Skip to content

Go Down Old Hannah - Live

Pete Seeger
Popularity ยท Low
๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง English ยท Original

YouTube

Searching YouTube...

Lyrics

The story behind this song is not a particularly happy story I learned the song back in 1951 when Toshi and I and some friends Were able to get permission to take a tape recording to a southern Prison farm and record some of the work songs which were sung while The men were out on the job. Well we didn't have electricity out In the fields. We had, uh, some of the men were allowed to stay up Late. Down in the kitchen we set up the tape recorder and we had a Regular party among the pots and pans. Oh they sang a lot of songs That you've heard before: Midnight Special, Grey Goose, and uh Let Your Hammer Ring, old Stewball. But one song I'll never forget A man stepped up and it seemed like he put his whole life into this Song. He was a young man, about 19, 20 years old, and he shot me a Glance that could have drilled me right through. He says "Well Gentlemen, this is Andrew B. Crane, serving a lifetime sentence on Retrieve State Farm, and this is a song I sing with the boys when I Get worried." And then he just raised Back with his head, and he sings Won't you go down, old Hannah Well, well, well Don't you rise no more Don't you rise no more Won't you go down, old Hannah Don't you rise no more Old Hannah's their nickname for the sun. And the only Thing he wanted was that sun never to come up in the Morning unless it brought Judgement Day. And the whole gang Would come in on the repeats, you know, "well, well, well" Well, if you rise in the morning Well, well, well Bring Judgement Day Bring Judgement Day Well, if you rise in the morning Bring Judgement Day Well, I looked at old Hannah Well, well, well She was turning red She was turning Well, I looked at old Hannah She was turning red Well, I looked at my partner Well, well He was almost dead He was almost Well, I looked at my partner He was almost dead Well, I said "wake up, old dead man" Well, well, well Help me carry my row Help me carry my row I said "wake up, old dead man Help me carry my row" Well, my partner looked around Well, well This is what he said This is what he Well, my partner looked around This is what he said You oughta bet on this prison Well, well, well Nineteen and ten Nineteen and ten You oughta bet on this old prison Nineteen and ten They was drivin' the women Well, well Like they do the men Like they do the They was drivin' the women Like they do the men It went on and on. It seems like the man was telling his whole life He says "if you get lucky and make it back home, you go down by Julie's, tell her I won't be long." He says "I was A good man, but they drove me down." And then a verse I'll never forget, it says "Seems like everything Everything I do. Seems like everything I do is wrong." Well, it seems like everything Well, well, well Everything I do Everything I do Well, it seems like most everything I do is wrong