Been So Long
I wish I was a mole in the ground
I wish I was a mole in the ground
A mole in the ground is gonna root this mountain down
I wish I was a mole in the ground
Baby wants a nine dollar shawl
My Baby wants a nine dollar shawl
I when I come home the hill with a forty dollar bill
Yes Baby wants a nine dollar shawl
Baby where you been so long
I been in the bend so long
I been in the bend so long
I been in the bend with the rough and rowdy men
Baby where you been so long
Oh I don’t like them railroad men
No I don’t like them railroad men
them railroad men they’ll kill you when they can
Drink in our blood like wine
Drink in our blood like wine
Oh I wish I was a lizard in the spring
Yes I wish I was a lizard in the spring
A lizard in the spring is gonna hear his darlin’ sing
And I wish I was a lizard in the spring
Baby let your hair roll down
Baby let your hair roll down
Let your hair roll down and your bangs curl round
Baby let your hair roll down
Baby where you been
Baby where you been
Baby where you been so long
Baby where you been
Baby where you been
Baby where you been so long
January 2nd, 2006
Listen to the mp3 of Bascom Lamar Lunsford: “I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground”
I have a series of early americana recordings on an 8 LP set, which I burned to CD, and passed them on to Trevor, which is how the song was first discovered by him. It is indeed Bascomb Lamar Lumsford, ‘the Minstrel of the Appalachians’ who wrote the original. It was recorded in 1928, orig. issue Brunswick 219B(132).
Later derivations of the song’s lyrics and storyline were recorded by others as well, including “Sammie were have you been so long.” by Dock Boggs (Brunswick 131) and “Darliing where have you been so long” by the Teneva Ramblers (Victor 21645).
The original refers to a woman named Kempy, who wants a nine dollar ‘shawl’, as opposed to a nine dollar ‘show’ (Trevors lyric). Also, the phrase “Been in the Bend with those rough and rowdy men” is a bit obscure today, but at that time it would have been common knowledge that the toughest of the hardcore lawbreakers of the day would end up in the Big Bend Penitentary, known simply as ‘the Bend’. In such a place, among all of the killers and rapists, our hero copes with his fear by writing about creatures much better off than he; he is jealous of the mole for no other reason than the fact that it gets to be outside digging his burrow. And even more lucky is that lizard, who gets to watch the girl lizards strut past his favorite sun rock – again, who would not be jealous of all of these great things a lizard gets to do?
January 2nd, 2006
It’s a railroad-rider’s song, and a prison song.
Great historic info, Rohair. I think there’s some uncertainty – who’s really the author of “the original” version. Can the writer be identified? This is a traditional folk song, comprised of lyrics culled from various other songs, and passed down through oral tradition. There isn’t one singular identifiable original author — could be Lunsford, but quite possibly not. The song pre-existed accessible field recording technology. Bascom Lamar Lunsford was, maybe, simply the first to record and copyright or take authorship credit. Like many blues and folk songs of the day, he took parts of the song from many other sources and made it his own version. While it may be true that later versions stemmed from this source, I doubt if Bascom Lamar Lunsford wrote it in a vacuum, as that was not typical of this type of song. It seems to be an amalgamation of lyrics, rhymes and phrases of early 20th century America.
May 22nd, 2006
I noticed an echo from Trevor singing “Been So Long” to Josh singing the TLG original, “Loony Bin.”
November 26th, 2006
Another interesting lyrical echo from this comes in The Garden (Part III), where the line “Darling let’s let our hair grow long” hearkens back to the lyric of “Baby let your hair roll down.”
The connection is emphasized by the segue of Been So Long>The Garden (Part III) to close out the first set on 2006.11.08.
November 4th, 2010
anybody got a guitar tab or some chords? i’m trying…..sounds like Em guitar solo, can’t quite get the progression right…anybody?