Can someone do some listening for me, please?

[Mahi93]

Hi Guys,

One of my favorite songs is "Git along little yearlings" by Jimmie Driftwood.
I searched the net near and far, but in vain, I can't find the lyrics.
So, I put my best knowledge of the English language at work to write them down myself.
Some words and/or parts are still not clear to me.
Would someone please be so kind to listen to the song and try to make sense of the underlined parts of the lyrics?
The song can be found on Youtube but the quality is very bad, better use the first URL .

http://grooveshark.com/#!/search/song?q=Jimmie+Driftwood+Git+Along+Little+Yearlings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fqZYz-qyGo

Thanks in advance.

Git along Little Yearlings

The Yanks took our Corn, the Reps took our cotton.
The bank took our land and the tax got our home.
We (hooked up ?) our oxen and loaded our wagons.
We drove up our yearlings we started to roll.

Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Don’t stray far away or you can’t hear the bell
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Stay close to the wagons and all will be well. (would be well ?)

‘t Was in Alabama we lost the first wagon, we thanked the good Lord we lost only one.
In old Mississippi (we fought the Jehovers ??) and in Indiana we buried our son.

Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Don’t stray far away or you can’t hear the bell
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Stay close to the wagons and all will be well. (would be well ?)
There’s bears in the woods and there’s wolves and there’s Indians
There’s quick sandy holes and there’s mountains of stone.
Last night a poor yearling strayed too far from camp
And this morning we found just a bundle of bones
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Don’t stray far away or you can’t hear the bell
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Stay close to the wagons and all will be well. (would be well ?)
Hooray and hurrah give a big halleluiah the journey is ending
(We’re bearing nearby ?)
Hail thanks to the oxen and pray to Jehovah
We’ll soon be a-resting beneath the Lone Star.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

What a great song! I love Jimmy Driftwood, but I'd never heard this one. You've done an excellent job of understanding his accent. Here are some corrections:

Hi Guys,

One of my favorite songs is "Git Along, Little Yearlings" by Jimmy Driftwood.
I searched the net near and far, but in vain. I can't find the lyrics.
So, I put my best knowledge of the English language at work to write them down myself.
Some words and parts are still not clear to me.
Would someone please be so kind to listen to the song and try to make sense of the underlined parts of the lyrics?
The song can be found on Youtube but the quality is very bad, better use the first URL .

http://grooveshark.com/#!/search/song?q=Jimmie+Driftwood+Git+Along+Little+Yearlings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fqZYz-qyGo

Thanks in advance.

Git along Little Yearlings

The Yanks [Yankees, the northern army] took our corn, the Rebs [Rebels, the southern army that fought the Yankees.] took our cotton.
The bank took our land and the tax got our home.
We yoked up our oxen and loaded our wagons.
We drove up our yearlings, we started to roll.

Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Don’t stray far away or you can’t hear the bell
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Stay close to the wagons and all will be well. [Will be is correct. Yearlings that don't stray will be safe.]

‘Twas [Poetic form of it was.] in Alabama we lost the first wagon, we thanked the good Lord we lost only one.
In old Mississippi we fought the Jayhawkers, and in Louisiana [He pronounces it southern-style: Looziana] we buried our son.

Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Don’t stray far away or you can’t hear the bell
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Stay close to the wagons and all will be well. (would be well ?)
There’s bears in the woods and there’s wolves and there’s Indians [He pronounces it Southern-style: Injuns.]
There’s quicksandy [full of quicksand] holes and there’s mountains of stone.
Last night a poor yearling strayed too far from camp
And this morning we found just a bundle of bones
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Don’t stray far away or you can’t hear the bell
Git along little yearlings we’re a-going to Texas
Stay close to the wagons and all will be well.
Hooray and hurrah give a big halleluiah the journey is ending ​We're very near there (With his southern accent: thar.)
Give thanks to the oxen and pray to Jehovah
We’ll soon be a-resting beneath the Lone Star. [Texas, the Lone Star state.]

Some notes:

1.To the rest of the world, a Yankee is an American. To an American, a Yankee is someone from the U.S.'s north - NOT a southerner! To a northerner, it's someone from New England. To a New Englander, it's someone from northern New England. To a northern New Englander, it's a Republican whose grandparents lived in the same town and who eats blueberry pie for breakfast.

2. The Jayhawkers (or Jayhawks) were an anti-slavery militia. This doesn't mean that the singer was a slave-owner. Probably not. It's unlikely that someone this poor owned slaves. But the herd of yearlings were sure to be attractive swag to everyone they met - hungry Yankees, hungry Rebels, hungry Jayhawkers, hungry Indians, hungry wolves, hungry bears (bars!) and everyone in between. Now we use the word as a nickname for someone from the state of Kansas. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayhawker

Thanks for the post. This was fun.

 

[BobK]

I saw in a book (never heard it) a song called 'Git along, little dogies [sic, not 'doggies'!]. Would this be another version of the same song?

b

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I saw in a book (never heard it) a song called 'Git along, little dogies [sic, not 'doggies'!]. Would this be another version of the same song?

b

Good guess, but no, they're two different songs lyrically, musically, and thematically. Driftwood's is about fleeing west to Texas to escape bankers and taxes. "Git Along, Little Dogie" is about a commercial cattle drive. The dogies were bought in Texas and driven north to Wyoming to mature. When they're full-grown beeves, they'll be driven to Idaho for slaughter. This, cowboy sings to the little dogie, is "your misfortune and none of my own."

Here's Roy Rogers singing it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2cFji4CmHE

And here's Woody Guthrie. He wasn't as slick as Rogers, but he was more of a kindred spirit to Jimmy Driftwood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQITVzERKrM

 

[Mahi93]

Hello Charlie,

I'm so gratefull.
This so much more than I expected as a response to my post.

Kind regards,
Roger