![]() ![]() Investors do this all the time, see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear. Sometimes things are just what they seem. ![]() But more likely the song is just a lament about not catching a ride at the crossroads – which is where anyone hitchhiking in the south back then would have stuck out their thumb – and not having a woman to keep him company. Now, there is, possibly, some social commentary in the song when he says “risin’ sun goin’ down, I believe to my soul, now, poor Bob is sinkin’ down” as that may be a reference to sundown laws, curfews for blacks during segregation in the south. You can listen all you want but if you think the lyrics support that interpretation you are hearing what you want to hear. The Ry Cooder version of the song is from a movie – not a particularly good one I might add – that tells a version of this myth, albeit a kind of beige one with Ralph Macchio and Jamie Gertz.Īnd yet if you read all the lyrics, you will be hard pressed to find anything that even remotely supports that assertion. And if you mention the song to someone who knows it they’ll tell you it’s about Robert Johnson (or more likely, a generic blues guitarist) selling his soul to the devil in exchange for guitar talent. So, the song has been around a long time and it has been recorded countless times. But my favorite version of the song is by Ry Cooder, an underappreciated guitarist probably best known, especially here in Miami, for his association with the Buena Vista Social Club. God Clapton recorded it again when he formed Cream with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce in the late 1960s. It was later recorded by Elmore James in the 1950s and again by Eric Clapton (with Stevie Winwood on vocals) when he was part of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. It was originally recorded in 1936 in San Antonio for ARC records along with some other Johnson songs that aren’t known as Robert Johnson songs, including Sweet Home Chicago and Terraplane Blues. I believe to my soul, poor bob is sinkin’ downĪ lot of people know the song Crossroad Blues, although I imagine most people don’t know it as a Robert Johnson song. Standin’ at the crossroad, baby, eee, eee, risin’ sun goin’ down Standin’ at the crossroad, baby, risin’ sun goin’ down Yeoo, standin’ at the crossroad, tried to flag a rideĭidn’t nobody seem to know me, babe, everybody pass me by I went to the crossroad, fell down on my kneesĪsked the lord above “have mercy, now save poor bob, if you please” ![]()
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