Texarkana Mary

DESCRIPTION: "Wo, Texarcana (Ida/Mary), holl'rin, Wo, Lord. Wo, Texarkana Ida, Godamighty, God knows." "Won't you help me to call 'em." "I'm goin' crazy in the bottom." "Oh, Mary got married." "She married old Raymond." "Tell me, who is that devil?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (recorded from Jesse Hendricks by Jackson)
KEYWORDS: prison work separation marriage hardtimes
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Jackson-WakeUpDeadMan, pp. 265-267, "Texarkana Mary" (2 texts, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Godamighty Drag" (lyrics)
NOTES [100 words]: As with so much else in Jackson, it is hard to tell where one song ends and the next begins. Jackson lumps two texts together here, splitting them from the song he calls "Godamighty," even though he admits that the "B" text of "Texarkana Mary" (which never mentions Texarkana or Mary) stands between the two songs. I could make a case for filing this "B" text with that song, or lumping the whole bunch -- or splitting this and "Godamighty" into at least four songs. But because the whole thing is such a mess, I've followed Jackson's split, except that I lumped the various "Godamighty" songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: JDM265

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