Midnight Special is a traditional folk song thought to have originated among prisoners in the American South. Lyrics appearing in the song were first recorded in print by Howard Odum in 1905.
In 1934, Lead Belly recorded a version of the song at Angola Prison for John and Alan Lomax, who mistakenly...
Yonder come Miss Rosie, how in the world do you know
Well I know by the apron and the dress she wore
Well an umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand
Well I'm gonna ask the governor, he turn a-lose a-my man
Let the midnight special, shine the light on me
Let the midnight special, shine the ever-lovin' light on me
When you get up in the mornin', when that big bell ring
You go and march to the table, see the same damn thing
Knife and fork are on the table, there's nothin' in my pan
And if you say anything about it, havin' trouble with the man
Well I went to the nation and to the territo(ry)
Well I thought about the girl I love, in that Mexico
If you ever go to Houston, oh you better walk right
And you better not squallow and you better not fight
Sheriff Rocko will arrest you, Eddie Boone will take you down
You can bet your bottom dollar, penitentiary bound
Well jumpin' little Judy, she was a mighty fine girl
Well Judy brought jumpin' to this whole round world
Well she brought it in the mornin', just a while before day
She brought me the news, that my wife was dead
That started me to grievin', then hollerin' and a-cryin'
Then I had to give the worry about a been a long time
The Midnight Special was written by Traditional.