- Written by
- [Traditional]
- Language
- English
- Comments
-
Traditional song with many variants typically involving a girlfriend (or sister) running off and marrying a gambling man and then the singer killing the gambling man and going to jail. Various titles include "Poor Boy", "Ninety-Nine Years" or "I've Still Got Ninety-Nine" (as in ninety-nine years remaining of a jail sentence), "Cold Penitentiary Blues"....
As I went down to the river poor boy to watch the ships go by
My sweetheart's stood on the deck of one she waved to me goodbye
Bow down your head and cry (poor boy) bow down your head and cry
Stop thinking of that woman you love bow down your head and cry
I followed her from months and months she offered me her hand
We were just about to get married when she ran off with a gambling man
He come at me with a big jack knife I went and hit him with lead
And when that fight was over poor boy he laid beside me dead
Bow down your head and cry...
[ banjo ]
They took me to that big jailhouse the months and months rolled by
The jury found me guilty poor boy and the judge said yoou're gonna die
And yet they call this justice poor boy then justice let it be
I only killed a man who's just a fixin' to kill me
Bow down your head and cry... - Licensing
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Versions
Poor Boy (Bow Down Your Head and Cry) written by [Traditional] English
Title | Performer | Release date | Info | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cold Penitentiary Blues | B.F. Shelton | September 6, 1929 | First recording on July 29, 1927 First release |
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Ninety-Nine Years | Lester McFarland | 1932 | |||
Poor Boy | Riley Puckett and Red Jones | November 1937 | |||
Po' Boy | Burl Ives | 1947 | |||
Poor Boy | Glenn Yarbrough | 1957 | |||
Poor Boy | Bud and Travis | November 1959 | |||
Cold Penitentiary Blues | The Charles River Valley Boys | 1962 | |||
Poor Boy | The Blue Sky Boys | April 1966 | |||
Poor Boy | Joan Baez | August 14, 2001 | Released more than 10 years after its recording |
I've Still Got Ninety-Nine written by Charlie Monroe English