Escaping Slavery

Category: 50 Songs to Hear

SONG: Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home
ARTIST: Long Ryders
SONGWRITER: Sid Griffin
ALBUM: Two Fisted Tales
YEAR/LABEL: 1987; Island

Look at me. I'm an eighth generation Kentuckian, and yet I hated country and western as a tyke.
(Sid Griffin)

One of the best-kept secrets of the "roots rock" movement of the mid-1980s was the Long Ryders. The band released a number of critically-acclaimed albums but never managed to break free of that dreaded "cult band" status. The band broke up and lead singer/songwriter Sid Griffin moved to England, where he solidified his reputation as one of the leading experts on the late country-rock icon Gram Parsons and formed another band, the Coal Porters.

Nestled amid the Long Ryders' too-few releases is "Harriet Tubman's Gonna Carry Me Home," a brilliant number about escaping slavery and referencing the Underground Railroad leader. The song is performed from the woman's point of view, although sung by a man (which is not unusual: check out Andy Pratt's "Avenging Annie" in rock or the Louvin Brothers' rendition of "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight" in country).

The song is in a minor key and features prominent mandolin playing by Griffin. The song references several historical persons in addition to the title character (Frederick Douglas, Dred Scott). While the song has its roots in history, the song can easily be about breaking free of anything from the slavery of a record label to a burdensome relationship. It follows the pattern of numerous spirituals, where the title is repeated after each line in the verses ("They ain't got their freedom but they got their pride, Harriet Tubman's gonna carry me home, and there's more of them as there's more of me, Harriet Tubman's gonna carry me home"). When the song finishes the listener feels as liberated as the protagonist.

While a song from Two Fisted Tales, "I Want You Bad," generated some airplay thanks to a video (that featured, as Griffin joked in concert, guitarist/vocalist Stephen McCarthy looking way too much like Jackson Browne), this album was their last before disbanding. The Long Ryders have occasionally reunited for some shows despite their newer ventures (Griffin with the Coal Porters and a documentary on his idol, Gram Parsons; McCarthy as a touring member of the Jayhawks). Their legacy as one of the important American roots rock bands is solidified thanks to this marvelous song.

OTHER LONG RYDERS MUSIC TO INVESTIGATE:

The entire State of Our Union album -- the title song presents all the speech ("if I start slowing down and I throw in too many you all's for you all") and lifestyle ("cornbread, stock cars, minor league baseball too") stereotypes unashamedly with a rocking beat that will make Yankees want to move, and the other marvelous tunes on the album ("You Just Can't Ride the Boxcars Anymore," "Looking for Lewis and Clark," "Capturing the Flag") will give them something to crank up as they make the journey south.
"(Sweet) Mental Revenge" (from 10-5-60) -- a classic country song penned by Mel Tillis and made famous by Waylon Jennings given a good treatment.
"Run Dusty Run" (from 10-5-60) -- think of taking the horse race line in the Band's "Up on Cripple Creek" and making an entire song around it while driving around a NASCAR track and you can hear this song.

PREVIOUS SONGS:

(Country)
I Lost Today
Fingerprints
Down to the River to Pray
Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyeballs
A Death in the Family
Dark as a Dungeon
Bottomless Well

(Rock)
Entella Hotel
Desperados Under the Eaves
Crossing Muddy Waters
Cliffs of Dooneen
Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)
Baby Mine