We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Broken Levee Blues (Lonnie Johnson)

from You Better Lie Down by Scott Ainslie

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

about

The great flood of 1927 literally changed the nation. Every blues singer who survived it has a song about it and this one came from cross-over jazz and blues artist Lonnie Johnson. Read "Rising Tide" by John Barry for a terrific ride through the history of this flood, from the early settlement of the lower MIssissippi right up into the 1930s.

lyrics

Broken Levee Blues (Lonnie Johnson)

“I want to go back to Helena, but the high water’s got me barred.
Said, I woke up this morning with the water all in my back yard.

The water’s all up ’round my windows, backin’ up in my door.
I’ve got to leave my home. Said, I can’t stay here no more.

They want me to work on the levee, they’re coming to take me down.
I’m scared the levee may break, ah…and I might drown.

The police run me out from Cairo, all through Arkansas.
And they threw me in jail, behind these cold iron bars.

They said, “Work fight or go to jail”, I said, “I ain’t totin’ no sacks.”
I won’t drown on that levee and you ain’t gonna break my back.

credits

from You Better Lie Down, track released September 22, 2002
Scott Ainslie, guitar and voice.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Scott Ainslie Brattleboro, Vermont

A long history with older black blues and gospel players in the mid-South marks Ainslie's work deeply. He transcribed all of Robert Johnson's recorded songs for "Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads" (Hal Leonard, 1992) and has a teaching DVD on Johnson's music. A fine songwriter with a social conscience and a belief in the power of music to move and inspire, Ainslie's voice is a great force for good! ... more

contact / help

Contact Scott Ainslie

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Report this track or account

If you like Scott Ainslie, you may also like: