“Darlin’ Cory” (Roud 5723) is a well-known folk song about a banjo-picking, moonshine-making mountain woman. The first known recording of it was by Clarence Gill as “Little Corey” on 6 January 1927, but it was rejected by the record company and never released.[1] A few months later, folk singer Buell Kazee recorded it as “Darling Cora” on 20 April 1927 (Brunswick 154).[2]
Later the same year, it was recorded by B. F. Shelton as “Darlin’ Cora” on 29 July 1927 (Victor 35838) [3] . Other early recordings are “Little Lulie” by Dick Justice (1929) and “Darling Corey” (released as a single) by the Monroe Brothers in 1936.[4]
Burl Ives recorded it on 28 May 1941[5] for his debut album Okeh Presents the Wayfaring Stranger. Since then, many artists have recorded it: Roscoe Holcomb, Doc Watson, Bruce Hornsby, The Weavers, Crooked Still, Bill Monroe,[6] Harry Belafonte (as “Darlin’ Cora,” attributed to Fred Brooks),[7], Pete Seeger, and Kingston Trio (on their album At Large, 1959).
Lyrics
Wake [D] up, wake up darling Corey
What makes you [A] sleep so sound
The [D] revenue officers are coming
They’re gonna tear you [A] still-house [D] down
Well the first time I seen darling Corey
She was sitting by the banks of the sea
Had a forty-four around her body
And a five-string on her knee.
Go away go away darling Corey
Quit hanging around my bed
Your liquor has ruined my body
Pretty women gone to my head.
Dig a hole dig a hole in the meadow
Dig a hole in the cold damp ground
Dig a hole dig a hole in the meadow
We’re gonna lay darling Corey down.
Can’t you hear them bluebirds a-singing
Don’t you hear that mournful sound
They’re preaching darling Corey’s funeral
In some lonesome graveyard ground.
The purpose of the Folk Den is to use the medium of the World Wide Web to continue the tradition of the folk process, that is the telling of stories, and singing of songs, passed on from one generation to another, by word of mouth.
In this electronic era, such a process is in danger of being overwhelmed by the commercial mass media. This page and others on the 'net are working to preserve the folk songs that have chronicled our global heritage for centuries.
In the Folk Den, a "new" folk song is uploaded every month as a "Global Community Service."
