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"I'm A Man Of Constant Sorrow" Lyrics

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In constant sorrow all through his days!

I am a man of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my days.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised.

The place where he was born and raised!

For six long years,
I've been in trouble.
no pleasure here,
on earth I've found.

For in this world,
I'm bound to ramble,
I have no friends to help me now.

He has no friends to help him now!

It's fare thee well,
my old true lover,
I ne'er expect to see you again.

For I'm bound to ride,
that Northern Railroad,
Perhaps I'll die upon this train.

Perhaps he'll die upon this train!

You can bury me in some deep Valley,
For many years, there I may lay.
Then you may learn to love another
while I am sleeping in my grave

While he is sleeping in his grave!

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger,
My face you'll never see no more.
But, there is one promise that is given,
I'll meet you on God's golden shore.

He'll meet you on God's golden shore!
song info:
Verified yes
LanguageEnglish
Rank
Duration00:04:16
Charts
Copyright ©Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Capitol CMG Publishing
WriterTraditional, John Allen, Scott Mills, Victor Carrera
Lyrics licensed byLyricFind
Added
Last updatedMarch 8th, 2022
About"Man of Constant Sorrow" (also known as "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow") is a traditional American folk song first published by Dick Burnett, a partially blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally titled "Farewell Song" in a songbook by Burnett dated to around 1913. An early version was recorded by Emry Arthur in 1928, which gave the song its current titles.

There exist a number of versions of the song that differ in their lyrics and melodies. The song was popularized by The Stanley Brothers who recorded the song in the 1950s, and many versions were recorded in the 1960s, most notably by Bob Dylan. Variations of the song have also been recorded under the titles of "Girl of Constant Sorrow" by Joan Baez, "Maid of Constant Sorrow" by Judy Collins, and "Sorrow" by Peter, Paul and Mary. In 1970 the song was recorded by Ginger Baker's Air Force, with vocals by Denny Laine, and reached No. 85 on the Billboard Chart.

Public interest in the song was renewed after the release of the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, where it plays a central role in the plot. The song, with lead vocal by Dan Tyminski, was also included in the film's highly successful, multiple-platinum-selling soundtrack. This recording won a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002.

The song was first published in 1913 as "Farewell Song" in a six-song songbook by Dick Burnett, titled Songs Sung by R. D. Burnett—The Blind Man—Monticello, Kentucky. Some uncertainty however exists as to whether Dick Burnett himself wrote the song. In an interview he gave toward the end of his life, Burnett himself indicated he could not remember:

Charles Wolfe: "What about this "Farewell Song" – 'I am a man of constant sorrow' – did you write it?"

Richard Burnett: "No, I think I got the ballad from somebody – I dunno. It may be my song..."

The date of its composition, or at least of the editing of certain lyrics by Burnett, can be fixed at about 1913 if Burnett did write the song. It is known that Burnett was blinded in 1907, and since the second stanza of "Farewell Song" mentions that the singer has been blind six years, that would put the date at 1913. Burnett may have tailored a pre-existing song to fit his blindness, and some claimed that Burnett wrote the song in 1907, deriving it from "The White Rose" and "Down in the Tennessee Valley". Burnett also said he thought he based the melody on an old Baptist hymn he remembered as "Wandering Boy". However, according to hymnologist John Garst, no song with this or a similar title had a tune that can be identified with "Constant Sorrow". Garst nevertheless noted that parts of the lyrics suggest a possible antecedent hymn, and that the term "man of sorrows" is religious in nature and appears in Isaiah 53:3.

Emry Arthur, a friend of Burnett and who released a recording of the song in 1928, also claimed to have written the song. Arthur titled his recording "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow", which became the name the song is now popularly known. The lyrics of Burnett and Arthur are very similar with minor variations, and as Arthur's song was the earliest recording of the song that was released, the tune and lyrics of Arthur's version became the source from which most later versions were ultimately derived.

