Like the folks who came before me, I indulged my own sensibilities regarding the material, knowing that certain liberties would have to be taken to transform unaccompanied melodies into arrangements suitable for performance. A word might be modified or inserted to create a smoother line. Meter changes were occasionally used to extend words or phrases. A melody note might be altered to allow a phrase to land more sensibly. With all that said, respect was paid to the shape and content of the source material. My goal was to expand the storytelling power of these songs by creating accompaniments which had a more extended, even epic sweep, and thereby put them into a context where they could be performed by recitalists. These songs were selected because they offered either an emotional, dramatic or musical potential worth exploring.   --Steven Mark Kohn                                                                                                                     

 

"10,000 Miles Away"

Sing I for a brave and a gallant barque;
for a stiff and a ratling breeze,
A bully crew and a captain true,
to carry me o'er the seas.
To carry me o'er the seas, my boys,
to my true love so gay,
who went on a trip on a Government ship
ten thousand miles away!

Oh, blow, ye winds, hi oh!
a roaming I will go.
I'll stay no more on England's shore
so let the music play.
I'll start by the morning train
to cross the raging main,
for I'm on the road to my own true love,
ten thousand miles away.

My true love she was handsome,
my true love she was young
Her eyes were blue as the violet's hue.
and silv'ry was the sound of her tongue.
And silv'ry was the sound of her tongue, my boys,
and while I sing this lay,
she's a-doing of the grand in a far off land,
ten thousand miles away.

Oh, blow, ye winds, hi oh!
A roaming I will go.
I'll stay no more on England's shore,
so let the music play.
I'll start by the morning train
to cross the raging main!
For I'm on the road to my

The Gallows Tree

Slack your rope, hangs a man! Slack it for a while.
I think I see my mother comin', ridin' many a mile.
Oh, mother have you brought me gold or have you paid my fee?
Or have you come to see me hangin' on the gallows tree?
"I have not brought you gold. I have not paid your fee.
But I have come to see you hanging on the gallows tree."

Slack your rope, hangs a man! Slack it for a while.
I think I see my father comin', ridin' many a mile.
Oh, father have you brought me gold or have you paid my fee?
Or have you come to see me hangin' on the gallows tree?
"I have not brought you gold. I have not paid your fee.
But I have come to see you hanging on the gallows tree."

I think I see my true love comin', ridin' many a mile.
Oh, darlin' have you brought me gold or have you paid my fee?
Or have you come to see me hangin' on the gallows tree?
"Yes, I have brought you gold. Yes, I have paid your fee.
I have not come to see you hanging on the gallows tree."

Hell in Texas

Oh, the devil in Hell they say he was chained. And there for a thousand years he remained.
He never complained, no, nor did he groan, but decided he's start up a Hell of his own.
Where he could torment the souls of men, free from the walls of his prison pen.
So he asked the Lord if he had any sand left over from making this great land.

The Lord said "why yes, I have plenty on hand. It's way down south on the Rio Grande.
But I've got to be honest the stuff is so poor, that I wouldn't use it for Hell anymore."
So the devil went down to look over his truck. It came as a gift, so he figured he's stuck.
And when he examined it careful and well, he decided the stuff was too dry for Hell.

Well, the Lord he just wanted the stuff of his hands, so he promised the devil he'd water the land.
He had some old water that wasn't no use, a rancid old puddle that stunk like the deuce.
The Lord he was crafty, the deal was arranged. He laughed to himself as the deed was exchanged.
But the devil was ready to go with his plan to make up a Hell and so he began.

He scattered tarantulas over the roads, put thorns on the cactus and horns on the toads.
He sprinkled the sand with millions of ants, so if you sit down, you need souls on your pants.
He put water puppies in all of the lakes and under the rocks he put poisonous snakes.
He mixed all the dust up with jiggers and fleas, hung thorns and brambles all over the trees.
The heat in the summer's a hundred and ten. Not bad for the devil but way too hot for men!

And after he'd fixed things so thorny and well, he said "I'll be damned if this don't beat Hell!"
Then he flapped up his wings and away he flew, and vanished from earth in a blaze of blue!
So if you ever end up in Texas, let me know if it's true!