Saddam's got Hangman's Blues
"They're selling postcards of the hanging" is how Dylan's first line of Desolation Row goes, but while the world waits for the multimedia version live on Al Jazeera, we're listening to Hangman's Blues by Blind Lemon Jefferson, from the Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3, a series of 78s made for Snapper Records in 1928 in Chicago.
Hangman's rope sho' is tough and strong
Hangman's rope sho' is tough and strong
They gonna hang me because I did something wrong
Mean ole hangman is waitin' to tighten up that noose
Mean ole hangman is waitin' to tighten up that noose
Lord, I'm so scared I'm trembling in my shoesJury heard my case and they said my hands was red
Jury heard my case and they said my hands was red
And judge he sentenced me be hanging till I'm deadCrowd 'round the courthouse and the time is going fast
Crowd 'round the courthouse and the time is going fast
Soon a good-for-nothin' killer is gonna breathe his last
His hands was red all right.
