The Songs He Sang
Old Reilly: Lyrics
As performed by Cisco Houston
Words & Music by Huddie Ledbetter; Collected and adapted by John A. and Alan Lomax; Copyright 1951, Folkways Music Publishers
Appears on:
Old Reilly walked the water Well Old Reilly walked the water On them, long, hot summer days Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Get 'em Rattler Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Old Reilly, he's a long gone Old Reilly, he's a long gone On them, long, hot summer days Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Get 'em boy Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Get 'em Rattler Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Well, Old Reilly left here walking Old Reilly left here walking On them, long, hot summer days Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Get 'em boy Here Rattler, here Rattler, here Rattler, here Well, Old Reilly he's a long gone Old Reilly, he's a long gone On them, long, hot summer days Old Reilly gone like a turkey through the corn Here Rattler, here Old Reilly gone like a turkey through the corn Here Rattler, here Old Reilly gone like a turkey through the corn Here Rattler, here Get 'em boy Old Reilly gone like a turkey through the corn Here Rattler, here Well Old Reilly walked the water Old Reilly walked the water On them, long, hot summer days Old Reilly gone with his long clothes on Here Rattler, here Old Reilly gone with his long clothes on Here Rattler, here Old Reilly gone like a turkey through the corn Here Rattler, here Old Reilly gone like a turkey through the corn Here Rattler, here Get 'em boy!
Of note:
This mysterious song is helped by Cisco's explanation Here. "There are songs with symbolic language, as in Old Reilly who walked the water with his long clothes on. (Here, perhaps, you should be let in on the meaning of this: his "long clothes" refer to his chain gang prison garb. When an inmate tried to make a break for his freedom, he would run up the river bed through the shallow water, to lose his scent to the blood hounds who were in pursuit. This was called "walking the water." This discussion has some interesting variants.
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