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Midnight Special

from That's The Way It Goes by T. R. Munday

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about

A slow, deep version of the traditional song. It's got a good groove. No one knows just where this song came from.
It was first published in 1905 by Howard Odum. When Alan Lomax recorded songs in 1937 at Angola Prison in Louisiana he recorded Leadbelly playing and singing it, and he attributed the song to him, but by that time it had actually been recorded by a number of singers. In John and Alan Lomax's book there is a believable explanation for the location of the song, which would point toward Sugar Land Prison, the old men's prison in Sugar Land, Texas. There is one version which identifies the railroad line that the Midnight Special ran on as the I.C. Gulf, which would place it in Mississippi.
It could probably be sung a great many places. With feeling. Perhaps that is one of the things that have made it so appealing to so many people, for so many years.
This song holds a special place in my heart , because a different recorded version was the first of my songs that was played on the radio.

lyrics

Midnight Special
traditional as sung by T R Munday

Well you wake up in the morning
You hear the work bell ring
And they march you to the table
You see the same damn thing

Ain't no food upon the table
And no pork up in the pan
But you better not complain boy
You'll get in trouble with the man

Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Oh let the midnight special shine its light on me
Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Oh let the midnight special shine its ever-lovin' light on me

Yonder come Miss Rosie
How in the world do you know?
I can tell her by her apron
And the clothes she wore

Umbrella on her shoulder
Piece of paper in her hand
She goin' to see the governor
She wants to free her man

Yeah

Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Oh let the midnight special shine its ever-lovin' light on me

If you're ever in Houston
Man you better do right
You better not gamble
And you better not fight

Or the sheriff will grab you
And his boys will bring you down
The next thing you know boy
You're penitentiary bound

Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Let the midnight special shine its light on me
Oh let the midnight special shine its ever-lovin' light on me

credits

from That's The Way It Goes, released December 11, 2017
photo "Locked Hallway" - K Whiteford

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T. R. Munday image

T. R. Munday Chicago, Illinois

If you enjoy the Blues, check out Anni Piper's vocals and her great bass guitar: annipiper.bandcamp.com

T. R. Munday resides in Northern Illinois, by way of Texas and California.
Musically, he has been most influenced by Mississippi John Hurt, Johnny Cash, and a whole host of Mississippi Delta and Chicago Bluesmen. ... more

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