOCOJAMS NOTES ABOUT THE TRANSCRIPTIONS THAT ARE FOUND IN THIS POST
These lyrics are an amalgamation of YouTube's auto-generated lyrics for these songs and  my transcription from the recorded YouTube example. My transcription for these two songs are informed by some lyrics for track lining songs that are given in Part I of this pancocojams post.  

YouTube's auto-generated lyrics are notoriously faulty. Admittedly, the lyrics for these two songs are difficult to understand, in part because of the singers'  "country" accents. However, instead of using a question mark for words that the auto-generated function didn't understand, that function either presented its "best guess" or used the words "applause" or "music" are given in place of sung or spoken words.  

Here are the faulty lyrics for the auto-generated transcript for the song given as Showcase Example #1 and the words that I replaced them with. 

"no line this track now John ahead" changed to "We gonna line this track now. Join ahead" 

"bell" changed to "bear"

"of" changed to "oh"

"water bank done died" changed to "Walter Banks done died"
-snip-
The auto-generated transcript for the song given as Showcase Example #2 gives the word "music" or "applause" instead of certain words.  I've written those words in italics to the lyrics given below. Those words are based on what I believe I hear in that YouTube video. I've included an editorial note under those lyrics about one of those lines.

In addition to those missing lyrics, I believe the words "heave it" is the correct transcription instead of the words "keep it" that are given in that auto-generated transcript for Example #2.

Additions and corrections are welcome for these lyrics. 

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LYRICS FOR SHOWCASE EXAMPLE #1

Spoken: We gonna line this track now

Join ahead

Begins singing
Alright, alright

Jack the rabbit Jack the bear
Jack the rabbit Jack the bear
Jack the rabbit Jack the bear
Jack the rabbit Jack the bear

Oh, all right
Can’t you move it on
Just one hair
Well, old lady says won’t you calm me down
She put one hand on her hip
And the other on her thigh
Good Lord have mercy
Good Lord have mercy
Good Lord have mercy

All right, Walter Banks done died  
Other side
Yes, oh God
Just died
Other side
Yes, oh God
Other side
Just died
Other side
Just died
The other side

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Alan Lomax: Jack the Rabbit (track-lining song) (1969)

Alan Lomax Archives, Jan 31, 2022

Posted in honor of Alan Lomax's 107th birthday, January 31, 2022. In April 1969, he gave a lecture and performance in Texas City, Texas, which included this spirited "Jack the Rabbit," a song based on track-lining chants by A.B. Hicks and others which he had recorded with Zora Neale Hurston in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, in 1935
-snip-
I don't know the name of the man who is recorded singing this song.  Please share that information if you know it.

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LYRICS FOR SHOWCASE EXAMPLE #2

Singing
Jack the rabbit and Jack the bear
Oh, can’t your move it on
Just one hair
Heave it over
Hey, baby, can’t you line it.

And ah hey mama can’t you cry
Spoken
This is your cry
Begin singing again
Shaka laka Shaka laka
Shaka laka shaka laka boom
Heave it over. Heave it over
Hey, mama can’t you line it
And ah hey, daddy can’t you cry
Spoken
Let’s start that shaka lacka again.
This time, come on and sing it.
Begins singing again
Shaka laka shaka laka shaka laka
Shacka lacka shacka lacka boom
Heave it over, and ah
Hey, daddy can’t you line it
And heeeey, mama can’t you crrrry. [extends the words "hey" and "cry"]

Oh, Johnny here comes a woman.
She got some real big legs
When she walks it like she walkin
on soft boiled eggs

Heave it over
Hey, mama. Can’t you line it
And hey, daddy can’t you heave it? 
And ah hey, mama can’t you cry
Now shaka laka shaka lakah shakah lakah boom
Heave it over
Hey, baby can’t you line it
and ah Hey, daddy can’t you try
Well, yonder come a woman
comin cross the field
with her pie feet stompin like an automobile
Heave it over
Hey, baby can’t you line it
and a hey mama can’t you cry
shaka laka shaka  laka shaka laka

shaka laka shaka laka boom

Heave it over
Hey, mama can’t you line it
And ah hey daddy
can’t you try
-snip-
Referring to big feet as "pie feet" conforms to my recollection of reading about how Black people would taunt country women who were used to wearing no shoes were taunted by people living in the city as having “pie feet” that spread across the road.

