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Hattieville Cane Truck Blues
Every locality ought to have its own prison song!
When I got down here, I heard about Hattieville -- one of those classic
hell-hole prisons full of hopeless men -- and I was inspired to write a song
about it.
It sounds a lot like the Folson Prism Blues, but that's just
because most all these prison songs sound alike!
I hear that cane
truck comin', it's rollin' round the bend,
But I ain't seen the
sunshine, since, I don't know when,
Cauz I'm stuck down
here in Hattieville, and time keeps draggin' on --
When I hear that
growlin' cane truck -- I hang my head and moan.
When I was just a
baby, my momma tol' me, "Boy!
Don't
play with that machette, it really ain't a toy,"
But I chopped a man in OrangeWalk, just to watch him die...
When I hear that
growlin' cane truck -- I hang my head and cry.
I'll bet there's
happy Caneboys just a-ridin' on that truck,
And they don't know
that Freedom is a special kind of luck,
Well, I know I had it
comin'. I know I can't be free.
But I hear that
growlin' cane truck, and that's what tortures me.
If they'd free me
from this prison, and that old cane truck was mine--
I bet I'd move it on
a little farther down the line --
Far away from
Hattieville, that's where I want to stay.
And I'd let that
rollin' cane truck, roll my blues away.
Johnny, you've been a
hero for me, all my life. Old dog, thanks for the inspiration!
New: In
2005, on a trip to Belmopan, Brad, Christina and I stopped at Hattieville.
Some trusties were sitting at the giftshop (inside the fence) and I began
chatting with them. After some talk, I decided to get my guitar and play
this song for them! They appreciated it vastly, of course, and I have the
memory that, like Johnny Cash, I actually got to sing my song at the
prison.
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