On the Road Again
Seth Jackson
Does anyone know the correct lyric to the chorus of "On the Road
Again"? I've listened to the song about a hundred times, and I still
can't make out the second line, which sounds like "Natural born
<something>".
- Seth Jackson
"The Music Lives On", a Jerry Garcia tribute : http://www.mp3.com/SethJackson
The music of Loudspeaker : http://www.mp3.com/loudspeaker
Songwriting & Music Business Info : http://www.mindspring.com/~hitmeister
Slipknot!
absolutely no clue what they say during "on the road again
[susaphone?!]....natural born [easy], on the road again". peace,
Brett
In article <s9o04t8ftj2vrmsap...@4ax.com>, hitmeister .at.
Bill
road again
Jerlewis10
She's on the road again
[Shirley Jones]
Natural bone easy on the road again
Don't ask.... it's just the way it developed when you don't know the lyrics.
butlers4
and "Sure as your born"
It fits with the language of the time the song was written.
peace and weirdness
steveb
"Jerlewis10" <jerle...@cs.com> wrote in message
news:20001220075009...@ng-cj1.news.cs.com...
Greg Fenario
>Again"? I've listened to the song about a hundred times, and I still
>can't make out the second line, which sounds like "Natural born
><something>".
Gee, I always thought Weir was saying "natural bong-easement." All this time I
thought Weir was just extremely proud about pulling a few tubes. :^)
Peace.
-Greg
Fenar...@aol.com
"Beer, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems." -The Rev. Homer J.
Simpson
Lose your shit to respond.
Olompali4
>road again
Slut!
Graham Knight
Sure as you're born (?)
Graham
9de...@my-deja.com
> Gee, I always thought Weir was saying "natural bong-easement." All
this time I
> thought Weir was just extremely proud about pulling a few tubes. :^)
> Peace.
> -Greg
> Fenar...@aol.com
>
> "Beer, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems." -The
Rev. Homer J.
> Simpson
>
>
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Michael Devenney
>Don't ask.... it's just the way it developed when you don't know the
lyrics.
Tell me about - a band I was in a few years back covered Van the Man's 'Wild
Night', and we spent hours playing the track over and over again trying to
figure out the first friggin line. We eventually found it online
somewhere - who would of dreamed 'As you brush your shoes' ???
Kerry Neilson
I always thought it was natural born easy. this is from
http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/intro.htm
She's on the road again, sure as you fall
Natural born eastman on the road again
She's been on the road again, sure as you fall
hmm.
this is from
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mleone/gdead/dead-lyrics/On_The_Road_Again.txt
She's on the road again, sure as you're born
Natural born easy on the road again
i believe that one.
dcohen
time. weir sang it as "natch'l born easy on the road again" and also
"natch'l born he's been on the road again". the memphis jug band sings it as
both "he's been" and "easy". in addition, the memphis jug band sings the
line "big old nigger in my folding bed, broke thru the window, broke the
glass, never seen that big old nigger run so fast", whereas weir used the
word "rounder" in lieu of "nigger". remember, the memphis jug band (a big
influence on weir, garcia and pigpen) was an all black jug band that was
quite the rage in (wherelse) Memphis circa 1922-1930, so their original
words were not a racial slur but simply common linguistics of the era. you
can buy the memphis jug band's 2 or 3 cd anthology from amazon, and hear
them do a few other tunes you might recognize from the GD catalogue. this is
the real roots music folks:) dave
jwpo...@my-deja.com
"Bad Girls will even do things on the slide"
Guess now all those girls know why I took them to playgrounds so often.
In article <3A40EAA4...@avaya.com>,
Kerry Neilson
> I had always thought:
>
> "Bad Girls will even do things on the slide"
>
> Guess now all those girls know why I took them to playgrounds so often.
>
Never taken a girl to the playground. I always just hope to find them
there.
Seth Jackson
wrote:
>>Does anyone know the correct lyric to the chorus of "On the Road
>>Again"? I've listened to the song about a hundred times, and I still
>>can't make out the second line, which sounds like "Natural born
>><something>".
>
>Gee, I always thought Weir was saying "natural bong-easement." All this time I
>thought Weir was just extremely proud about pulling a few tubes. :^)
To me, it sounds like "Natural born easement", but that doesn't have
any actual meaning that I can make sense of.
Rick Rodrigues
> On 20 Dec 2000 14:48:13 GMT, fenar...@aol.comyourshit (Greg Fenario)
> wrote:
>
> >>Does anyone know the correct lyric to the chorus of "On the Road
> >>Again"? I've listened to the song about a hundred times, and I still
> >>can't make out the second line, which sounds like "Natural born
> >><something>".
> >
> >Gee, I always thought Weir was saying "natural bong-easement." All this
> >time I
> >thought Weir was just extremely proud about pulling a few tubes. :^)
>
> To me, it sounds like "Natural born easement", but that doesn't have
> any actual meaning that I can make sense of.
