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9. SAINT JAMES INFIRMARY BLUES
This old blues song is related to both British ballad (The Unfortunate Rake) and an American Cowboy song (The Streets of Laredo) and is one of a long line of songs that deal with the perils of venereal disease – though rarely explicitly. I’ve always felt tat there was something missing from the song that would explain why it starts out talking about the death of a woman, and the switches to talking about the funeral of her “sweet man”, so I wrote stanza for the middle of the song that both bridges that gap, and makes the underlying theme of the song a little more explicit.

lyrics

9. SAINT JAMES INFIRMARY BLUES
Traditional – additional lyrics by Marc Nerenberg
Was down in old Joe's barroom, on the corner of the square,
And they were serving all them drinks like usual, and the usual crowd was there.

On the left, stood Big Joe McKennedy. His eyes, they were bloodshot red.
And as he turned to face all the people standing there, these were the very words that he said:

“I went down to St. James infirmary, to see my baby there.
And she was stretched out on a long white table, so sweet, so cold, so fair.

Let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be.
If she could search this wide world over, she’d never find another sweet man like me.

And as I watched her layin’ there dead, well, I knew that my time weren’t long.
All those nights my baby shared my bed, bound to kill me, though she meant me no wrong.

And when I die, won’t you please bury me in my very best high top Stetson hat.
And put a $20 gold piece on my watch chain, so they’ll all know that I died standing pat.

And find me six crapshooters to be my pallbearers, and 7 pretty women to sing me a sad song.
And stick a jazz band right up there on my old hearse wagon, and then raise hell, as we go rolling along.

But let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be.
If she could search this whole wide world over, she’ll never find another sweet man like me.”

Well now that you've heard my sad story, give me another shot of your good booze.
And if anybody here should ask you, tell ‘em I got those Saint James Infirmary blues.

credits

from DELIA'S GONE: Murder Ballads & Other Songs of Love & Death, released July 15, 2019
Traditional, arranged and adapted, with additional lyrics, by Marc Nerenberg

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Marc Nerenberg Montreal, Québec

Marc Nerenberg is a veteran Montreal folksinger who plays old time banjo styles and blues harmonica. He has a narrative- centric repertoire, recounting stories in song and wrapping stories around songs. You may “be drawn in by a combination of Marc’s mastery of traditional banjo styles, his idiosyncratic singing, and [his] richly detailed ballads.” (Mike Regenstreif – Folk Roots/Folk Branches 2019) ... more

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