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

"Jack The Rabbit, Jack The Bear" Lyrics In (Railroad) Track Lining Songs (information & examples)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision - Dec 11, 2022

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series about "Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear" lyrics in early 20th century African American (railroad) track lining song. 

This post presents some information about gandy dancers their track lining songs and  presents some information about the fictional folk characters "Jack the rabbit" and "Jack the bear".

Three references to track lining songs that include the line "Jack the rabbit Jack the bear" are also included in this pancocojams post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/12/two-youtube-examples-of-railroad-track.html for Part II of this pancocojams series.  That post showcases a 1978s film clip of retired gandy dancer and work-song leader George Johnson s that include the lyrics "Jack the rabbit. Jack the bear".  A transcription of that song is also included in this post.

This post also showcases a 1969 rendition of a track lining song that includes the lyrics "Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear".  A transcription of that song is also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for historical and cultural purposes.

All copyright remains with their owners.

Thanks to the gandy dancers for their work on the railroads and for their work songs. Thanks to Alan Lomax for his cultural legacy and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. 
-snip-
This 2022 series should be considered as companion posts to these two 2012 pancocojams post:
 http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/early-versions-of-cant-you-line-em.html , Part I of a two part pancocojams series about track lining songs. That post, entitled "Early Versions Of "Can't You Line' Em" ("Linin' Track")", presents three additional examples of track lining songs. Those songs don't include any "Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear" lines.

and http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/gandy-dancers-linin-track-sound-files.html for Part II of that 2012 pancocojams post entitled "Gandy Dancers & Linin' Track Sound Files & Videos".

Most of the "Information About Gandy Dancers" section that is presented in this 2022 post was also given in Part I of that 2012 pancocojams series.

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INFORMATION ABOUT GANDY DANCERS
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandy_dancer [retrieved 2019]
"Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines...

Most sources refer to gandy dancers as the men who did the difficult physical work of track maintenance under the direction of an overseer.

There are various theories about the derivation of the term, but most refer to the "dancing" movements of the workers using a specially manufactured 5-foot (1.52 m) "lining" bar (which may have come to be called a "gandy") as a lever to keep the tracks in alignment...

Though all gandy dancers sang railroad songs, it may be that black gandy dancers, with a long tradition of using song to coordinate work, were unique in their use of task-related work chants.

Rhythm was necessary both to synchronize the manual labor, and to maintain the morale of workers..."

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From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandy_dancer [retrieved Dec. 10, 2022]
"Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers in the United States, more formally referred to as "section hands", who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines. ...

In the United States, early section crews were often made up of recent immigrants and ethnic minorities who vied for steady work despite poor wages and working conditions, and hard physical labor. The Chinese, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans in the Western United States, the Irish in the Midwestern United States, African Americans in the Southern United States, and East Europeans and Italians in the Northeastern United States all worked as gandy dancers.

There are various theories about the derivation of the term, but most refer to the "dancing" movements of the workers using a specially manufactured 5-foot (1.5 m) "lining" bar, which came to be called a "gandy", as a lever to keep the tracks in alignment.[1]"...

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Here's a 2007 article which provides information about Gandy Dancers:
From http://www.vre.org/service/newsletter/2007/may31.pdf [volume 3, issue 11] May 31, 2007 program the Manassas Railway Festival, Virginia Railway Express Update
"This year, a special performance by the Birmingham Lining Bar Gang will also be offered, featuring a group of re-enactors who demonstrate the way railroad tracks were aligned and maintained before the advent of mechanized devices in the 1950s and ’60s. In demonstrating track-lining, one group member serves as a “caller”, offering a two-line rhyme in a loud, clear voice that serves to synchronize the movement of other members so that each heaves with his iron lining bar at the same moment. These calls, which “helped the hard work go easy” according to a retired worker and former caller, served an indispensable function by uniting men’s efforts and easing their minds."

