Get all 22 Derek Piotr releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Divine Supplication, "Yes, They All Sing" (Nathan Salsburg Version), The Devil Knows How, Making and Then Unmaking, Invisible Map - Single, flood deserts, Avia, The Sign - Single, and 14 more.
1. |
"Yes, They All Sing"
02:54
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Herbert Halpert "Your whole—everybody in your family is able to sing, don't they, aren't they?"
Lena Turbyfill "Yes, they all sing."
H.H. "And how many members, how many people, that, in your family do you know of that sing, used to sing, or do sing, or?"
L.T. "Well, all of my brothers and sisters, and there's eight of us living."
H.H. "Uh huh. And how about your, where'd they learn most of their songs?"
L.T. "Well, they learned part of them, the old ones, all from father and mother."
H.H. "And they were good singers?"
L.T. "They were good singers. Papa's a very good singer yet"
H.H. "And...did you sing a great deal?"
L.T. "Oh he used to sing a lot and pick the banjo, play the violin some too."
H.H. "Oh he did. Well, how about the rest of you, did you all sing a good deal together?"
L.T. "We always, that's the way we've always grown up, singing...oh, we'd gather in the evening lots, and sing, sometimes 'til 10, 12 o'clock, do yet, sometimes"
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2. |
Old Lady and the Devil
04:01
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There was an old man and he owned a large farm
and he had no horses to plow his land
Oh, he hooked up the cow and the sow to the plow
and he turned the soil, The Devil knows how
Oh, The Devil come to the old man one day
says, one in your family I'll sure take away
Now said the old man, well surely I'm done
for The Devil's done come for my oldest son
Oh, it's not your oldest son I crave
but your old scoldin' wife I'll sure take away
Take her on, Take her on, with a joy in my heart
and I hope from Hell she never does part
Oh, he shouldered her up all on his back
and off to Hell he went, clickity-clack
Then he set her down at the forks in the road
And he said, old gal, you're a terrible load
Oh, he set her down at old Hell's gate
And there he made the old gal walk straight
Well, two little devils come a-rattling their chains
And she up with a slipper and she knocked out their brains
So nine little devils went a-climbing the wall
Says, take her back Daddy, she's a-murderin' us all
Well, he shouldered her up, all on his back
and like an old fool he went lugging her back
Then said the old man, we're bound for a curse
for she's been to Hell, but she's ten times worse
The old man was a-layin' sick in the bed
And she up with a butter stick and battled his head
The old woman went a-whistlin' over the hill
Says The Devil won't have me, I wonder who will
That's one advantage women have over men
for they'll go to Hell and come back again
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3. |
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"O, hold up your hand Old Joshua!", she cried,
And wait a little while and see,
I thought I saw my own dear father
come sailing o'er the sea.
O, father o, father,
have you brought any gold,
or silver to pay my fee?
for I have stole the golden key,
and hanged I shall be.
O, no o, no, I brought no gold
nor silver to pay your fee.
I've just come to see you hung
on yonders gallows-tree.
"O, hold up your hand Old Joshua!", she cried,
And wait a little while and see,
I thought I saw my own dear mother
come sailing o'er the sea.
O, mother o, mother, have you brought any gold,
or silver to pay my fee?
for I have stole the golden key,
and hanged I shall be.
O, no o, no, I brought no gold
nor silver to pay your fee.
I've just come to see you hung
on yonders gallows-tree.
"O, hold up your hand Old Joshua!", she cried,
And wait a little while and see,
I thought I saw my own dear brother
come sailing o'er the sea.
O, brother o, brother, have you brought any gold,
or silver to pay my fee?
for I have stole the golden key,
and hanged I shall be.
O, no o, no, I brought no gold
nor silver to pay your fee.
I've just come to see you hung
on yonders gallows-tree.
"O, hold up your hand Old Joshua!", she cried,
And wait a little while and see,
I thought I saw my own dear sister
come sailing o'er the sea.
O, sister o, sister, have you brought any gold,
or silver to pay my fee?
for I have stole the golden key,
and hanged I shall be.
O, no o, no, I brought no gold
nor silver to pay your fee.
I've just come to see you hung
on yonders gallows-tree.
"O, hold up your hand Old Joshua!", she cried,
And wait a little while and see,
I thought I saw my own true love
come sailing o'er the sea.
True love, true love, have you brought any gold,
or silver to pay my fee?
for I have stole the golden key,
and hanged I shall be.
O, yes, O yes, I brought some gold
and silver to pay your fee.
I’ll pay your fee, I’ll pay your fee
and take you home with me.
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4. |
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I'm going back to North Carolina
I'm going back to North Carolina
I'm going back to North Carolina
and I never expect to see you anymore
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
My home's across the Blue Ridge Mountains
and I never expect to see you anymore
Oh, how can I keep from crying?
