Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
Got 99 to life
Stabbed a man with a butcher knife
Ain't no way out in sight
All this sufferin' serve me right
Mornin' grub, gon' need me some
But it's covered with spit and cum
Nothin' but water now
Gonna help when I hit that plow
The man sittin' on the hoss
Shotgun says he's boss
Got 99 to life
The bossman's got that gun
Gotcha workin' in the sun
Gotcha poundin' with that hoe
Better finish up that row
Shotgon done gone off
Poor Georgie died with one last cough
He went face down in the dirt
And the boss yelled "Back to work!"
So tired I'm stumblin' drunk
Sweat stinkin' like a skunk
Dust dryin' on my brow
Like a mule behind that plow
Got 99 to life
Stabbed a man with a butcher knife
Ain't no way out in sight
All this sufferin' serve me right
Stabbed a man with a butcher knife
Ain't no way out in sight
All this sufferin' serve me right
Mornin' grub, gon' need me some
But it's covered with spit and cum
Nothin' but water now
Gonna help when I hit that plow
The man sittin' on the hoss
Shotgun says he's boss
Got 99 to life
The bossman's got that gun
Gotcha workin' in the sun
Gotcha poundin' with that hoe
Better finish up that row
Shotgon done gone off
Poor Georgie died with one last cough
He went face down in the dirt
And the boss yelled "Back to work!"
So tired I'm stumblin' drunk
Sweat stinkin' like a skunk
Dust dryin' on my brow
Like a mule behind that plow
Got 99 to life
Stabbed a man with a butcher knife
Ain't no way out in sight
All this sufferin' serve me right
Lyrics submitted by xdvr
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