Текст песни: Huddie Ledbetter + перевод

Huddie Ledbetter was a helluva man

Huddie got his music from the heart of the land

In his voice you could hear John Henry’s hammering

While his hands would «buck and wing» upon the big 12-string

Sometimes a lion, sometimes a lamb

Huddie Ledbetter was a helluva man

He’s a long time gone but his songs live on

He’s a long time gone but his songs live on

Down in Louisiana, 1888

There was a black baby born into a white man’s state;

He saw the cane and cotton stretch for miles around

He heard his mama’s voice a-singing when the sun went down

Into a world where having dark skin was a crime

Huddie was born — and started serving his time

Teenage Huddie went to Shreveport town

There he got in trouble, was jailhouse bound

The odds were slim that he would get out alive

But somehow Huddle and his music survived

He escaped just once, was put back again

He was called Leadbelly by the rest of the men

A collector, name a' Lomax, brought a record machine

Huddle sang 'em sweet and high, he sang 'em low and mean:

For years to come, they would tell the tale

Of how Huddie Ledbetter sang his way out-a jail

Sayin', «If I had you. Governor, like-a you got me

I’d awake up in the morning and I’d set you free.»

He got his farewell ticket back in '49

He caught the Midnight Special on the Rock Island Line;

But I bet you when he wakened from his earthly dream

He was wakened by a kiss from a gal named Irene

Now millions of people the whole world around

Are taking Huddie’s hammer up and swinging it down!

Huddie Ledbetter was a helluva man

Huddie got his music from the heart of the land

In his voice you could hear John Henry’s hammering

While his hands would «buck and wing» upon the big 12-string

Sometimes a lion, sometimes a lamb

Huddie Ledbetter was a helluva man

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