Lightning- Long John (Old song by a chain gang)

[killkick177]

hahahahahhahahaha this song we had heared in school hahaha :D

[Ladiesman4laif]

3 people are rasist!!!

[GaelanB12]

Just because a person hasn't worked on a chain gang doesn't mean that person can't understand oppression.

[hermanniy]

Listn tu this at skewl its stuck on,me and my bff head

[morlugable]

ce vieu truc tout merdic

[peteradt1]

Even in the worst of times, music rises to the top. peace

[CMSTTR]

please please please I will give my two hands for the lyrics

[southwick331]

this song is fucking hardcore

[gruisspectra]

What year was this recorded?? Great.

[gogogmel4]

thats so sad. did some of da whites want the blacks to be free other than the 1 leged sailor?

[661Sunshine]

@gogogmel4 yes of course

[dave474c]

I wish I had a job .like that.

[degen83]

@dave474c No you don't.

[dave474c]

@degen83 If I was paid enough....

[curtistembeck]

Thank god for Alan Lomax.

[GRADYGRAVES5]

if u've never been on a chain gang u'll never understand the significance of the harmony, the repetition, & the verse...

[MrMViceroy]

@GRADYGRAVES5 Have you been on a chain gang?



[GRADYGRAVES5]

V@ IF U'VE NEVER BEEN ON A CHAIN GANG, U'LL NEVER UNDERSTAND. SO FUCK YOU.

[TheGREATEST95]

theese blues basically mixed eastern music with the western world and it created the greatest genre in the west. if you listen to work music in songs around africa and asian countries like indian, bangladesh it sounds similar. they have a steady rhythm but of course in their own language. ive actually heard on in bangladesh when they were building a water pump they have a leader very simiar too this actually but obvioulsy in their own language and always refering too god

[TheBoyFromNorfolk]

@TheGREATEST95

If you listen to Sailors working Songs, they also sound similar. The call and response, the steady rhythm. It helps you work, keeps you motivated and keeps you going at a steady pace all day. Lots of old European Folk Songs have a similar origin as well. Music is in humanities bone and blood.

[marcelolemes100]

muito boa musica verdadeiramente boa

[mpregio]

whoever the person who disliked this video: please redeem yourself!

[expoonation]

We must all be grateful towards the Lomax family who devoted their lives to recording this kind of stuff!

[MrMcoolz]

so unique



[elainebmack]

The next time I'm on a train trip in the South I will remember this music and this photo.  How easy life is now for us all because of the thankless hard work of these Black men, criminals or not.

[SchlichteWahrheit]

Bon Dieu ,i love the blues so much, great tunes and waves, best human music

[heavyhand357]

37 my bad

[heavyhand357]

Pythons357 is dead on right. Love this music, it tells more than reading could ever do. Its like listening to a legend.

[TheWezz69]

i never watch the video of these songs because the aim is to feel repeatedness of their tireless task. year after year doing the same thing day after day for year after year without parole or any chance of release. Could you do it for 18 years?

[Indefatigable4]

Was this one of Lomax's recordings? Geez, how amazing to have it recorded.

[aprildaonlyqueen123]

I FEEL SO SORRY FOR ALL THE SLAVES MAN ... I CRY LISTENING TO THESE SONGS ..... MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL OF YALL ....

[8aPeach2]

@aprildaonlyqueen123 I hate to disappoint you, but these are NOT slaves. These are convicts on a chain gang singing and chopping logs in rhythm. It was recorded my Lomax in the 1930s

[viago2]

@8aPeach2 sort of the same thing really. forced black labour for no wages and the only prospects of betterment being death, which was rarely long in arriving. the loss of labour to the reaper was a thorn in the side of the labour captains so a constant supply of new parts was manufactured by the great southern justice system.

[newfful]

This is better than that new R&B crap. And I'm 22 in case anyone's curious.

[Puccini213]

 I find it tiresome when ppl compare old music to what is new. Cant you just enjoy it for what it is.

[dubfortheyouth]

@newfful I feel you bro. I'm 21 and loathe what my generation calls "music".

[newfful]

@dubfortheyouth that would be sister and thanks. I'm glad I'm not the only one. :)

[RatoBranc0]

@dubfortheyouth just turned 30 and I feel the same way. Good thing is: the blues doesn't discriminate & you're never too young/old to get to know & love it. I've been listening to blues since I was 13-14yo and my dad used to play John Lee Hooker and BB King (and also stuff like Bob Dylan, Cab Calloway and Van Morisson) in the car when we went on holiday.

[waldstrand]

@newfful so true! im 16 and this is much better than any charts crap...

[pythons37]

@newfful This music stands alone. You get it, or you don't. This one song tells a lot more accurate story than any textbook or historical novel. Your age is unimportant. What's important is the music. I'm 63 and white as snow. The music is ageless and color blind.

[TamikaJMusic]

@pythons37 WELL SAID!!! :-)

[Cutflood]

Thank you so incredibly much for this. Much love and pain in those voices. Now Immortalized. They never knew they would be heard from the grave like this. :)

[9903kateyes]

You can just hear it in their voices the angst and longing for their homes as they work so incredibly hard and suffering from such inhuman treatment.

[manteno]

Just me or the lyrics don't match up to what was posted?

[abanks47]

@manteno no you're right. i have to change it.

[gwen56ful]

@manteno look closer to the right see that shirt on the stick long john long gone

[makenna88]

ooh

[huxl3y]

I watch this video so often.  It is encouraging.

[kopynd]

this is cool

[MrMLD72MLD]

♥ ♥

[mraye75]

moving.

[nzteddy]

mean music

[gayskunk]

the birth of blues music

[mdigital21]

@gayskunk blues, rocknroll, rap, soul, etc etc depending on how you look at it.

[lonhillyer]

@gayskunk The "birth" was way before this.

[eihwazone]

most of these men were wrongfully imprisoned.....you can hear their struggle in the lyrics....5*

[eihwazone]

what a gem banks.....u outdid urself with this one....sends chills down my spine.