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Before They Hang Me

from Nelson County Wayside by Colin Cutler

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about

A song about a pandemic 100 years ago.

lyrics

I’ve got to get to Charlottesville
Before they hang me on that hill.
My Mary’s sick with the Spanish flu,
And I would die to be with you.

Lord knows I was just twenty-one,
When they gave me boots and they gave me a gun.
They sent me to the mud of France,
And German blood still stains my pants.

We got back home to a bright parade,
I got a letter, and the letter said,
“Your Mary’s sick with the Spanish flu,
And she would die to be with you.”

Chorus
I’ve got to get to Charlottesville
Before they hang me on that hill.
My Mary’s sick with the Spanish flu,
And, baby, I would die to be with you.

So I stole a car in Portsmouth town.
The sheriff stopped me, and I shot him down.
The car broke down, so I rode the rods.
As the engine screamed, I prayed to God.
I prayed the Lord her life to save,
Or I would join her in the grave.

Chorus
I’ve got to get to Charlottesville
Before they hang me on that hill.
My Mary’s sick with the Spanish flu,
And, baby, I would die to be with you.

And when I got to Charlottesville
My heart was heavy as I climbed the hill.
A steady rain fell on my head,
As I passed the church where we’d be wed,
And in the graveyard out in back,
Stood Mary’s parents dressed in black.

Chorus
I made it up to Charlottesville,
I guess they’ll hang me on this hill.
My Mary died of the Spanish flu,
And baby, I would die to be with you.

credits

from Nelson County Wayside, released April 15, 2016

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Colin Cutler Greensboro, North Carolina

Armed with a guitar, banjo, a brace of harmonicas, Colin tells stories of love and loss with characters wide open as a Midwest sky and wild as the mountains, with poetry thick as a Carolina swamp.

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