Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2012 9:48:11 GMT -5
Here's my latest, a tune called "Jimmy Dorris" -- www.youtube.com/watch?v=sciGv01SrnU
The song was inspired by a transcript of a 1980s interview with a "madam" that is part of the Vigo County (Ind.) Oral History Project. Folks went around interviewing people from various walks of life in Terre Haute and since prostitution was a big part of the city's history, somebody interviewed a retired madam. The 95-page transcript (which is on the website of the Vigo County Library) is fascinating. She doesn't talk much about sex, but she does talk about the profession and running the business, politics, corruption, James Jones and other noteworthy customers. Generally, she talks about random people and events.
One of the things she talks about is the death of Jimmy Dorris, who apparently wasn't anybody noteworthy, just some guy in the community. One day he slipped and fell on the steps of a bootlegger's house and at first they took him to jail because they thought he as drunk. One of the girls, Rachel, went to see him in jail and came back reporting that he was talking crazy and appeared to have a head injury. The jailers realized he was in bad shape so they took him to the hospital and he died.
The madam only spends about a page or so talking about the incident, but she used phrases like "bruised his head" and "he went unconscious and he died" and I liked those and figured they should be in the song. She also talked about how they buried him in a suit provided by another madam whose father had recently died so she had some extra suits laying around. I was reading the transcript and the line "They buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit" came into my head and the song flowed from there.
The chorus is taken from a line that John Dillinger is reported to have often used: God makes it come right in the end. I figured it was period-correct so I used it.
I'm giving some thought to trying to mine the transcript for other songs to see if I can come up with enough tunes for a concept album. I've already got three songs from the transcript.
Here are the lyrics as I sing the song now and, as always, thanks for reading and I'm interested in any thoughts/insights/comments you might have:
JIMMY DORRIS
They buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
Some folks took a collection he hardly knew
Slipped and fell near 4th and Tippecanoe
Yeah, they buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
Jimmy never did nobody no harm
He hit on all eight, could turn on the charm
Once told me he's born on an Edgar County farm
Yeah, Jimmy never did nobody no harm
Jimmy knew the bootleggers and girls on Cherry Street
Liked to play cards, never once saw him cheat
Liked a Jane with a laugh, liked his bootleg whiskey neat
Yeah, Jimmy knew the girls down on Cherry Street
(chorus)
He'd say, "God makes it come right in the end"
Yeah, God makes it come right in the end
Jimmy bruised his head when he fell
They thought he was drunk so they hauled him off to jail
Rachel went to see him, declared, "He's not doing well"
Yeah, Jimmy bruised his head bad when he fell
Jimmy went unconscious and he died
We didn't know much about him, we all realized
Had no kin around here, least none we recognized
Yeah, Jimmy went unconscious and he died
So we buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
Took up a collection from friends he hardly knew
We all must die alone, we did the best we could do
Yeah, we buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
He'd say, "God makes it come right in the end"
Yeah, God makes it come right in the end
He'd say, "God makes it come right in the end"
Yeah, God makes it come right in the end
The song was inspired by a transcript of a 1980s interview with a "madam" that is part of the Vigo County (Ind.) Oral History Project. Folks went around interviewing people from various walks of life in Terre Haute and since prostitution was a big part of the city's history, somebody interviewed a retired madam. The 95-page transcript (which is on the website of the Vigo County Library) is fascinating. She doesn't talk much about sex, but she does talk about the profession and running the business, politics, corruption, James Jones and other noteworthy customers. Generally, she talks about random people and events.
One of the things she talks about is the death of Jimmy Dorris, who apparently wasn't anybody noteworthy, just some guy in the community. One day he slipped and fell on the steps of a bootlegger's house and at first they took him to jail because they thought he as drunk. One of the girls, Rachel, went to see him in jail and came back reporting that he was talking crazy and appeared to have a head injury. The jailers realized he was in bad shape so they took him to the hospital and he died.
The madam only spends about a page or so talking about the incident, but she used phrases like "bruised his head" and "he went unconscious and he died" and I liked those and figured they should be in the song. She also talked about how they buried him in a suit provided by another madam whose father had recently died so she had some extra suits laying around. I was reading the transcript and the line "They buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit" came into my head and the song flowed from there.
The chorus is taken from a line that John Dillinger is reported to have often used: God makes it come right in the end. I figured it was period-correct so I used it.
I'm giving some thought to trying to mine the transcript for other songs to see if I can come up with enough tunes for a concept album. I've already got three songs from the transcript.
Here are the lyrics as I sing the song now and, as always, thanks for reading and I'm interested in any thoughts/insights/comments you might have:
JIMMY DORRIS
They buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
Some folks took a collection he hardly knew
Slipped and fell near 4th and Tippecanoe
Yeah, they buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
Jimmy never did nobody no harm
He hit on all eight, could turn on the charm
Once told me he's born on an Edgar County farm
Yeah, Jimmy never did nobody no harm
Jimmy knew the bootleggers and girls on Cherry Street
Liked to play cards, never once saw him cheat
Liked a Jane with a laugh, liked his bootleg whiskey neat
Yeah, Jimmy knew the girls down on Cherry Street
(chorus)
He'd say, "God makes it come right in the end"
Yeah, God makes it come right in the end
Jimmy bruised his head when he fell
They thought he was drunk so they hauled him off to jail
Rachel went to see him, declared, "He's not doing well"
Yeah, Jimmy bruised his head bad when he fell
Jimmy went unconscious and he died
We didn't know much about him, we all realized
Had no kin around here, least none we recognized
Yeah, Jimmy went unconscious and he died
So we buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
Took up a collection from friends he hardly knew
We all must die alone, we did the best we could do
Yeah, we buried Jimmy Dorris in a borrowed suit
He'd say, "God makes it come right in the end"
Yeah, God makes it come right in the end
He'd say, "God makes it come right in the end"
Yeah, God makes it come right in the end