Man of Constant Sorrow

The song "Man of Constant Sorrow" was first recorded in the U.S. by a blind fiddler from Kentucky named Dick Burnett. Some people believe that he wrote it, but others say the song had existed for hundreds of years by the time Burnett published it in a songbook around 1913. Burnett never took credit for writing it, saying that he just didn't remember where that song came from.

It's a beauty. I am a man of constant sorrow. I've seen trouble all my day. Sometimes it feels like that.

Here's a version by Allison Krauss and Union Station, with Dan Tyminski singing the lead. A fabulous group of musicians.



(In constant sorrow through his days.)

I am a man of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my day.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised.
(The place where he was born and raised )

For six long years I've been in trouble,
No pleasures here on earth I found.
For in this world I'm bound to ramble,
I have no friends to help me now.
(He has no friends to help him now.)

It's fare thee well my old lover.
I never expect to see you again.
For I'm bound to ride that northern railroad,
Perhaps I'll die upon this train.
(Perhaps he'll die upon this train.)

You can bury me in some deep valley,
For many years where I may lay.
Then you may learn to love another,
While I am sleeping in my grave.
(While he is sleeping in his grave.)

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face, you'll never see no more.
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore.
(He'll meet you on God's golden shore.)