“Waterbound (I)”
Description
Singer can't go home because of flooding. His girl's father is mad, but the singer doesn't care "as long as I get his daughter": "If he don't give her up, we're gonna run away." He and his friends state that they're going home "before the water rises."
Notes
Yes, there's a narrative buried in there -- two of them, really. - PJS
I suspect it may have been stronger, once upon a time, but gotten rather submerged after years of the tune being used primarily as a fiddle/banjo instrumental. As Paul notes, there are two plots -- one about the rising flood and one about courting. - RBW
The Grayson Co. Railsplitters' recording is essentially identical to the canonical version sung in the folk revival, mostly learned from the Wade Ward/Bogtrotters recording. It should be noted that Fields Ward, Wade's brother, was a member of the Railsplitters, along with Sampson Ward, Eck Dunford and Ernest "Pop" Stoneman -- an old-time music all-star show if ever there was one. - PJS
Recordings
- Grayson County Railsplitters, "Way Down in North Carolina" (unissued, 1929; on TimesAint05)
- Art Thieme, "Waterbound" (on Thieme06)
- Wade Ward & Bogtrotters, "Waterbound" (on Holcomb-Ward1)
References
- Darling-NAS, pp. 252-253, "Waterbound" (1 text)
- DT, WATRBOND
- BI, DTwatrbo