>
> - Seth Jackson
Well, an easement is a road that gives you access to a piece of property
so my take has always been that given the old ideas of women as
"property" calling a promiscuous woman a "natural born easement" makes
sense.
Of course, my dad was a state "right of way" agent who did property
appraisals probably influences my understanding here.
Olompali4
>any actual meaning that I can make sense of.
It does if you spent 3-5 on a chain gang diggin' ditches for flood
control...oops, not that I would know about such things!
Chris Perkins
>To me, it sounds like "Natural born easement", but that doesn't have
>any actual meaning that I can make sense of.
This is what I've always heard.
And since when are Bob songs supposed to make sense anyway. "Bigger than a
drive-in movie"?
Susan J. Weiand
Woo eee!
I always thought it was Natural Born Easy.
Sue
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan J. Weiand, photographer
s.we...@ix.netcom.com
portrait site: http://s.weiand.home.netcom.com/
rock photos: http://www.tapercities.com/Jambands/sweiand/index.htm
Check out the jam bands channel at http://www.spinner.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
drew
Bobby repeats the line, spoken: "natural born [easeman ?]"
and jerry chimes right in: "on the road again". it's
definitely not 'natural born easy'.
"Susan J. Weiand" wrote:
>
> Chris Perkins wrote:
> >
> > >To me, it sounds like "Natural born easement", but that doesn't have
> > >any actual meaning that I can make sense of.
> >
> I always thought it was Natural Born Easy.
>
dcohen
Chris Perkins wrote in message <91tg9n$hn...@nntp.cig.mot.com>...
>
>And since when are Bob songs supposed to make sense anyway. "Bigger than a
>drive-in movie"?
On the Road Again is not a Bob song....while he may have sang it in the 80s,
jerry sang the original GD take on this tune, and i'm not sure there is a
defnitive "author" of this song. It's been recorded by a lot of folks since
the early 1920s. dave
Cary Wolfson
--
Cary Wolfson
Publisher
BLUES ACCESS Magazine
Online at: http://www.bluesaccess.com
Now you can hear 24-hour ROOSTER MUSIC online! http://blues.gogaga.com
Seth Jackson
>on the Dead Ahead video, right after they end the tune,
>Bobby repeats the line, spoken: "natural born [easeman ?]"
>and jerry chimes right in: "on the road again". it's
>definitely not 'natural born easy'.
Bob also repeats the line on the Reckoning album. That version is from
10/30/80. I'm also fairly certain it's not "natural born easy". That
makes even less sense than "natural born easement".
Timothy Lynch
} born <something>".
"Natural born easemen." An "easeman," if I understand this
correctly, is a pimp.
sure as you're born,
Tim
tly...@socrates.berkeley.edu
"I never seen that little rounder run so fast..."
The Greatest Of All Times
lyrics, replace "rounder" with "N*****"
What tradition / scene did this tune come out of?
Cassius
dcohen
The Greatest Of All Times wrote in message
<3a428081...@news.colorado.edu>...
read this whole thread..I posted the history and origins of On The Road
Again (at least as far as the Memphis Jug Band is concerned). Also realize
that the word "nigger" was not a slur per se until later on in the 20th
century, and the original lyric was written sometime between 1900 and 1923.
To modern ears, of course, it is a racial slur. BTW, the Memphis Jug Band
(from whose version the GD version was drawn) was a "colored
outfit"..Document Records has a fabulous MJB two disc set available
commercially now:) dave
Chris Forshay
}>on the Dead Ahead video, right after they end the tune,
}>Bobby repeats the line, spoken: "natural born [easeman ?]"
}>and jerry chimes right in: "on the road again". it's
}>definitely not 'natural born easy'.
}
}Bob also repeats the line on the Reckoning album. That version is from
}10/30/80.
the reckoning & dead ahead versions are one & the same.
}I'm also fairly certain it's not "natural born easy". That
}makes even less sense than "natural born easement".
it's "natural-born easy". i think it means she's a slut.
Seth Jackson
<Chris....@ceb.ucop.edu> wrote:
>seth jackson <a...@minspring.com> posted:
>}I'm also fairly certain it's not "natural born easy". That
>}makes even less sense than "natural born easement".
>
>it's "natural-born easy". i think it means she's a slut.
It doesn't sound like "easy" to my ears.
Alex Allan
right.
See below for research from 1996 on similar words in other blues songs:
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:12:14 -0500
From: Antonsson Se <antons...@MBOX304.SWIPNET.SE>
Subject: Re: "a nat'l born eastman" - Furry Lewis, mystery resolved
A favorite mysterious lyric in a favorite mysterious song has always been in
Furry Lewis' "Kassie Jones":
"Had it written on the back of my shirt;
Natural-born _______, don't have to work."
