Black Them Boots (Goin' Down to Cairo)

DESCRIPTION: "Black them boots an' make 'em shine, Goodbye, goodbye, Black them boots and make 'em shine, Goodbye (Liza/lazy) Jane." "Oh how I love her, ain't that a shame...." "See that snail a-pullin' that rail?"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: playparty
FOUND IN: US(MW,So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Wolford-ThePlayPartyInIndiana, pp. 25-26=Wolford/Richmond/Tillson-PlayPartyInIndiana, p. 142, "Black Them Boots" (1 text, 1 tune)
McIntosh-FolkSongsAndSingingGamesofIllinoisOzarks, pp. 68-72, "Goin' Down to Cairo" (1 text, 1 tune plus many variant stanzas)
Randolph 550, "Black Them Boots" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7656
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Goodbye Liza Jane (I)"
NOTES [68 words]: From its form this would appear to be akin to "Goodbye Liza Jane" (or one of the other Liza Jane songs), but the fragment in Randolph is just too fragmentary for certainty. - RBW
[This is a variant of] "Goin' Down to Cairo," a southern Illinois fiddle tune with these verses and the chorus "Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, goodbye/Goin' down to Cairo/Goodbye, Liza Jane." The reference is to Cairo, Illinois. - PJS
Last updated in version 4.3
File: R550

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