“A Worker’s Plea” Sheet Music (pdf).
“A Worker’s Plea” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: T-Bone Slim.
Tune: “Tuck Me to Sleep in My Old ’Tucky Home.”
Old Kentucky cradled me when I was young;
Then Ohio hired me: I sure got stung;
Night and day, I’ve labored since,
Shucking corn and filling bins;
And now, they say, my long, long rest begins.
’Tuck me to sleep in my old ’tucky home;
Cover me with roses, gravel, anything but stone;
Then let the dew drop a tear on my grave
Like a token never spoken to a broken-hearted slave;
I ain’t had a bit of rest: masters thought it wasn’t best;
Thought that I could rest the best after I “go west”;
’Tuck me to bed in my old Kentucky home;
Let me lay there, stay there, cover me up with loam.
Old Kentucky cradled me: ’tis even true;
Since I came to Iowa, she worked me, too;
Every state in all this land
Used me for a hired hand;
But why I’m broke I fail to understand.
’Tuck me to sleep in my old ’tucky home;
Cover me with roses, gravel, anything but stone;
Then let the dew drop a tear on my grave
Like a token never spoken to a broken-hearted slave;
I ain’t had a bit of rest: masters thought it wasn’t best;
Thought that I could rest the best after I “go west”;
L’Tuck me to bed in my old Kentucky home;
Let me lay there, stay there, cover me up with loam.
Migratory working folk, I’m on my way;
I am done with sun and sand and new-mown hay;
I have worked from sun to sun;
Nothing have I ever won;
And now, thank God, my harvesting is done.
’Tuck me to sleep in my old ’tucky home;
Cover me with roses, gravel, anything but stone;
Then let the dew drop a tear on my grave
Like a token never spoken to a broken-hearted slave;
I ain’t had a bit of rest: masters thought it wasn’t best;
Thought that I could rest the best after I “go west”;
’Tuck me to bed in my old Kentucky home;
Let me lay there, stay there, cover me up with loam.
’Tuck me to sleep in my old ’tucky home;
Cover me with roses, gravel, anything but stone;
Then let the dew drop a tear on my grave
Like a token never spoken to a broken-hearted slave;
I ain’t had a bit of rest: masters thought it wasn’t best;
Thought that I could rest the best after I “go west”;
’Tuck me to bed in my old Kentucky home;
Let me lay there, stay there, cover me up with loam.