Oh, how can I keep from crying?
Oh, how can I keep from crying?
When I never expect to see you anymore
I'm gonna leave here Monday morning
I'm gonna leave here Monday morning
I'm gonna leave here Monday morning
and I never expect to see you anymore
I'm going back to North Carolina
I'm going back to North Carolina
I'm going back to North Carolina
and I never expect to see you anymore
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5. |
Lily Shull
02:21
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A great crowd has now gathered
All around this jail today
To see me executed
And hear what I do say
Now I must hang this morning
For the murder of Lily Shull
Whom I so cruelly murdered
And her body shamefully burned
The cries of poor Lily
Again I can almost hear
As she begged me not to kill her
Her life alone to spare
'Twas then that I heard a whisper
In a most gentle tone
My grief is one sufficient
To save the vilest one
The fire where I burned her
Is again now within my sight
And her lovely face recovering
In the fire that burns so bright
Now I bow down to Jesus
In penitential grief
And I beg him now to save me
Like he did the dying thief
God bless my aged parents
Who mourn for me alone
Also my wife and baby
Who will be left alone
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6. |
Ellen Smith
05:16
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Poor Ellen Smith, where was she found?
Shot through the heart, lying cold in the ground
Many hearts she has broken, many lives she has stole
It all has now ended in her bed in the snow
Poor Ellen Smith, you've wasted your life
You could’ve made some man a very good wife
Many friends tried to warn you, of the ending you were told
that all has ended in your bed in the snow
So early this morning poor Ellen was found
Shot through the heart, lying cold in the ground
The men, they will mourn you, their wives will be glad
Such is the ending of a girl who is bad
Perhaps you're in heaven, God only knows
The Bible plainly tells you've gone down below
Poor Ellen Smith, where was she found?
Shot through the heart, lying cold in the ground
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7. |
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"Mainly when I'd be sitting around, and there'd be big crowds of first cousins, and aunts and uncles, and people, just visiting you know, by the lamplight, and telling stories, and singing old folk songs, and things like that. It was just a thing that everyone did: they'd sing old songs, and they'd sing the new ones..."
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8. |
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REMEM
BER MAN AS
YOU PSS BY AS
YOU ARE NOW
SO WONST WAS I
AS I AM NOW
SO YOU MUST BE
SO NOW PREPAR
TO FOLLOW ME
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9. |
George Collins
02:08
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George Collins rode home one cold winter night,
'taken down sick to die.
Little Mary was sitting in her mama's hall,
a-sewing her silk so fine,
but when she hear'd that George was dead,
she laid her silk aside.
Oh daughter oh daughrer, what makes you weep so,
there's more young men than one,
Oh Mama, oh Mama, George got my heart,
but now he's dead and gone.
She followed him up, she followed him down,
she followed him to the grave.
Set down the coffin, screw off the lid,
push back the linen so fine,
and let me kiss George clay-cold lips,
I know they'll never kiss mine.
And don't you see that little turtle-dove,
it flies from pine to pine,
a-mournin' for it's lost true love,
and I must mourn for mine.
And don't you see that little turtle-dove,
it flies from oak to oak,
a-mourning for it's lost true love,
for its poor heart is broke.
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10. |
Lee Mills
03:29
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Lee Mills is what they call my name.
I was once without a murder stain,
But now you’ve heard the story told
Of how I came to be so bold.
It was on a bright and sunny day
When Will Hardin led me astray.
He caused me to commit a crime,
Of which I am compelled to die.
Oh, here I am, bound down in chains,
And on my name's a murder stain.
If I could call back my past days,
I would refer from all such ways.
Many a night I’ve laid awake
And prayed to God for pity’s sake
To pardon all my sins at last,
And then forgive me of the past.
My mother dear, she prayed for me.
Her smiling face I’ve wished to see,
But death, cold death, has come at last,
And took her troubles from her breast.
Out yonder the scaffold I do see--
It was prepared alone for me--
And I shall stand upon it soon,
And there to meet my parting doom.
You rowdy boys, here as I stand,
The sheriff with the rope and outstretched hand.
This is my last experienced words,
And do not let them pass unheard.
Don’t ever be led off astray,
Nor cause your days to end this way,
Nor cause your dear old mother grief,
For on their gray hairs it will trouble leave.
Dear little girl, we too must part.
To see your tears, it breaks my heart.
If it wasn’t for leaving you here to cry,
I would not care so much to die.
My time is up; I’ve got to go.
Farewell, dear friends on earth below.
I hope we’ll meet above the skies,
And now I’ll bid you all goodbye.
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Derek Piotr
Derek Piotr is a folklorist, researcher and performer whose work focuses primarily on the human voice.
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