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INFORMATION ABOUT "JACK THE RABBIT" AND "JACK THE BEAR" IN SOME  TRACK LINING SONG

Excerpt #1
From https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095526252;jsessionid=6DEECB6AB32CF717F7D9472013CBD56E
"Brer Rabbit

QUICK REFERENCE

Is the archetypal hero-trickster character from African American oral literature. While Brer Rabbit got much exposure in Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings (1881), folklorists and literature scholars are well aware of the rich cycle of tales that circulate around this tricky and cunning figure. These tales thrived especially during the pre- and post-slave era up until the mid-1900s. Resembling the two major tricksters of Africa (Anansi, the Ashanti spider, and Ijapa, the Yoruba turtle), “Buh” Rabbit has always seemed to be the most helpless and most afraid of all the animals in the kingdom.

Brer Rabbit is constantly at odds with the likes of Brer Bear, Brer Wolf, and Sly Brer Fox. This trio, singularly or collectively, attempts to humiliate, outsmart, and sometimes even kill Brer Rabbit. In contrast, Brer Rabbit tries to nullify the plans of his stronger archenemies by using his superior intelligence and his quick thinking. He usually gets the better of the bigger and stronger animals.

Since the Brer Rabbit cycle of tales flourished during the time of slavery and almost always involved the weak in a neverending contest with the strong, scholars view these tales as slave expressions of subversive sentiments against the institution of slavery. It was much too dangerous for slaves to reveal to slave owners the harsh realities and cruelties of slavery. But slaves could vent some of their frustrations and hostilities against their masters by participating in the performance of the Brer Rabbit tales.

As time progressed, criticism of slavery became less indirect in Brer Rabbit literature. African American oral literature gave birth to the “John and Ole Boss Tales”. In this group of tales, John (sometimes known as George, Sam, Jack, Efan, or Rastus) now becomes the human analogue to Brer Rabbit. John is always in conflict with Ole Master (“Massa” or “Marse”) and, like Brer Rabbit, attempts to outwit Ole Boss. Most stories show John winning over the master, but there are a sizable number of tales where “Whitey” outsmarts John."...

Joel Chandler Harris, Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings, 1881.Roger D. Abrahams, ed., Afro-American Folktales: Stories from Black Traditions in the New World, 1985.

Elon A. Kulii and Beverly Threatt Kulii

From:  Brer Rabbit  in  The Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature 
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in that summary.

One takeaway from this summary is that "Jack the rabbit" and "Jack the bear" are later names for the African American folk characters Brer [Brother] Rabbit and "Brer Bear". 

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.sandybrownjazz.co.uk/TracksUnwrapped/JimmyBlantonAndJackTheBear.html

Looking for the origin of the name 'Jack The Bear' takes us way back beyond the title of Duke Ellington's tune*.

One explanation is that Jack The Bear was a character of Black stories and rhymed tales, and crops up in a work-chant used by gandy-dancers (railroad workers laying rails) about "Jack-the-Rabbit/Jack-the-Bear". Apparently there are various theories about the derivation of the term 'Gandy Dancer', but most refer to the "dancing" movements of the workers using a specially manufactured 5-foot (1.5 m) "lining" bar, which came to be called a "gandy", as a lever to keep the tracks in alignment.

Jack de rabbit, Jack de bear.

Shake it back, boys, just a hair!"

There is also reference to two characters from folklore where Jack the Bear, called either Jack or John (and sometimes John the Conqueror), was invisible to the white community. He would arrive suddenly to fix things for folks in distress. He was a hero with magical powers.

The Urban Dictionary describes Jack The Bear as a lazy person: "You like Jack the Bear, Cletus, you ain't done sh-t* all day." The Probert Dictionary echoes this: 'Like Jack The Bear Just Ain' Nowhere' - Black-American slang for an expression of disappointment and worthlessness.

In contradiction there are other references to 'Jack The Bear' being the opposite - someone or something that goes really fast or well: "We were like 'Jack the Bear' for the first five laps of a run, but then the car would get real tight real quick and just wouldn't turn when I needed it to." (Tim Sauter AP Performance Racing)."

