Hard Travelin' :: Woody Guthrie

I was going to post "Garden of Simple" by Ani DiFranco today, but I couldn't find a good video of it and it's the guitar part on that song that is really the kicker for me, so I wanted to have audio if I was going to post that one... so I had to pick something else. Since it snowed about twelve feet today (I'm exaggerating), meaning that I got snowed in in Milwaukee, I thought I'd post something like "Winter" by Tori Amos or that song about "a winter's eve" by Sarah McLachlan, but that seemed kind of cliche, so I finally settled on some good old folk music, as usual. This song is a favorite at the now infamous "hootenanies" some D.C. friends and I have gotten into the routine of throwing whenever possible.

I am posting this video of the song because I think it sounds awesome, but please be advised that I DON'T believe the "hard partyin'" or "hard f-ing" verses these guys add at the end of the song was actually part of Woody's original... but in the spirit of the hootenany and impromptu music-making, let us overlook that... :-)



Hard Travelin' (Woody Guthrie)
I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin'
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been ridin' them fast rattlers, I thought you knowed
I've been ridin' them flat wheelers, way down the road
I've been ridin' them blind passengers, dead-enders, kickin' up cinders
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been hittin' some hard-rock minin', I thought you knowed
I've been leanin' on a pressure drill, way down the road
Hammer flyin', air-hose suckin', six foot of mud and I shore been a muckin'
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been hittin' some hard harvestin', I thought you knowed
North Dakota to Kansas City, way down the road
Cuttin' that wheat, stackin' that hay, and I'm tryin' make about a dollar a day
And I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been working that Pittsburgh steel, I thought you knowed
I've been a dumpin' that red-hot slag, way down the road
I've been a blasting, I've been a firin', I've been a pourin' red-hot iron
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been layin' in a hard-rock jail, I thought you knowed
I've been a laying out 90 days, way down the road
Damned old judge, he said to me, "It's 90 days for vagrancy."
And I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord

I've been walking that Lincoln highway, I thought you knowed,
I've been hittin' that 66, way down the road
Heavy load and a worried mind, lookin' for a woman that's hard to find,
I've been hittin' some hard travelin', lord



Peace folks.