The Wreck on the Highway:
Electronic Edition.

Performed by Dorsey Dixon

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

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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.

Source Description:
(song title) The Wreck on the Highway
Performed by Dorsey Dixon
1 p.

Call number FC-785. General Collection/Sound Recordings (#30001) (Southern Folklife Collection, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

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        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 Dorsey Dixon held from the Southern Folklife Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These lyrics accompany a digital audio file, available at /nc/wreck/menu.html.
        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.

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Library of Congress Subject Headings

Languages Used:

• English

LC Subject Headings:

• Ballads, English -- United States -- Texts.
• Ballads, English -- United States.
• Drinking and traffic accidents -- North Carolina -- Rockingham -- Songs.
• Folk songs, English -- United States -- Texts.
• Folk songs, English -- United States.
• Textile factories -- North Carolina -- Songs.

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Revision History:

• 2005-02-21,
  Celine Noel and Wanda Gunther
  revised TEIHeader and created catalog record for the electronic edition.
  
  
• 2003-09-09,
  Elizabeth S. Wright
  finished TEI-conformant encoding and final proofing.
  
  
• 2003-08-21,
  Elizabeth S. Wright
  finished TEI/SGML encoding
  
  
• 2003-07-17,
  Monique Prince
  finished scanning the text.
  
  

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The Wreck on the Highway

Audio File (MP3 file, ca. 2.9MB, 3:09 min.)

                         Who did you say it was, brother?
                         Who was it fell by the way?
                         When whiskey and blood run together
                         Did you hear anyone pray?

                         The names I'm not able to tell you,
                         But here is one thing I can say:
                         Their whiskey and blood mixed together,
                         But I didn't hear nobody pray.

                         I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother,
                         I didn't hear nobody pray.
                         I heard the crash on the highway,
                         But I didn't hear nobody pray.

                         When I heard the crash on the highway,
                         I knew what it was from the start;
                         I went to the scene of destruction
                         A picture was stamped on my heart.

                         Whiskey and glass all together,
                         Was mixed up with blood where they lay.
                         Death played her hand in destruction,
                         But I didn't hear nobody pray.

                         I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother,
                         I didn't hear nobody pray.
                         I heard the crash on the highway,
                         But I didn't hear nobody pray.

                         I wish I could change this sad story
                         That I am now telling you;
                         But there's no way I can change it,
                         Somebody's life is now through.

                         Their soul has been called by the Master,
                         They died in a crash on their way.
                         I heard the groans of the dying,
                         But I didn't hear nobody pray.

                         I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother,
                         I didn't hear nobody pray.
                         I heard the crash on the highway,
                         But I didn't hear nobody pray.

                         Please give up the game an' stop drinking,
                         For Jesus is pleading with you.
                         It cost him a lot in redeeming,
                         Redeeming the promise for you.

                         But it'll be too late if tomorrow
                         In a crash you should fall by the way,
                         With whiskey and blood all around you,
                         And you can't hear nobody pray.

                         I didn't hear nobody pray, dear brother,
                         I didn't hear nobody pray.
                         I heard the crash on the highway,
                         But I didn't hear nobody pray.

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