Writing in allaboutjazz.com in 2010, Dan Bilawsky quotes Mark Tucker's liner notes for Duke Ellington: The Blanton-Webster Band (Bluebird, 1986), which say that the original Jack The Bear " ... was a Harlem bass-player who, as reed-player Gavin Bushell recently recalled, had a tailor shop at the corner of St. Nicholas and Edgecombe Avenues....If Ellington named the tune after the tailor, Jack The Bear's musical association would be with another bass player - Jimmy Blanton"... The latter [Jimmy Blanton's  performance in the Jack The Bear tune] becoming a concert showpiece for his playing during his tenure with Ellington.'…
-snip-
*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.
-snip-
In a Mudcat folk music discussion thread about lining track, I remembering read the comment
Jack the rabbit said to Jack the bear/ Cancha line them just one hair"

I added italics to highlight this line.  "cancha: means "can't you" and "just one hair" means "Just a little bit".

Unfortunately, Mudcat discussion forum hasn't been online now for weeks and I add the source of that comment to this pancocojams post. However, the words "said to" provides an explanation for the use of those two folk characters names in those track lining songs.

-snip-  
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKD-1YvFjkk for a YouTube sound file of Duke Ellington's "Jack The Bear".

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Excerpt #3
From http://www.toonopedia.com/brerrab.jpg
"Folklore was how Negroes dealt with their world. They identified themselves as the characters in the well-known folk tales similar to how the narrator of Invisible Man identifies himself as characters such as Jack the Rabbit and Jack the Bear. These characters come from the stories known by the name "Uncle Remus tales" and were remade by Walt Disney in the movie "Song of the South".

Folklore in Invisible Man

- Jack the Bear

- Buckeye Rabbit / Br'er Rabbit

- The Tortoise with the Pretty Daughter

Jack the Bear:

Jack the Bear is a slow-moving and slow-thinking character. When the narrator of Invisible Man references Jack the Bear, he is referring to his life in his hole: his "hibernation". The narrator, having escaped the bear's den that is Harlem, now hibernates in his own den in which he is located at the beginning of the novel and at the end."...
-snip-
"Negroes" is an outdated reference for African Americans/Black Americans.

In the United States, rabbits are sometimes referred to as "jack rabbits". In African American folklore, "Jack the rabbit" is probably the same as "Bre [brother] rabbit."

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Excerpt #4
From https://prezi.com/rrxfmz2sjhmh/invisible-man-and-uncle-remus-tales/ Invisible Man and Uncle Remus Tales by Elizabeth Jaggi, Feb 19 2015
..."Bre Rabbit, who is later compared to the narrator, goes on a series of adventures in which he comes across characters like Brer Fox, Brer Bear, Jack the Bear, along with many others. Each character resembles a character from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The stories depict situations that can be linked to the experiences of the narrator.

Jack the Bear

Jack the Bear is a popular figure in American Folklore that is a trickster. He is able to trick through misdirection.

In the beginning, the narrator refers to himself as Jack the Bear because he is in his hole hibernating."...
-snip-
Here's another quote about "Jack the Bear" in reference to African American author Ralph Ellison's 1952 novel Invisible Man:
From https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/i/invisible-man/summary-and-analysis/prologue
"In the Prologue[ to Invisible Man], Ellison also prepares us for the numerous allusions to classic works of fiction, nonfiction, and folklore that appear throughout the novel, at times merging elements of fiction and folkloreThe narrator's statement, "Call me Jack-the-Bear" alludes to the opening line of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, "Call me Ishmael." It also alludes to the Br'er Rabbit folktales based on African folklore, featuring characters such as Jack-the-Bear, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Rabbit."...

