Lightnin Hopkins Mr Charlie Lyrics

Mr Charlie Lyrics

(spoken, without accompaniment:)



Once in the country there was a
little boy; every morning that he

would go to the table with his little
two sisters and brothers, you know,

he would go there, he couldn't talk
but his mother didn't know what

was wrong with him so... she would go to
the table in the morning, she

would fix for breakfast, she'd fix toast
and coffee, enough, coffee for

the tin, toast for the eggs for the
church, then she would ask and say,

"what you want this morning?" Oh
mama, toast and milk, you know

things like that you know. But the little
old boy he couldn't talk good,

so she asked him say "what you want son"?
Said "sa-sa-a I want-t

t-t-t-" She said "Hush". Say "I tell you what to
do. You just hush, I just

go bring you what I bring the rest of 'em,
cause one of these days I'm

gonna learn you how to talk."



She goin' back and she fixes, the next morning same thing. "So what

would you children want this morning?" "Butter 'n toast mama." Get

around to the little old boy, say "What you want"? He say, "bu-bu-bu-

bu-bu-bu..." she say "Lord, have mercy," that's what mama said and

she
walked away, say "wonder what's wrong with my child?"



He heard her.
But you know the little boy couldn't do no better. So

after he'd find out
that mama couldn't understand him, and he couldn't

understand the way his
mama was doin' him, he packed up his little

flower sack, and he decide
that he would leave. 



So when he left, on his way, he run up on a
old rollin' mill, what they

call Mister Charlie's. So he walked up to
mister Charlie, mister Charlie

was workin' round in his rose bushes 'n
things... so he taps him: "mi-mi-mi..." say "Mister!" But he didn't know his
name that time. The man-acapo