Leadbelly – Midnight Special lyrics

Leadbelly – Midnight Special lyrics

Well you wake up in the morning, hear the ding dong ring,
You go a-marching to the table, see the same damn thing
Well, it's on a one table, knife, a fork and a pan,
And if you say anything about it, you're in trouble with the man
Let the midnight special, shine her light on me
Let the midnight special, shine her ever-loving light on me
If you ever go to Houston, you better walk right, you better not stagger, you better not fight
Sheriff Benson will arrest you, he'll carry you down
And if the jury finds you guilty, penitentiary bound
Yonder come little Rosie, how in the world do you know
I can tell her by her apron, and the dress she wore
Umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand
She goes a-marching to the captain, says, "I want my man"
"I don' believe that Rosie loves me", well tell me why
She ain't been to see me, since las' July
She brought me little coffee, she brought me little tea
Brought me damn near ever'thing but the jailhouse key
Yonder comes doctor Adams, "How in the world do you know?"
Well he gave me a tablet, the day befo'
There ain't no doctor, in all the lan'
Can cure the fever of a convict man

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/l/leadbelly/midnight_special.html

Songwriters: TRADITIONAL

Midnight Special lyrics © PUBLIC DOMAIN

Corrected by TheGreatUnwashed

hot lyrics

Midnight Special meanings

Best
Recent
2 meanings

t

+ 14
Tony Copelin 2013-09-16 17:10:54

The original lyrics said you are Sugar Land bound, not penitentiary bound. This was because the main prison near Houston was the Central unit in Sugar Land. The railroad tracks ran right in front of Central. They just closed that prison to make room for expansion of the airport. This was also the same unit shown in the movie the Sugar land Express. I live less than 5 minutes from this prison and love the history of that place. Even after closing the Central unit they have at least 5 other units to hold prisoners.

Add your reply
U

+ 4
Unregistered 2015-07-04 08:42:50

The "midnight special" was the name used for the Texas prison transport bus, also called the "chain" or "chain bus". In earlier times it was a barred wagon. It would make the circuit picking up prisoners across the state and transporting them to Huntsville. It was also used to transport inmates between units and to the Walls unit for release. "Shine your light on me" means its my turn to be transferred for release... Personal first hand knowledge.

Add your reply

Write about your feelings and thoughts about Midnight Special

Know what this song is about? Does it mean anything special hidden between the lines to you? Share your meaning with community, make it interesting and valuable. Make sure you've read our simple .

U

or log in with

Min 50 words

Not bad

Good

Awesome!

View 10 more explanations

Add your explanation

Write an explanation

20 words

Good

Cool

Awesome!

Explanation guidelines:

Describe what artist is trying to say in a certain line, whether it's personal feelings, strong statement or something else.
Provide song facts, names, places and other worthy info that may give readers a perfect insight on the song's meaning.
Add links, pictures and videos to make your explanation more appealing. Provide quotes to support the facts you mention.

Before you get started, be sure to check out these explanations created by our users: good, very good, great.

Request explanation

Ask us or our community about the part of the song that interests you
We will try to respond as soon as possible

0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z