Alberta #1 & #2

Joseph Cliburn posted:

"Alberta, Let Yo' Hair Hang Low" was included in Mary Wheeler's Steamboatin' Days (Baton Rouge LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1944). Wheeler coaxed a number of older Negroes, who had once worked on the boats, to sing songs they remembered for her. She transcribed over sixty river songs, including this one:

Alberta, let yo' hair hang low,

Alberta, let yo' hair hand low,

I'll give you mo' gold than yo' apron will hold,

Ef you'll jes let yo' hair hang low.

Alberta, what's on yo' mind,

Alberta, what's on yo' mind,

You keep me worried, you keep me bothered, all the time.

Alberta, what's on yo' mind?

Alberta, don't you treat me unkind,

Alberta, don't you treat me unkind,

'Cause I'm worried, 'cause I'm bothered, all the time.

Alberta, don't you treat me unkind.

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