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The Murdered Brother

from Am I Born to Die? by The Ghosts of Johnson City

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This is a very old murder ballad that has appeared in various forms in numerous Northern European traditions (Irish, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish) before being found in early America. The melody of this song has been heavily adapted by The Ghosts of Johnson City, and the lyrics have been reworked very slightly in several places to reflect time and place.

There are many versions of this song with dramatically different lyrical content but each shares the core narrative of a young man slowly divulging to his mother that he has killed his own brother in a petty dispute and that he plans to flee, never to return to his mother again.

lyrics

How come that blood on your own coat sleeve

Little son, pray come tell me.

It is the blood of that skinny greyhound

That traced the fox for me,

That traced the fox for me.



Too pale, too pale for that skinny greyhound,

Too pale, little son, too pale.

It is the blood of that old gray mare

That plowed the corn for me.

That plowed the corn for me.



Too red, too red for that old gray mare,

Too red, little son, too red.

It is the blood of your youngest son,

And the truth I have told to you.

And the truth I have told to you.



Oh what, oh what, did you fight about?

Little son, pray come tell me.

'Twas over a dollar, a filthy dollar

That he should have paid to me.

That he should have paid to me.



Oh what will you do when your father comes home?

Little son, pray come tell me.

My foot I will place on the deck of a boat

And sail me across the sea.

And sail me across the sea.



Oh what will you do with your newly wed wife?

Little son, pray come tell me.

I'll save her the grief, and I'll save her the pain,

And take her for company.

And take her for company.



Oh what will you do with your sweet little boy?

Little son, pray come tell me.

I'll leave him alone for to wait and to wonder

What's come of his mother and me.

What's come of his mother and me.



When will you come back to your mother again?

Little son, pray come tell me.

When the moon and the sun and the stars set together.

And that will never be.

And that will never be.

credits

from Am I Born to Die?, released October 20, 2015

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The Ghosts of Johnson City Portland, Maine

Based in Maine with musical roots in Appalachia and the Deep South, The Ghosts of Johnson City present simple and soulful versions of old mountain music, Civil War songs, coal-mining melodies, disaster chronicles, haunting murder ballads and tunes of love and loss in times of poverty. ... more

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