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Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister:
Electronic Edition.

Performed by Charlie Poole


Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.


Text transcribed by Monique Prince
Text encoded by Elizabeth S. Wright
First edition, 2003
ca. 7K
Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
2003.

Copyright Not Evaluated

Source Description:
(song title) Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister
Performed by Charlie Poole
1 p.

Call number FC-344 General Collection/Sound Recordings (#30001), (Southern Folklife Collection, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)



        The electronic edition is a part of the UNC-CH digitization project, Documenting the American South.
        These song lyrics are transcribed from a recording by Charlie Poole held from the Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These lyrics accompany a digital audio file.
        The text has been encoded using the recommendations for Level 4 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
        Spell-check and verification made against printed text using Author/Editor (SoftQuad) and Microsoft Word spell check programs.
Library of Congress Subject Headings

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Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister

Audio file (MP3, ca. 2.9MB, 3:12 min.)


                         May I sleep in your barn tonight, Mister?
                         It's cold lying out on the ground
                         And the cold north wind is whistling
                         And I have no place to lie down


                         I have no 'bacco nor matches
                         I'm sure that I'll do you no harm
                         I will tell you my story, kind mister
                         Though it rests in my heart like a thorn


                         It was three year ago last summer
                         I never will forget that sad day
                         When a stranger came out from a city
                         And he wanted to stop for his health


                         Now the stranger was fair, tall and handsome
                         And he looked like a man who had wealth
                         Said he wanted to stop in a country
                         Said he wanted to stop for his health


                         Now my wife said she'd like to be earning
                         Something to add to our home
                         And she talked 'til I finally decided
                         That the stranger could enter our home


                         Last night as I came from my workshop
                         Whistling and singing with joy
                         I was expecting a kind-hearted welcome
                         At the gate from my wife and my boy


                         Nothing did I spy but a letter
                         Placed in the room on a stand
                         And the moment my eyes lay upon it
                         I picked it right up in my hand


                         Now the note said Stella and the stranger
                         Had run away and taken my child
                         And I'm sure that a God up in heaven
                         And will do as the stranger deserves