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Blackjack County Chain

from Heavy Duty - Ballads of the Unfree by Bill Lloyd

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about

This brutal song by Red Lane tells what happens when the underdog bites back – in this case prisoners in a chain-gang kill their overseer. Willie Nelson recorded it, and in spite of (or maybe because of) being banned by most radio stations in USA, the song achieved popular success in the country music charts.

lyrics

Blackjack County Chain.


I was sitting by the road in black-jack county,
Not knowing that the Sheriff paid a bounty
For men like me who hadn’t got a penny to their name
And they locked my legs to 35 pounds of Blackjack County chain.

All we had to eat was bread and water
Each day we had to build a road a mile and a quarter
And a black snake whip would cut the back of any man who complained
But you can’t fight back wearing 35 pounds of Blackjack County chain.

And then one night when the man was sleeping
We all gathered round him slowly creeping
And may God help me to forget that night in the cold cold rain
We beat him to death with 35 pounds of Blackjack County chain.

And now I am a free man and I am thankful
I have nothing but the scars around my ankle
But most of all I glad that a man will never again be a slave,
To the black snake whip and 35 pounds of Blackjack County chain

credits

from Heavy Duty - Ballads of the Unfree, released February 1, 2018
song written by Red Lane

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about

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Bill Lloyd Kendal, UK

Bill Lloyd is a folk singer and multi-instrumentalist from the Lake District in northern England. He plays 5 string banjo and Galician gaita bagpipes, uilleann pipes and whistles, He is a versatile singer in the ‘high lonesome’ mountain style, delicate ballads, and ‘come-all-ye’ folk styles. Bill is an experienced storyteller, compere, music promoter, record producer and festival organiser. ... more

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