tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1212068068386412907.post764413895497260364..comments2024-02-06T15:56:46.144-05:00Comments on Where Dead Voices Gather: Life at 78 RPM: "I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground" - Bascom Lamar Lunsford, "The Minstrel of the Appalachians"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1212068068386412907.post-74511191165238649212024-02-06T15:56:46.144-05:002024-02-06T15:56:46.144-05:00Irish musician, John Francis Flynn recently releas...Irish musician, John Francis Flynn recently released an interesting interpretation of this song. You can see it here: https://youtu.be/STIIPM544mwAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1212068068386412907.post-34641417340903317862015-05-04T13:14:21.904-04:002015-05-04T13:14:21.904-04:00Hi,just found this site.Looks good.Lots to read.
P...Hi,just found this site.Looks good.Lots to read.<br />Personally,I think that when a tune has obscure lyrics,it is because it is taken out of context.For example,it was originally put together for local people,and they would know the slang or double meaning of words or phrases. But more often verses,are plucked from different tunes because people can't remember or got confused.I think this would explain why so many similar verses turn up in so many different tunes.I myself,can't remember verses to tunes I've heard hundreds of times,over the last few decades,scale this up to tunes that are hundreds of years old and spread over different continents and different cultures,and it seems very plausable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1212068068386412907.post-91613524994756502972011-01-27T17:59:39.218-05:002011-01-27T17:59:39.218-05:00Thanks for the comment! It's pretty amazing t...Thanks for the comment! It's pretty amazing that you got to hear Mr. Lunsford in person (much less in his own home). For a lot of us, these performers are just names or voices on scratchy old records. It's important to occasionally remind ourselves that these where living human beings who - for the time they existed on this Earth - served as a living conduit to the past.Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06694588644324801301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1212068068386412907.post-36855588392102176762011-01-13T22:42:04.559-05:002011-01-13T22:42:04.559-05:00thanks for a good prod
i heard mr lunsford play ...thanks for a good prod <br />i heard mr lunsford play this, and speak of it, in his living room in 1963. mr. marcus is wrong, you and ms.hamilton are closer to the truthAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1212068068386412907.post-45526196247116508162010-06-02T21:07:09.101-04:002010-06-02T21:07:09.101-04:00Great post & (as always) fascinating discussio...Great post & (as always) fascinating discussion of an old song's mysterious lyrics. Though of course it's futile, it's still always fun to wonder. One speculation I have is that the "mole in the ground" reference might also relate to mining. Alexander, I also agree with you and Marcus at the same time. I feel like there's simultaneously comfort & negation in that verse, just as a mole's digging (like mining) is both destructive & constructive. Ever disappear into your own work? Manual labor can be demeaning & crush a person's spirit, yet it can also be a source of great pride & strength & an outlet for one's frustrations--like John Henry, work can destroy a man and make him immortal at the same time. I think the author of this song was a laborer who already knew what it was like to be "a creature insignificant and despised" who could nonetheless uproot a mountain.Brendanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15282336250587801931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1212068068386412907.post-57634578612879030862010-06-01T14:59:55.617-04:002010-06-01T14:59:55.617-04:00The finest version of this song, in my opinion, wa...The finest version of this song, in my opinion, was done by Jackson C. Frank, and he called it "Kimbie". The word bend is pen, as in penitentiary. Jackson Franks verse goes thusly: "I ve been in that state pen, with those rough and rowdy rough and rowdy, rough and rowdy men . Ive been in your state pen and I gotta go back again<br />Kimbie where you been so long?<br /><br />You might find his version on youtube somewhere....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com