Nine Hundred Miles

DESCRIPTION: "I'm a walking down the track, I've got tears in my eyes, Trying to read a letter from my home. If that train runs me right I'll be home tomorrow night." The singer will pawn anything or do whatever is needed to get home (to his sweetheart)
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1909 (JAFL)
KEYWORDS: train love separation home
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Cohen-LongSteelRail, pp. 503-517, "Reuben's Train/Train 45/900 Miles" (2 texts plus exceprts equivalent to about three more, 2 tunes; the first text is close to "Reuben's Train," the second to "Nine Hundred Miles," but the article is mostly devoted to showing how the two songs mix)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 285, "The Midnight Dew" (1 text, with an unusual introductory verse but most of the rest goes here)
Brown/Schinhan-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore5 285, "The Midnight Dew" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Jones-MinstrelOfTheAppalachians-Bascom-Lamar-Lunsford, p. 236, "Reuben" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rosenbaum-FolkVisionsAndVoices, p. 79. "Seventy-four" (1 text, 1 tune, beginning with a "Five hundred miles from my home" stanza and with many verses which appear to float); p. 173, "Five Hundred Miles" (1 text, 1 tune, possibly influenced by Hedy West's version)
McNeil-SouthernMountainFolksong, pp. 165-168, "Reuben" (1 text, 1 tune)
Lomax/Lomax-FolkSongUSA 73, "900 Miles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Burton/Manning-EastTennesseeStateCollectionVol2, p. 32, "Old Reuben" (1 text, 1 tune, with so many verses characteristic of both "Reuben's Train" and "Nine Hundred Miles" that I'm filing it with both)
Roberts/Agey-InThePine #95, "I'm Nine Hundred Miles from My Home" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin/Harlow-TreasuryOfRailroadFolklore, p. 464, "900 Miles" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 53, "Nine Hundred Miles" (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 538, 540, 551, "500 Miles" (notes only, probably referring to the Hedy West version)
DT, MILES900
Roud #4959
RECORDINGS:
Fiddlin' John Carson "I'm Nine Hundred Miles from Home" (OKeh 40196, 1924)
George & Bobby Childers, "Five Hundred Miles" (on FolkVisions2)
Marianne Corbino, "500 Miles" (Fragment: Piotr-Archive #631, recorded 08/10/2023; so short that it's not clear whether it is actually "Five Hundred Miles" or "Nine Hundred Miles," although the tune implies the former)
Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston, "Nine Hundred Miles" (on AschRec2)
Riley Puckett, "Nine Hundred Miles from Home" (Columbia 15563-D, 1930)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Rain and Snow" (opening lines of tune)
cf. "Reuben's Train"
NOTES [103 words]: Some versions of "Reuben's Train," such as the Grayson/Whitter "Train 45" recording, are so mixed with this song that it's literally impossible to tell whether they are versions of this song or that; those interested should consult the references to both songs. - RBW
"Five Hundred Miles," composed by Hedy West and popular in the 1960s folk revival, is essentially a rewrite of this song with a different tune, but several overlapping verses. - PJS
And I've filed it here on that basis, although it should be noted that "Five Hundred Miles" is a Hedy West song, not a traditional variant on "Nine Hundred Miles." - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: LxU073

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