“Cocaine (The Furniture Man)”
Description
"I've got a gal in the white folks' yard...she brings me meal, she brings me lard." Refrain: "Here comes Sal with her nose all sore/Doctor said she can't smell no more...." The furniture man looks for the singer's wife, repossesses all of his belongings
Long description
Confused, floating verses; "I've got a gal in the white folks' yard...she brings me meal, she brings me lard." Occasional refrain: "Here comes Sal with her nose all sore/Doctor said she couldn't smell no more...I'm simply wild about my good cocaine." The furniture man comes to singer's house looking for his wife, repossesses all of his belongings
Notes
This song clearly exists in both Anglo- and African-American traditions; just as clearly, Justice's performance was derived from Jordan's. The narrative is extremely confused, but (barely) sufficient to class it as a ballad. - PJS
Cross references
- cf. "Cocaine Blues (I)" (subject) and references there
- cf. "Ain't No Use Workin' So Hard" (lyrics)
Recordings
- Luke Jordan, "Cocaine Blues" (Victor 21076, 1927)
- Dick Justice, "Cocaine" (Brunswick 395, 1929; on RoughWays2)