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TWO TEXT (WORD ONLY) EXAMPLES OF TRACK LINING SONGS THAT INCLUDE "JACK THE RABBIT JACK THE BEAR" LYRICS

Example #1
Warning: This excerpt includes what is now commonly known as "the n word". That pejorative referent is given in this pancocojams post with modified spelling.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Folk_Visions_and_Voices/YTnsAQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Jack+the+rabbit,+Jack+the+bear,+can%E2%80%99t+you+line+them,+just+a+hair&pg=PA124&printsec=frontcover  Folk Visions And Voices, "Let’s March Around The Wall"  [chapter] p.124

“Track lining

Told and sung by Brudy ”Doc” Barnes, Athens, Clark County, July 3,1983. Doc remembers the chant of the track lining crew and the musical ring of steel on steel as if it was yesterday.  See Library of Congress, LP AAFSL8 and L52, Botkins, p.746, Hurston , pp322-323

Spoken

You know how people used to work on the railroad track with the steel bars, linin’ the track, you know.
Old Jed Early…he was the line-man, otherwise he was the head of the track. They had a bossman, Cap’n Ball was they bossman.

And them nig-ers-I tell you the truth, I say “nig-ers”-I just say that you know! They had those long steel bars, they had about six or eight of them, you know, and just like this here is the track, and you have to cross-ties ever so far apart…those nig’ get those bars, I tell you the truth, they could play a tune with those iron bars, just as good as you could sing a song with ‘em, Cap’n Ball has a thing, you know, peepin’ through, he’d say “This track is out of line-It gotta be lined!

Chanted
“All right boys, get your bars.”

Spoken

That’s Jed, he’s the lead man….they’d just get them bars, you know, he just start a song, and all of them would get the bars set.

Sung

Ain’t but one train run this track—whah!
Run to Macon an right straight
----back------whah!.

Spoken

Now I’m tellin’ you what I stood and watched!  My daddy’s baby brother, he was with ‘em too  And, man, they could take them iron bars:

Sung

Ain’t but one train run this track

Run to Athens and Macon right

----back------whah!.

Spoken
And  they had some of the prettiest tune.  Wasn’t no music [instruments] round there nowhere, but they could make them iron bars.
right on the edge of that track…I’m tellin’ you what I know.  They could make music with them iron bars, and when they got through, it was lined.

And they had a big ol’ man, Cap’n Ball, he was  about 250, and he’s spy down there, and he’d say “Jed”. And he’d hold up one finger, that’d mean about another inch, you know,

Sung

Jus’ move it, boy

Spoken
And he’d do thataway, that’s mean half.!

Sung

Pick it up, line-man---- whah!
Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear
Boys, can’t you jus’ move it
just another hair?---- Whah!

Spoken

I used to follow ‘em up! In that time ….they was hand cars, you had to pump! Has a handle on this side….

Take fo’ men, when the front would go down, the back would come up, and I’m tellin’ you, they could hustle on that thing!

Now, they got motors on ‘em, but then who osh! Sailin’ too!  You get them fo’ men stout, and got power! Good Godalmighty, they could make thirty miles an hour.  The section gang, with the hand cars, I will never forget that."

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Example #2 
From https://www.google.com/books/edition/Long_Steel_Rail/AY7St4-8x10C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=jack+the+rabbit+jack+the+bear&pg=PA646&printsec=frontcover Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folks by Norm Cohen, ‎David Cohen · 2000 · ‎Music
…"Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear, can’t you line them, just a hair

Can’t you line ‘em for the captain, can’t you line ‘em for the straw (i.e. strawboss)

Can’t you line ‘em for the walker, can’t you line ‘em for the boss,

Can’t you line ‘em just a little bit, can’t you line ‘em, to the other side.”…
-snip-
This is the way that this excerpt was written in that article.

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams post.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

Examples Of The African American Track Lining Song "Up And Down The Road I Go" (Up & Down This Road I Go)

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update: Dec. 10, 2022

This post presents lyrics of three African American folk songs that contain a verse beginning with the line "Up and down this road I go" and which also include the verse "Got a letter from [insert name] town"/East Saint Louis is burning down".

A sound file of one of these songs is included in this post. Unfortunately, I've not been able to find an online sound file or online video of the other two examples.

