Follow The Drinking Gourd
This is a traditional song
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Version 1 is a live recording, performed as a duet with his sister Nancy and acoustic guitar and percussion backing, during a concert in Beaverton, Portland, on October 18, 2003
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Version 2 is the same recording as version 1, but with the spoken introduction removed
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Version 3 is a full studio recording, recorded in 2004
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Version 4 is a live recording, performed as a duet with Larry's sister Nancy during a concert in Salem, Oregon, on June 24, 2005. Larry plays acoustic guitar and they are accompanied by The Severin Sisters
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Version 5 is a live rehearsal recording, performed in the living room of the "band house" (where the Solid Rock office was at the time) in Salem, Oregon in the week prior to Larry's Elsinore concert
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lyrics version 1
So I'd like to sing a song about this, this is a song we used to sing together. We were in a group called the Back Country 7. There was eight of us. I always was ornery. And 'em this was during the, what they used to call the Hootenanny years, and you couldn't sing at the school unless you sang folk music. So being rather seditious I would eh sing songs that were uncomfortable to hear about, or sing songs in a folk style making fun of rock and roll, because it was really rock and roll songs making fun of folk music. And um, you gotta start somewhere. If you're gonna try and change the world you know, you have to, you have to start bugging people when you're young [Spoken, on end of preceding track]
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
This song means something. It's kind of a code. Black people didn't openly discuss their plans for escape around their white masters. When they talked about the river Jordan they were actually talking about the ocean. Getting back to the promised land was talking about getting back to Africa. And the drinking gourd was the big dipper in the sky, because the handle of the big dipper just happened to point north. And if you did make an escape at night you could follow the stars to the north. So that's what this song is about [Spoken]
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
When the sun comes up and the first quail call
Follow the drinking gourd
The river bank makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Well I thought I heard the angel say
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the stars and they will show you the way
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
There’s a blood stained path and a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
If someone comes you better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
This song means something. It's kind of a code. Black people didn't openly discuss their plans for escape around their white masters. When they talked about the river Jordan they were actually talking about the ocean. Getting back to the promised land was talking about getting back to Africa. And the drinking gourd was the big dipper in the sky, because the handle of the big dipper just happened to point north. And if you did make an escape at night you could follow the stars to the north. So that's what this song is about [Spoken]
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
When the sun comes up and the first quail call
Follow the drinking gourd
The river bank makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Well I thought I heard the angel say
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the stars and they will show you the way
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
There’s a blood stained path and a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
If someone comes you better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
lyrics version 2
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
This song means something. It's kind of a code. Black people didn't openly discuss their plans for escape around their white masters. When they talked about the river Jordan they were actually talking about the ocean. Getting back to the promised land was talking about getting back to Africa. And the drinking gourd was the big dipper in the sky, because the handle of the big dipper just happened to point north. And if you did make an escape at night you could follow the stars to the north. So that's what this song is about [Spoken]
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
When the sun comes up and the first quail call
Follow the drinking gourd
The river bank makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Well I thought I heard the angel say
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the stars and they will show you the way
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
There’s a blood stained path and a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
If someone comes you better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
This song means something. It's kind of a code. Black people didn't openly discuss their plans for escape around their white masters. When they talked about the river Jordan they were actually talking about the ocean. Getting back to the promised land was talking about getting back to Africa. And the drinking gourd was the big dipper in the sky, because the handle of the big dipper just happened to point north. And if you did make an escape at night you could follow the stars to the north. So that's what this song is about [Spoken]
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
When the sun comes up and the first quail call
Follow the drinking gourd
The river bank makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Well I thought I heard the angel say
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the stars and they will show you the way
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
There’s a blood stained path and a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
If someone comes you better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
lyrics version 3
[Larry]
There’s a blood stained path and a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
If someone comes you’d better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
[Nancy]
When the moon comes up and the sun goes down
Follow the drinking gourd
You can hear the hunters as they run the hounds
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
[Kristin]
The river makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
The dead trees show the way to go
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh [x2]
Follow the drinking gourd [x2]
Follow, follow
[Larry]
When the dawn comes up and the first quail calls
Follow the drinking gourd
Remember them that’s careless is them that falls
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
[Larry]
Well if you get there before I do
(Follow the drinking gourd)
Pray for me that I’ll get there too
(Follow the drinking gourd)
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh [x2]
There’s a blood stained path and a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
If someone comes you’d better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
[Nancy]
When the moon comes up and the sun goes down
Follow the drinking gourd
You can hear the hunters as they run the hounds
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
[Kristin]
The river makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
The dead trees show the way to go
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh [x2]
