Backup:

This is a somewhat misogynistic song I’ve never sung in public, perhaps in case someone assumed it was autobiographical. But since I was quite enjoying playing slide again…

Here’s a much older electric version, recorded on much cheaper equipment…

Backup:

 

Early in the morning
Shaking in my shoes
Coming down with cherry fever
And the rotgut brown ale blues

I’m low in the water
I’m low in the water
I’m low in the water
But I ain’t sinking yet

Another Sunday morning
Another one night stand
One more passing shipwreck
Drowning on dry land

And I don’t know how I got here
But thank you for the ride
I’ll see you somewhere sometime
If I don’t have time to hide

Singing for your supper
Isn’t half the fun it seems
It’s a pint or five of courage
And a box of broken dreams

David Harley

remastered:

backup:

This is a song I learned from Michael Cooney many decades ago. He told me recently that he learned it partly from Guy Carawan and partly from Bess Lomax Hawes, but had changed it around a lot. As have I (not least by making a slide piece out of it). It’s the folk process, folks. I particularly like the last verse, which also occurs in Robert Brown’s ‘James Alley Blues’ and Judy Roderick’s ‘Born In The Country’, which is based on Brown’s song.

David Harley

Pick My Pocket (Harley)

Backup:

Got no fare / For a boat or plane

I got shoes to walk / But I’m here just the same

Buddy, you can pick my pocket / Got no greens to lose

Just a handful of empty / And a head full of blues

 

I keep looking for a highway / I can make it down alone

With every hobo, sewer rat / And rolling stone

Buddy, you can pick my pocket / Got no greens to lose

Just a handful of empty / And a head full of blues

 

I’ve got a new way of spelling / Ecstasy

E is for Exit / And the rest is blowing free

Buddy, you can pick my pocket / Got no greens to lose

Just a handful of empty / And a head full of blues

Just a hat full of empty  / And a guitar full of blues

(c) David Harley 1972