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Willie and Laura Mae Jones Lyrics
Willie and Laura Mae Jones were our neighbors a long time back
They lived right down the road from us in a shack, just like our shack
The people worked the land together, and we learned to count on each other
When you live off the land you don't have the time to think about another man's coulour
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine
But that was another place and another time
We'd sit out on the front porch in the evenin' when the sun went down
Willie would play and the kids would sing and everybody would mess around
And Daddy bring on his guitar, we'd play all through the night
And every now and then ol' Willie would grin and say
'Hey you play alright' (and that made me feel so good)
I remember the best times of all when Saturday came around
We'd always stop by Willie's house and say
'Do y'all need anything from town?'
He'd say 'No, but why don't cha all stop on your way back through
And I'll get Laura Mae to cook us some barbecue (you know, they good)'
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (yes it was)
But that was another place and another time
The years rolled past our land, and took back what they'd given
We all knew we'd have to move if we were gonna make a livin'
So we all moved on and went about our separate ways
Sure it was hard to say goodbye to Willie and Laura Mae (Jones), oh yeah
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (yes it was)
But that was another place and another time
The cotton was high and the corn was growin' fine (the cotton was growin' fine)
But that was another place and another time
They lived right down the road from us in a shack, just like our shack
The people worked the land together, and we learned to count on each other
When you live off the land you don't have the time to think about another man's coulour
But that was another place and another time
Willie would play and the kids would sing and everybody would mess around
And Daddy bring on his guitar, we'd play all through the night
And every now and then ol' Willie would grin and say
'Hey you play alright' (and that made me feel so good)
We'd always stop by Willie's house and say
'Do y'all need anything from town?'
He'd say 'No, but why don't cha all stop on your way back through
And I'll get Laura Mae to cook us some barbecue (you know, they good)'
But that was another place and another time
We all knew we'd have to move if we were gonna make a livin'
So we all moved on and went about our separate ways
Sure it was hard to say goodbye to Willie and Laura Mae (Jones), oh yeah
But that was another place and another time
But that was another place and another time
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It's a beautiful song about losing old friends that meant so much to you
As a Georgia native maybe three generations removed from a William Faulkner novel, this is the tale of a time when very little other than skin color separated poor sharecropping whites and blacks. In time, each saw the other as a barrier to economic advancement despite the personal connections between them.
Though those emotional connections remained, societal pressures demanded that they be minimized, forgotten, and disavowed. After all, the ranks of the Klan were filled by poor whites who felt disenfranchised and looking for any reason to receive the fruits of a Lost Cause. Time period—1870s-1920s.
@GeorgiaWill that's an impressive comment my friend. It makes me feel that we could have a 2 hour talk on the subject and I would learn something.
@GeorgiaWill that's an impressive comment my friend. It makes me feel that we could have a 2 hour talk on the subject and I would learn something.