Follow the drinking gourd [x2]
Follow, follow
[Larry]
When the dawn comes up and the first quail calls
Follow the drinking gourd
Remember them that’s careless is them that falls
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
[Larry]
Well if you get there before I do
(Follow the drinking gourd)
Pray for me that I’ll get there too
(Follow the drinking gourd)
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh [x2]
lyrics version 4
Do you know the first one? [Spoken]
This is a song about eh enslavement and in, and they, what they called the big dipper. Eh it was shaped like a, a ladle and they called it the f', drinking gourd. And there was actually directions to get out of the south into the north, if you just travelled at night when nobody could see you as you were escaping from the south. And they followed the direction that the handle, the panhandle of the big dipper pointed and that, this was the song that they passed around from eh plantation plantation. If a person was sold to another owner and had to leave his wife, and his kids were sold and never saw their mother again, they had good reason to wanna escape [Spoken]
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
When the moon comes up and the first quail call
Follow the drinking gourd
The river bank makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
There’s a flash of sunlight on a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
So if someone's coming you better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Well I thought I heard the angel say
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the star, it'll show you the way
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Okay, we get what we ??? [Spoken]
This is a song about eh enslavement and in, and they, what they called the big dipper. Eh it was shaped like a, a ladle and they called it the f', drinking gourd. And there was actually directions to get out of the south into the north, if you just travelled at night when nobody could see you as you were escaping from the south. And they followed the direction that the handle, the panhandle of the big dipper pointed and that, this was the song that they passed around from eh plantation plantation. If a person was sold to another owner and had to leave his wife, and his kids were sold and never saw their mother again, they had good reason to wanna escape [Spoken]
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
When the moon comes up and the first quail call
Follow the drinking gourd
The river bank makes a mighty fine road
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
There’s a flash of sunlight on a shiny blade
Follow the drinking gourd
So if someone's coming you better duck for shade
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Well I thought I heard the angel say
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the star, it'll show you the way
Follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
For the old man is waiting to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Okay, we get what we ??? [Spoken]
lyrics version 5
Girls, do you remember The Outlaw? [Spoken, by Larry]
Yeah we went through it, I ??? [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
I can run through that one again. It ??? right? [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Because we could just do Drinking Gourd up there by ourselves, just Nancy a'. I don't know if I'm going to be able to play the guitar that good, I'm having problems tonight [Spoken, by Larry]
Flat [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Let me tune up. Don't let it [Spoken, by Larry]
Follow the drinking gourd
Ah-I like that rhythm [Spoken, by Larry]
Dan cha dun dun da da
Can you do that? [Spoken, by Larry]
Ba ba ba ba
Oh [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Did you know you were doing that? [Spoken, by Larry]
No, I didn't ??? [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Okay, one, two, three, four [Spoken, by Larry]
Very nice [Spoken, by Larry]
Thank you [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
And go, the ending goes like y' [Spoken, by Larry]
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
'Cause the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Probably twice [Spoken, by Larry]
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Okay so it's [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Maybe end with a retard. Ah ha [Spoken, by Larry]
Okay [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Yeah we went through it, I ??? [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
I can run through that one again. It ??? right? [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Because we could just do Drinking Gourd up there by ourselves, just Nancy a'. I don't know if I'm going to be able to play the guitar that good, I'm having problems tonight [Spoken, by Larry]
Flat [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Let me tune up. Don't let it [Spoken, by Larry]
Follow the drinking gourd
Ah-I like that rhythm [Spoken, by Larry]
Dan cha dun dun da da
Can you do that? [Spoken, by Larry]
Ba ba ba ba
Oh [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Did you know you were doing that? [Spoken, by Larry]
No, I didn't ??? [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Okay, one, two, three, four [Spoken, by Larry]
Very nice [Spoken, by Larry]
Thank you [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
And go, the ending goes like y' [Spoken, by Larry]
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
You gotta follow the drinking gourd
'Cause the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom
Follow the drinking gourd
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Probably twice [Spoken, by Larry]
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Okay so it's [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
Maybe end with a retard. Ah ha [Spoken, by Larry]
Okay [Spoken by a Severin Sister]
"Follow The Drinking Gourd" is something I only heard once, back in 1962. I was drawn to the subject matter but could not find the lyrics anywhere, could not find a record that contained the song, and could not find anyone at my school who had ever heard the song, so I had to cobble together a logical set of lyrics which told the story of the American Negroes, trying to escape from the South and go into the North for sanctuary and blend these lyrics in with the words I could remember having heard
I was fifteen when I heard the song. Jon Bealer sang second harmony and Nancy Tiffany sang higher parts and some of the verses. Then Bruce Rutherford got out of Juvey and joined the group. He was six foot four, had a terrible reputation for being a hood who had been away several times to correctional facilities, and sang in a high soprano voice that was higher than any of the girls I'd ever heard sing. Later we expanded the group from four people to eight. One of the new members was Gene Mason who ended up starting his professional career with me upon graduating high school and flunking out of college. (Me, not him)
I was fifteen when I heard the song. Jon Bealer sang second harmony and Nancy Tiffany sang higher parts and some of the verses. Then Bruce Rutherford got out of Juvey and joined the group. He was six foot four, had a terrible reputation for being a hood who had been away several times to correctional facilities, and sang in a high soprano voice that was higher than any of the girls I'd ever heard sing. Later we expanded the group from four people to eight. One of the new members was Gene Mason who ended up starting his professional career with me upon graduating high school and flunking out of college. (Me, not him)