I think this song is about a guy who works on a plantation who impregnates the daughter of the plantation owner.
"Sometimes I lead sometimes I follow
This time I'll go where she wants me to go
She said maybe today maybe tomorrow
Go deep in the woods down the low valley road"
I read this to mean the two spend time together and he/they want to "go deep in the woods" which is a metaphor for sex, then
"While no one was lookin' on the old plantation
He took her all the way down the long valley road
They sent her away not too much later
And left him walking down the old valley road"
The went "all the way" and then she was sent away because she war pregnant.
"Somebody said she's gone to her sister's
But everybody knew what they were talking about"
I believe in the old days unmarried pregnant girls would be sent to a convent to carry their baby to term so this could be the "sisters" in question, but everybody knows not her actual sisters.
"She came back around like nothing really happened"
Presumably she had the child and gave it up and comes back home and doesn't interact with the boy or tell him about the pregnancy.
"Standing like a stone on the old plantation
The rich old man would have never let him in
Good enough to hire not good enough to marry"
The girl returns and no longer associates with the boy, leaving him "standing like a stone." The rich old man (her father) would not let him in the family - he was good enough to hire as a worker but not good enough to marry his daughter.
I think this song is about a guy who works on a plantation who impregnates the daughter of the plantation owner.
"Sometimes I lead sometimes I follow This time I'll go where she wants me to go She said maybe today maybe tomorrow Go deep in the woods down the low valley road"
I read this to mean the two spend time together and he/they want to "go deep in the woods" which is a metaphor for sex, then
"While no one was lookin' on the old plantation He took her all the way down the long valley road They sent her away not too much later And left him walking down the old valley road"
The went "all the way" and then she was sent away because she war pregnant.
"Somebody said she's gone to her sister's But everybody knew what they were talking about"
I believe in the old days unmarried pregnant girls would be sent to a convent to carry their baby to term so this could be the "sisters" in question, but everybody knows not her actual sisters.
"She came back around like nothing really happened"
Presumably she had the child and gave it up and comes back home and doesn't interact with the boy or tell him about the pregnancy.
"Standing like a stone on the old plantation The rich old man would have never let him in Good enough to hire not good enough to marry"
The girl returns and no longer associates with the boy, leaving him "standing like a stone." The rich old man (her father) would not let him in the family - he was good enough to hire as a worker but not good enough to marry his daughter.