Wrong Road, The

DESCRIPTION: Singer takes the "wrong road"; he gets drunk with a man, they quarrel; the singer shoots him. He warns hearers; he is "hanging from a scaffold/Between the earth and sky." He is going home, telling us "You might forget the singer/But don't forget the song"
AUTHOR: probably one of the Hall Brothers
EARLIEST DATE: 1938 (recording, Hall Brothers)
LONG DESCRIPTION: Singer takes the "wrong road" in Alabama; he gets drunk with a man, they quarrel, and the singer shoots him. He warns listeners not to drink or keep bad company, for now he is "hanging from a scaffold/Between the earth and sky." He is going home to glory, having repented, but tells us "You might forget the singer/But don't forget the song"
KEYWORDS: warning fight violence crime homicide punishment death drink
FOUND IN: US(SE)
RECORDINGS:
Hall Brothers [Ron & Jay Hugh], "The Wrong Road" (Bluebird 7728, 1938; on RoughWays2)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Young Companions" [Laws E15] (plot)
File: RcTWrRo

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography