OL' BLUE
(Jerry Foster / Bill Rice)

as recorded by Stonewall Jackson
1973


They called him for odd jobs, like haulin' off garbage
And all the dirty work that they wouldn't do.
He ploughed in their gardens and cleaned out their ditches,
When things needed fixin' they called on Ol' Blue.

They'd hire Ol' Blue's wife for their cleanin',
Together they worked side by side.
She took in their washin' and ironin',
Then one winter mornin' she died, she died.

She left him two children, he worked hard to raise 'em,
He put 'em through school with a hoe and a plough.
One made a doctor and one made a lawyer,
They owe their success to the sweat of his brow!

He walked with a slump and a shuffle,
The weight of the world on his back,
He had a picture of Jesus
That hung on the wall in his shack.

There's green grass out back of the graveyard
That covers the place where he sleeps.
Ol' Blue has found rest for the first time,
'Cause heaven ain't growin' no weeds!

They called him for odd jobs, like haulin' off garbage
And all the dirty work that they wouldn't do.
He ploughed in their gardens and cleaned out their ditches,
When things needed fixin' they called on Ol' Blue.




(Transcribed by Peter Akers - November 2019)