The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

FEATURED EXAMPLES
Example #1: Blind Arvella Gray Arvella's Work Song



Yamit Motek, Published on Jul 18, 2012

Blind Arvella Gray Arvella's Work Song - uploaded via http://www.mp32u.net/
-snip-
This sound file is probably from Arvella Gray's 1972 vinyl record Blind Arvella Gray- The Singing Drifter. That record was reissued in 2005 by Conjuroo Recordings.

Information about Arvella Gray's record can be found at http://www.stlblues.net/reviews_uj_blindarvella.htm
-snip-
Lyrics: Arvella's Work Song

[Arvella Gray talking]

Every morning, Captain Bo Bobbin would say to his foreman,
He say “Yeah ah when them boys sang them ah,
those lonesome songs, you’d betta watch ‘em,
but when they sang them happy songs, they alright.

[Arvella Gray begins singing and accompanies himself with handclaps.]
Verse #1
Little by little as the day grow long,
We gonna sing some happy song.
Little by little as the day grow long,
We gonna sing some happy song.
Little by little as the day grow long,
We gonna sing some happy song.

Verse #2
One of these mornings, it won’t be long
Captain gonna call me and I’ll be gone.
One of these mornings, and it won’t be long
Captain gonna call me and I’ll be gone.
Don’t you let the gator to the pond*

Verse #3
Do he give you more trouble than the day are long.
Don’t you let that gator to the pond
Do he give you more trouble than the day are long.

Verse #4
I went to the river and I couldn’t get across.
I jumped on an alligator, I thought he was a horse.
I went to the river and I couldn’t get across.
I jumped on an alligator, I thought he was a horse.

Verse #5
I caught him by the ear I speared him in the flank
You oughta see that alligator gettin to the bank.
I caught him by the ear I speared him in the flank
You oughta see that alligator gettin to the bank.

Verse #6
Up and down the road I go
Skippin and a dodgin from a 44.
Up and down that road I go
A skippin and a dodgin from a 44.

Verse #7
I gotta letter from a-Haggintown
East Saint Louey is burnin down.
I gotta letter from a-Haggintown
East Saint Louey is burnin down.

Verse #8
A newborn baby born last night
A-walkin and a-talkin ‘fore day light.
A newborn baby born last night
A-walkin and a-talkin ‘fore day light.

Verse #9
Waterboy bring your water 'round.
Don’t like your job, set your bucket down
Waterboy bring your water 'round.
Don’t like your job, set your bucket down.

Verse #10
Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear
Can’t you line ‘em, just a hair.
Jack the rabbit, Jack the bear
Can’t you line the track a hair.

Verse #11
Down in the wilderness a-preachin to the poor.
Gonna make this ten a six and a four.
Down in the wilderness a-preachin to the poor.
Gonna make this ten a six and a four.

Um! Um!
-snip-
This is my transcription from the video. Any additions or corrections are appreciation.

TEXT ANALYSIS OF SOME VERSES OF "ARVELLA'S WORK SONG"
Introductory Comments: The Captain's comments are interesting from a sociological standpoint since the nature of the workers' songs was felt to predict whether they would cause trouble or not. Further discussion of this point is beyond the scope of this post.

Verse #2: This is a floating verse from Spirituals (Floating verses" are found in a number of other songs or rhymes). In this verse, the "Captain" replaces God, Jesus, or "My Lord".

Verse #3: This line probably means "don’t you let that gator get to the pond."

Verse #4: This is a floating verse that is found in a number of African American folk songs & rhymes. Click http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm Project Gutenberg EBook [EBook #27195] version of Thomas W. Talley's 1922 compilation Negro Folk Rhymes: Wise And Otherwise for the examples "Crossing The River" and "Gray and Black Horses.

Verse #6 &7 are the two central verses that appear in each of the three songs in this post. Notice the sllght differences in these verses in the both of the other two song examples featured on this page.

A .44 is a type of gun.

Verse #7 refers to the East St. Louis [Illinois] Riot of 1917 in which much of the Black section of the town was burned to the ground by White residents, and many people were killed. For information about that tragedy, click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_St._Louis_Riot

I recall seeing the first line given as "Got a letter from Hagerstown". The versions of that line here and in the other examples are probably folk etymology forms of that name (though I'm not sure of the currect spelling of that location.)

