DEATH LETTER BLUES
(Ida Cox)

Ida Cox
recorded 1924


I received a letter that mt man was dyin',
I received a letter that mt man was dyin',
I caught the first 'plane and went back home flyin'!

He wasn't dead but he was slowly dyin',
He wasn't dead but he was slowly dyin',
And to think of him, I just can't keep from cryin'!

I followed my daddy to the buryin' ground,
I followed my daddy to the buryin' ground,
I watched the pallbearers slowly let him down.

That was the last time I saw my daddy's face,
That was the last time I saw my daddy's face,
Mama love you sweet papa, but I just can't take your place!



(Transcribed by Peter Akers - March 2014)