![]() ![]() Someone from SomewhereI think this song is about a man who was abusive towards his wife because he finds out she is cheating and he is mocking/ talking her when he is being prepared to be killed by her and the man she is having a affair with.I think it’s written from the point of view of her dead husbands spirit and he’s describing what it’s like to be dead among the trees and such, where no sun shines and it’s just so cold. C-slyce from ArizonaI believe the song is about a girl getting lynched for the murder of her husband.You can hear its not about love, or desire. Its the reality of Apalachian and Southern folk music of the 1800's. ![]() Then he threatens her by saying - there was this one "hard working man" aka slave, who didnt do what he was told and his body was never found. She tries to discourage him by saying- I sleep in a very cold dark place. Him and his buddies are gonna have a fun time raping her. So we can start with the man saying to this girl where do you sleep. Back in the 1800's when this song originally was written whites used to refer to Black people as boy and girl. Dennis Scott from CaliforniaThe song starts with "My girl" or "Black Girl", not my wife or girlfriend. ![]() it almost seems like it might be the same person or persons who killed her husband are now coming after her and wondering where they can find her. Waldo from NashvilleAfter reading many of the comments and re-reading the lyrics, one thing that struck me was the comment that her husband is dead so how is he asking the question? It suddenly occurred to me that maybe the one talking to her is speaking indirectly, i.e.But when I read the lyrics, and saw the verse about her husband being run over by a train I wondered was he killed in an on the job accident, and now she’s been evicted? I could see that-especially if they lived in company housing. Someone ElseWhen I heard the first refrain I was assuming the song was a husband asking his cheating wife where she’d been the night before, and her lying to him claiming she slept in the cold woods-not the bed of some man she met at the bar.However their version is an instrumental piece. LiraThe King Creole Jazz Band recorded the song in 1923, entitled as "Where Did You Stay Last Night?"."I'm going where the cold wind blows" is the girl realizing she will be hung, and Death's cold wind will blow her body as it hangs from the tree. Her husband had been killed by this slave owner possibly because marriage between slaves was generally not allowed and the girl tried to escape out of fear that something similar would happen to her. The girl tried to escape, slept in the dark pines of the Apalachians/Smoky Mountains, but was found and taken back to the plantation. Lux FerrousThe man asking "Where did you sleep" is the slave owner, telling his girl not to lie to him.Surelee from Ferrous Thank you for the profound statement!. ![]() Where did the black girl slept while she was away from the slave owner? In cold misery! Suffering! Is the slave owner going to kill the black girl? Is the slave owner going to torture the black girl before he kills her? The melody makes me feel how unjust and cruel slavery was! I feel a sense of justice and dignity and love in the melody. The beautiful melody of the guitar makes me feel how unjust and cruel slavery was. The cruel punishment that the male slave received and the vengeance that the slave owner wants to inflict on the female slave. It sounds like it’s about a slave owner talking to his slave that might have tried to escape with her boyfriend. Change the lyric my girl with “black girl” then consider that this song might be circa 1850s and listen to the melody.
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