That first line is also given as "Got a letter from Charlottetown" or "Got a letter from Shiloh town". And it's very likely that there are other versions of this line.

This verse is also found in the folk song "Sail Away Ladies".

Verse #10: Notice that Ella Jenkins (Example #2) indicated that she learned her clip of this song from Arvella Gray. Also, notice that the author of Ella Jenkin's record (citation below) wrote that "Mr. Gray had worked on the railroad when he was younger." It seems likely to me that Arvella Gray learned most if not all of these verses from lining track.
-snip-
For what it's worth, my guess is that the name "Arvella" is a form of the name "Orville".

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Example #2: Ella Jenkins - "Up And Down This Road I Go"



Ella Jenkins Topics, Nov. 8, 2014
-snip-
Here's information about Ella Jenkins' performance of this song from

http://lfs.alexanderstreet.com/liner/bae2560124e9cecb81df4eb2c77d66e3/SFW45003.pdf
Smithsonian Folkways music notes for Ella Jenkins And The Goodwill Spiritual Choir Of Monumental Baptist Church
African American Folk Rhythms Record
Curator- Anthony Seeger, Smithsonian Folkways Collection, August 1988

Ella Jenkins learned this song from Arvella Gray, a blind street singer who played and sang on street corners as well as in music clubs on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. His street side audiences preferred to hear spirituals. Every year before the Kentucky Derby, he would take a train to Louisville and make a lot of money playing to the racegoers. Mr. Gray had worked on the railroad when he was younger and said that a bullet from a .44 had blinded him. His song carried a bit of his life as well as his music with it.

Up and down this road I go
Slippin and a doggin
From a 44.
Up and down this road I go
Slippin and a doggin
From a 44.

Jack the rabbit. Jack the bear
Won’t you line it
Just one hair.
Jack the rabbit. Jack the bear
Won’t you line it
Just one hair.

Got a letter from Hag in town
East St Louis is burnin down
Got a letter from Hag in town
East St Louis is burnin down

Got a letter from Hag in town
East St Louis is burnin down
Got a letter from Hag in town
East St Louis is burnin down

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Example #3: Excerpt from Blues from the Delta by William Ferris, Da Capo Press; Revised edition (1988) page 34
From http://books.google.com/books?id=BUQA69Dpi6EC&pg=PA34&lpg=PA34&dq=east+saint+louis+is+burning+down+song&source=bl&ots=z-tVyDc5TP&sig=6OMIGZbsr0STDZoo54InsK6sveM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=g9oBUcfGIILC0QHXuYCwAg&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=east%20saint%20louis%20is%20burning%20down%20song&f=false

When you linin track you say

Up and down this road I go
Slippin and a doggin
From a 44.
Up and down this road I go
Skippin a
nd a divin for my 44.
Ha Ha, way over.
Ha Ha, way over.
Poor boys, pull together.
Track line much better.
Whoa!
Then we might say for the next track:

Oh, I got a letter from Haggis town
East St Louis is burnin down
Ha Ha, way over.
Ha Ha, way over.
Poor boys, pull together.
Track line much better.
Whoa!

There’s a lot more verses for track lining, but most of them have bad stuff in ‘em. If you don’t care, I’ll put them on here too.

Oh talkin ‘bout a pretty girl, you oughta see mine.
She got big titties and a broad behind.
Ha Ha, way over.
Ha Ha, way over.
Poor boys, pull together.
Track line much better.
Whoa!

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RELATED LINKS

http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/early-versions-of-cant-you-line-em.html Early Versions Of "Can't You Line' Em" ("Linin' Track")

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=97649#1923691 Origins: Sail Away Ladies; Mudcat Cafe; "East Saint Louis is burnin down" verse [letter from Shiloh town]

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to the unknown composer/s of these songs. Thanks also to Arvella Gray for his musical legacy. My thanks also to the authors of the articles that are quoted in this post, and the uploader of this featured sound file.

Also, thank you for visiting pancocojams.

Viewer comments are welcome