Bessie Smith Sing Sing Prison Blues lyrics

Gonna journey up the Hudson
Goin' on a lonesome trail
Gonna journey up the Hudson
Goin' on a lonesome trail
They can put me in the Death House
Or keep me in the Sing Sing Jail

I wrote and asked the warden
Why they called the jail the Sing Sing
I wrote and asked the warden
Why the called the jail the Sing Sing
He said, "Stand here by this rock pile
And listen to them hammers ring"

He turns in the court house
Papers sellin' for fifty cents
He turns in the court house
Papers sellin' for fifty cents

All the judge tryin' to tell me
My lawyer's pleadin' self defense

The judge said, ‽Listen, Bessie
Tell me why you killed your man”
The judge said, ‽Listen, Bessie
Tell me why you killed your man”
I said, ‽Judge, you ain't no woman
And you can't understand”

You can send me up the river
Or send me to that mean old jail
You can send me up the river
Or send me to that mean old jail
I killed my man and I don't need no bail