WORRIED MAN BLUES
(aka WEARIED MAN BLUES and IT TAKES A WORRIED MAN)
(Traditional - A.P. Carter)
The Carter Family - 1930
Carolina Ramblers String Band - 1932
Big Joe Williams - 1935
Woody Guthrie - 1940
Burl Ives - 1949
Cisco Houston - 1953
Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group - 1955
The Vipers Skiffle Group - 1956
Chas McDevitt & Nancy Whiskey Skiffle Group - 1957
Mel Tillis - 1957
Joe D. Gibson - 1957
The Bob Cort Skiffle Group - 1957
Ed McCurdy - 1958
The Kingston Trio - 1959
Jimmy Martin & The Sunny Mountain Boys - 1959
Hank Hill & The Tennessee Folk Trio - 1960
Bill Anderson - 1961
Flatt & Scruggs - 1961
Bobby Bare - 1962
The New Lost City Ramblers & Maybelle Carter - 1963
The Osborne Brothers - 1963
Les & Larry Elgart - 1963
Rick & Thel - 1963
The Scholars - 1964
The Blue Sky Boys - 1964
Tom Jones - 1965
Earl Taylor & Jim McCall - 1967
Jerry Reed - 1969
Johnny Cash - 1969
Devo - 1979
Sleepy LaBeef - 1985
Deborah Holland - 1997
Van Morrison - 1998
Southern Comfort Bluegrass Band - 2002
Charlie Louvin - 2007
Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands - 2007
The Big Fash - 2008
Also recorded by:
Wilma Lee & Stoney Cooper; Jim & Jesse; Karel Gott;
Blind Boy Fuller; Almanac Singers; The Stanley Bros;
Ramblin' Jack Elliott & Derroll Adams; George Jones;
Don Reno; Pete Seeger; Eric Clapton; Phil Rosenthal;
Panhandle Polecats; James Alan Shelton; Dick Bishop;
Half Man Half Biscuit; Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee;
The Three D's..........and many others.
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
I went across the river and I lay down to sleep
I went across the river and I lay down to sleep
I went across the river and I lay down to sleep
I woke up and I had shackles on my feet
Twenty-nine links of chain around my leg*
Twenty-nine links of chain around my leg
Twenty-nine links of chain around my leg
And on each link, an initial of my name
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
I asked the judge, "What's gonna be my fine"
I asked the judge, "What's gonna be my fine"
I said, "Oh, judge, what's gonna be my fine"
He said, "Twenty-one years on the Rocky Mountain Line"**
Twenty-one years to pay for my awful crime
Twenty-one years to pay for my awful crime
Twenty-one years to pay for my awful crime
Twenty one years, but I still got ninety-nine
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
The train pulled out, sixteen coaches long***
The train pulled out, sixteen coaches long
The train pulled out, sixteen coaches long
The one I love, she's on that train and gone
I looked down the track, as far as I could see
I looked down the track, as far as I could see
I looked down the track, as far as I could see
A Little bitty hand was a-wavin' back at me
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
If anyone asks you who composed this song
If anyone asks you who composed this song
If anyone asks you who composed this song
Tell him it was I and I sing it all day long
Oh, it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
* Sometimes sung as "twenty-one links"
** Sometimes sung as "the old Rock Island Line"
** Sometimes sung as "the RC Mountain Line"
*** Often sung as "The train I ride is sixteen coaches long"
*** Sometimes sung as "The train arrived, sixteen coaches long"
*** Also sung as "The longest train I ever did see was a thousand coaches long"
TRIVIA:
This is one of those songs where the lyrics vary every time a new recording is
made. However, the differences are only slight and
of no real significance.
Very often the first line of each verse is sung just twice and not three times
as in the version above.
Although generally accepted as having have been written by A.P. Carter in 1930,
this song, or parts of it, were known earlier in
the 1920's.
**********
As recorded by THE CARTER FAMILY:
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
I went across the river, I lay down to sleep
I went across the river, I lay down to sleep
When I woke, put the shackles on my feet
Twenty-nine links of chain around my leg
Twenty-nine links of chain around my leg
And on each link an initial of my name
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
(Instrumental Break)
I asked the judge what might be my fine
I asked the judge what might be my fine
Twenty-one years on the RC Mountain Line
The train arrived sixteen coaches long
The train arrived sixteen coaches long
The girl I love is on that train and gone
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
(Instrumental Break)
If anyone asks you who composed this song
If anyone asks you who composed this song
Yell 'em 'twas I and I sing it all day long
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
********************
As recorded by: JERRY REED:
Well it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
Well it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
Well I went down to the river, I lay down to sleep
I went down to the river to lay me down to sleep
Well I went down to the river and I lay down to sleep
When I woke up there were shackles on my feet
So it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
Well it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
(Guitar Solo)
This train I ride is twenty-one coaches long
This train I ride is twenty-one coaches long
This train I ride is twenty-one coaches long
That woman I love she's on that train and gone
That's why it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
Well it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but, child, I won't be worried long
Oh yes, it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
Well, baby, it takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
********************
As recorded by THE KINGSTON TRIO:
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
Got myself a Cadillac, thirty dollars down
Got myself a brand new house five miles out of town
Got myself a gal named Sue, treats me really fine
Yes, she's my baby and I love her all the time
It takes a worried worried man to sing a worried worried song
It takes a worried worried man to sing a worried worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
I've been away on a business trip, travelin' all around
I got a gal and her name is Sue, prettiest gal in town
She sets my mind to worryin' every time I'm gone
I'll be home tonight, so I won't be worried long
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
Well Bob is in the livin' room, holdin' hands with Sue
Nicky's at that big front door, vowin' to come on through
Well, I'm here in the closet, oh lord what shall I do
We're worried now, but we won't be worried long
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song, oh yes
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now, but I won't be worried long
**********
(Song researched/transcribed by Mel Priddle - June 2010)
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