Poor Boy a Long Way From Home

DESCRIPTION: The singer leaves Louisiana for Texas: "I got to work or leave." He decides "my home ain't Texas," gets on a boat and now "my home's on the water and I sure don't like land." "Poor boy, poor boy, poor boy a long way from home"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Odum and Johnson)
KEYWORDS: rambling home travel ship work nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
NorthCarolinaFolkloreJournal, Charles W. Joyner, "The Repertory of Nancy Jones as a Mirror of Culture in Scotland County," Vol. XXI, No. 3 (Sep 1973), pp. 94-95, "(Poor boy, long way from home)" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Johnson, The Negro and his Songs (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1925 ("Digitized by Internet Archive")), p. 5, ("Po' boy 'long way from home") (1 fragment)
Roud #17701
RECORDINGS:
Mississippi John Hurt, "Poor Boy a Long Way From Home" (on MJHurt05)
Ramblin' Thomas, "Poor Boy Blues" (Paramount 12722A, 1928; on "Anthology of American Folk Music - Volume Three: Songs," Smithsonian Folkways CD FP 253, 1997)
NOTES [15 words]: The description is based on the Ramblin' Thomas recording. Hurt sings only the chorus. - BS
Last updated in version 6.1
File: RcPBLWFH

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