A number of similar songs were found in Kentucky and Virginia in the early 20th century. English folk song collector Cecil Sharp collected four versions of the song in 1917-1918 as "In Old Virginny", which were published in 1932 in English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians. The lyrics were different in details from Burnett's but similar in tone. In a version from 1918 by Mrs. Frances Richards, who probably learnt it from her father, the first verse is nearly identical to Burnett/Arthur's version, with minor changes and Virginia substituting for Kentucky. The song is thought to be related to several songs such as "East Virginia Blues". Norman Lee Vass of Virginia claimed his brother Mat wrote the song in the 1890s, and the Virginia versions of the song show some relationship to Vass's version, even though his melody and most of his verses are unique. It is thought that this variant was influenced by "Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies"/"The Little Sparrow".

An older version was dated to around 1850, but with texts that differ substantially. John Garst traced elements of the song back to the hymns of the early 1800s, suggesting similarity in its tune to "Tender-Hearted Christians" and "Judgment Hymn", and similarity in its lyrics to "Christ Suffering", which included the lines "He was a man of constant sorrow / He went a mourner all his days."

On October 13, 2009, on the Diane Rehm Show, Ralph Stanley of the Stanley Brothers, whose autobiography is titled Man of Constant Sorrow, discussed the song, its origin, and his effort to revive it:

"Man of Constant Sorrow" is probably two or three hundred years old. But the first time I heard it when I was y'know, like a small boy, my daddy – my father – he had some of the words to it, and I heard him sing it, and we – my brother and me – we put a few more words to it, and brought it back in existence. I guess if it hadn't been for that it'd have been gone forever. I'm proud to be the one that brought that song back, because I think it's wonderful."

Lyrical variations

There are many variations in the lyrics in different versions of the songs. Most versions of the song have the singer riding a train fleeing trouble, regretting not seeing his old love and contemplating his future death, with the promise that he will meet his friends or lover again on the beautiful or golden shore. Most variants start with similar lines in the first verse as the 1913 Burnett's version, some with variations such as gender and state of origin, as well as other minor changes in wordings:

I am a man of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all of my days;
I'll bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised.

The 1928 recording by Emry Arthur is largely consistent with Burnett's lyrics, with minor differences. However, the reference to blindness in the second verse of Burnett's lyrics, "six long year I've been blind", had been changed to "six long years I've been in trouble", a change also found in other later versions that contain the verse.

Around 1936, Sarah Ogan Gunning rewrote the traditional "Man" into a more personal "Girl". Gunning remembered the melody from a 78-rpm hillbilly record (Emry Arthur, 1928) she had heard some years before in the mountains, but the lyrics she wrote was considerably different from the original after the first verse. The change of gender is also found in Joan Baez's "Girl of Constant Sorrow" and another variant of the song similar to Baez's, Judy Collins's title song from her album A Maid of Constant Sorrow.

In 1950, The Stanley Brothers recorded a version of the song they had learnt from their father. The Stanley Brothers' version contains some modifications to the lyrics, with an entire verse of Burnett's version removed, the last line is also different and "parents" of the second verse have turned into "friends". The performances of the song by the Stanley Brothers and Mike Seeger contributed to the song's popularity in the urban folksong circles during the American folk music revival of the 50s and 60s.

Bob Dylan recorded his version in 1961, which is a rewrite based on versions performed by other folk singers such as Joan Baez and Mike Seeger. A verse of the Stanley's version had been removed, and other verses significantly rearranged and rewritten. Dylan also added personal elements in his version, changing "friends" to "mother" in reference to his then girlfriend Suze Rotolo's mother. In Dylan's version, Kentucky was changed to Colorado; this change of the state of origin is common, for example, Kentucky is changed to California in "Girl of Constant Sorrow" by Joan Baez and "Maid of Constant Sorrow" by Judy Collins.

Aside from the lyrics, there are also significant variations in the melody of the song in many of these versions.

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