Lost John / Long Gone
First recording and first release by Henry Whitter (April 1925 / 1925)
- Written by
- [Traditional]
- Language
- English
- Comments
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aka "Long Gone" or "Lonesome John" or "Long Gone Like a Turkey Through the Corn" or "Long Gone (from Bowling Green". Traditional African-American slavery work song. John and Alan Lomax recorded “Long John" sung by a man identified as “Lightning” and a group of his fellow black convicts at Darrington State Prison Farm in Texas in 1934.
When performed with vocals this is the typical refrain -
Long gone, long gone.
Lost John sittin' on a railroad track,
Waiting for the freight train to come back;
Freight train come, never made no stop,
You ought to seen Lost John gettin' on top. - Licensing
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