Gallows Pole
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| Gallows Pole by |
A traditional folk song derived from The Maid Freed from the Gallows and first famously recorded by Leadbelly in 1939 as Gallis Pole; note that these lyrics differ from the later Led Zeppelin version, which is protected by copyright.
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- Father, did you bring me the silver, father did you bring me the gold?
- What did you bring, oh dear father, to keep me from the gallows pole, yeah?
(What did you?)
(Yeah.)
(What did you?)
- What did you bring me to keep from the gallows pole?
- [spoken] In olden time, years ago, when you put a man in prison behind the bars in a jailhouse, if you had 15 or 25 or 30 dollars, you could be saved from the gallows pole 'cause you gonna hangin' if you dont bring up a little money. And everybody who come to the jailhouse were all from random side of the jail, he was married, too. As for who brang him sum'. Lot of comfort, here come his mother.
- Mother, did you bring me the silver? Mother, did you bring me the gold?
- What did you bring, oh dear mother, to keep me from the gallows pole, yeah?
(What did you?)
(Yeah.)
(What did you?)
- Whay did you bring me to keep from the gallows pole?
- Son, I brought you some silver. Son, I brought you some gold,
- Son, I brought you everything to keep you from the gallows pole, yeah
(I brought it.)
(Yeah.)
(I brought it.)
- I brought you to keep from the gallows pole
- [spoken] Here come his wife. His wife brought all kind of clock parts and old trace change. Everything in the world she could to get him out of this jailhouse.
- Wife, did you bring me the silver? Wife, did you bring me the gold?
- What did you bring, oh dear wifey, to keep me from the gallows pole, yeah?
(What did you?)
(Yeah.)
(What did you?)
- What did you bring me to keep from the gallows pole?
- Friend, did you bring me the silver? Friend, did you bring me the gold?
- What did you bring, oh, my dear friend, to keep me from the gallows pole?
(What did you?)
(Yeah.)
(What did you?)
- What did you bring me to keep from the gallows pole?
