Midnight Special (song)

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"Midnight Special" is a traditional folk song. It was originally popularized by Lead Belly, who recorded at least three versions of the song, one with the Golden Gate Quartet, a slick gospel group (recorded for RCA at Victor Studio #2, NYC, June 15, 1940).

The earliest known recording of the song is by the bluesman Sam Collins. Bill Cox also did a version of the song which apparently predates at least Lead Belly's version with the quartet, if not all of them. The lyrics of Cox's version are different from Lead Belly's and Collins'. Cox's version has no prison references. He merely sings of catching the midnight special out of town because he can't find work.

Johnny Rivers, Paul Evans and Creedence Clearwater Revival are well-known for their versions. Also artists such as ABBA, Mungo Jerry, Van Morrison, Odetta and Paul McCartney have covered the song.

"Midnight Special" is historically performed in the country-blues style. It is performed in first person and is a tale of how the songwriter is imprisoned.

The version of the song known by this name, according to one theory, originated from the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, Mississippi. The title motif was obtained from the train that could be seen at night from the fields. The train was nicknamed the Midnight Special because it was carrying the "female visitors" for Sunday visits to the inmates. At night time it was believed that if the light of the train shone on you, one of the ladies on the train was for you, as the lyrics go, "Let the Midnight Special, shine a light on me". The late Kin Vassy (folksinger from "The Backporch Majority" and "The First Edition") performed the song, and claimed that the meaning of "Let the Midnight Special shine its light on me" was that IF it did so, it meant that you were FREE...no longer in the prison.

The song is undoubtedly built on an older, apparently loose, folk-song framework. The motif of a shining light is probably borrowed from gospel. It can also be seen in Lead Belly's "Let It Shine On Me," where he shows the development of gospel from Baptist influence past Methodist. It also appears in various blues songs where the "lighthouse" is a woman's face, such as Roger Garnett's "Lighthouse Blues," also recorded by Lomax.

The song "Yon' Comes de Sargent," sung by Alexander Williams and recorded by John Lomax at Parchman Farm on 5/23/39, has lines which obviously parallel those in "Midnight Special." This is primarily the "same old thing ... say anythin' about it, havin' trouble with the man..." section.

It is also remarkably similar to the song "De Funiac Blues," sung and played by Burruss Johnson and recorded by John Lomax at the Raiford State Penitentiary in Florida on 6/2/39. The lyrics are not all completely intelligible, but run generally:

"When you go to the Funiac, you'd better walk right. You'd better not gamble, and you'd better not fight, well the ... will get you, darling he'll put you in jail, ... shine the everlovin' light on you. Four 'clock in the morning, hear the ding-dong ring, go marchin to the table, get the same old thing, cornbread on the table, ... and if you want it honey, leave the girls alone. They'll give you coffee, baby they'll give you tea, they'll give you everything but the jailhouse key. You gotta come by captain, how can I tell? You can by the shotgun, and the boots he wore. Shotgun on his shoulder, piece of paper in his hand, marching to the policeman, saying 'I want my man.' Never heard the blues ... in all my life before, until my baby left me at the jailhouse door. Oh she left me crying, tears rollin down my cheeks, rather be dead honey, than in this place. Women when you got a good husband, ya better try to keep him around, for these city girls can't leave him alone, they'll paint a paradise, it sure look swell. First thing you know honey, your man can [drops off]. When you go to the Funiac boys, you'd better have that ... The ... will arrest you, they'll put you in jail, oh the judge will fine you, the court will shake you down, haven't got the money boys, you Raiford bound."

This is essentially the same song as Collins and Lead Belly's (though by no means Cox's) except for the absence of the train motif. Lead Belly's versions also take references from other prison songs, such as "Jumpin Judy." It might also be noted that while the "Midnight Special" motif allegedly originates in Parchman, Lead Belly's song explicitly refers to being thrown in jail in Texas (note "Houston," "Sugar Land" and the specific naming of Texas lawmen):

"... If you ever go to Houston, boys you better walk right, and you better not squabble, and you better not fight. Bason and Brock will arrest you, Payton and Boone will take you down. You can bet your bottom dollar, that you're Sugar Land bound. Let the Midnight Special, shine the light on me, let the Midnight Special, shine the ever-lovin' light on me ..."

Given the words to the various versions, it is much more likely that the "light" of the Midnight Special is a salvation motif. The light of the train, like the light of God's lighthouse, represents salvation from the conditions of the penitentiary, or, in Cox's case, hopeless unemployment.