The L & N don't stop here anymore -- Jean Ritchie

When I was a curly headed baby
My daddy sat me down upon his knee
He said, "Boy, you go to school and learn your letters
Don't you be a dirty miner like me";

I was born and raised in the mouth of the Hazard Hollow (+)
Coal cars rambled past my door
Now they're standin' in a rusty row all empty
And the L & N (*)
Don't stop here anymore

I used to think my daddy was a black man
With script enough to buy the company store
Now he goes downtown with empty pockets
And his face is white as a February snow

I was born and raised in the mouth of the Hazard Hollow
Coal cars rambled past my door
Now they're standin' in a rusty row all empty
And the L & N
Don't stop here anymore

Last night I dreamed I went down to the coal yard
To draw my pay like I always did before
But them ol' kudzu vines (x) were comin' through the window
And the leaves and grass were growin' through the floor

I was born and raised in the mouth of the Hazard Hollow
Coal cars rambled past my door
Now they're standin' in a rusty row all empty
And the L & N
Don't stop here anymore



Un classique folk découvert par la reprise de Michelle Shocked (de mémoire, la reprise est sur l'album "Short, sharp and shocked" (1988 ?), même album que l'excellente chanson Anchorage).

Interprétation par son auteur, Jean Ritchie (sur Jean Ritchie, voir ici et là), par Johny Cash, par Kathy Mattea (excellent) ; aussi par Kieron Means (aux alentours, écoutez donc One more mile, une autre chanson de Jean Ritchie, reprise par Sara Grey ; sur la même page, ne ratez pas (entre autres !) la version de Down in Mississipi de JB Lenoir).

(*) L&N : la ligne de chemin de fer Louisville & Nashville qui desservait en particulier les mines de charbon du sud du Tennessee.
(+) Hazard Hollow : une mine de charbon à Hazard, Kentucky, tout simplement !
(x) kudzu vine : sorte de vigne vierge originaire du Japon qui fut utilisée comme couvre-sol pendant la Grande Dépression afin de lutter contre l'érosion des sols. Une peste végétale de premier ordre !

C630 1426 in front of the old coaling tower at Hazard, KY, Aug 1967

Ron Flanary