I was never sure what the blank was. Eagle? That didnt' make sense, but I
didn't investigate. Then, I hit this in Nick Toches' COUNTRY: THE TWISTED
ROOTS OF ROCK 'N' ROLL:
"Furry Lewis' 1928 'Kassie Jones' held an intriguing couplet:"
[quotes lines with phrase "Natural-born eastman, don't have to work."]
"Twenty years before, when there were neither blues records nor country
records, folkorist Howard W. Odum collected a song that was later published
in the 1925 book he wrote with Guy B. Johnson, THE NEGRO AND HIS SONGS.
'I got it writ on de tail o' my shit:
I'm a natu'el bohn eastman, don't have to work'
In Jimmie Rodger's 'Blue Yodel No. 9,' recorded in 1930, the same couplet
appears, with slight changes (Rodgers is not a natural-born eastman, but a
Tennessee hustler). "
Toches goes on to note that Gene Autry did the phrase, but was a "do right
daddy". Harmonica Frank Floyd was a "rockin' chair daddy".
In typical form, Toches gives no explanation of "eastman" and left me
puzzled. I went to the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN REGIONAL ENGLISH and looked up
eastman. It said:
"n among black speakers, old-fash ...A man who lives on money earned by a
woman."
as examples, it gives "The 'Eastman' is kept by the woman among whom he is
universally a favorite." Odum's song is also cited, as is another
definition.
Similar information can be found in the pages devoted to "Casey Jones" in
Paul Oliver's "Songster and saints" (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press,
1984). P. 243-245 discuss Furry's version:
"Though it was recorded by white singers including Fiddling John Carson,
Riley Puckett and Uncle Dave Macon, only one black singer in the 1920s -
Furry Lewis - recorded it. *Kassie Jones*, a two-part ballad, drew
on *I'm a Natu'al Bohn Eastman* (as collected by Odum before 1911) ..." (p.
243)
and
"The Eastman, or 'easeman' was a hustler who lived by his wits and most
often, as a pimp." (p. 245)
Gorgen Antonsson, Stockholm
Stormin
on this topic, and the issue remains unresolved 'til now. It ends
here. It's "easement", as a couple of people posted to no avail.
Not "easy". Especially not "eastman" -- the lyric is sung by a man
about a _woman_. The lyric "natural born easement" describes HER.
Like she's got a license to make a road to get on if there isn't one
around, i.e., she's fucking out of here whenever she feels like it,
that's who she is, and there's nothing you can do about it, mister.
Or maybe not. I've been wrong before.
Stormin
On Tue, 19 Dec 2000 23:37:42 -0800, Seth Jackson <a...@minspring.com>
wrote:
>
>Does anyone know the correct lyric to the chorus of "On the Road
>Again"? I've listened to the song about a hundred times, and I still
>can't make out the second line, which sounds like "Natural born
><something>".
>
Susan J. Weiand
>
> Are you people all on drugs? Are _none_ of you? Forty-some odd posts
> on this topic, and the issue remains unresolved 'til now. It ends
> here. It's "easement", as a couple of people posted to no avail.
> Not "easy". Especially not "eastman" -- the lyric is sung by a man
> about a _woman_. The lyric "natural born easement" describes HER.
> Like she's got a license to make a road to get on if there isn't one
> around, i.e., she's fucking out of here whenever she feels like it,
> that's who she is, and there's nothing you can do about it, mister.
>
> Or maybe not. I've been wrong before.
And I think you are wrong again.
Seth Jackson
>Are you people all on drugs? Are _none_ of you? Forty-some odd posts
>on this topic, and the issue remains unresolved 'til now. It ends
>here. It's "easement", as a couple of people posted to no avail.
>Not "easy". Especially not "eastman" -- the lyric is sung by a man
>about a _woman_. The lyric "natural born easement" describes HER.
>Like she's got a license to make a road to get on if there isn't one
>around, i.e., she's fucking out of here whenever she feels like it,
>that's who she is, and there's nothing you can do about it, mister.
>
>Or maybe not. I've been wrong before.
The only problem with this explanation is that "easement" is a rather
technical term, which doesn't seem to fit with the genre of this song.
dcohen
this, the "singer" doesn't really *know* what the specific word is, so he
copies the pronunciation ad lib from wherever he heard it? Hence the
pronunciation confusion over "easement", "easy", "he's been", etc...classic
folk song evoltuion if you ask me:) dave
Seth Jackson
Well, after the 10/30/80 version, which appears on Reckoning and Dead
Ahead, Bobby speaks the phrase after the conclusion of the song. I
doubt he would do this if he didn't know what word he was saying.
Unfortunately, I still can't quite make out the word even in spoken
form.
Stormin
wrote:
(nag rant snipped)
>
>The only problem with this explanation is that "easement" is a rather
>technical term, which doesn't seem to fit with the genre of this song.
>
> - Seth Jackson
Au contraire... road crews...picks and shovels... the blues...
these guys knew what an easement was...
Stormin