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(Howard Washington Odum wrote this song in 1905. Ledbelly preformed it for the Lomax Bros in 1934 and they only assumed ledbelly wrote it. Ledbelly had changed and/or added lyrics from other songs to Midnight Special, but did not write it himself.) Huddie Ledbetter - (Leadbelly)
The Midnight Special was a train that each night passed the prison in Sugarland, Texas, and became a symbol or metaphor for freedom, for going away from Sugarland. Leadbelly once said that it was considered good luck to have a cell located so that the headlight from that train would shine in as the train passed. (Sam Hinton, rec.music.folk, 18 Sep)
Midnight Special would be a worksong used in the prison farms in the southern U.S. while picking cotton or chopping cane. Not a real train like Shorty George but the prisoner's physical symbol of freedom (at nighttime from work or daytime from prison) and the wish to ride the rails towards anywhere that would take them from their life in hell (or to end it all by being under the wheels of the same train). On the flip side it could also be looked at or heard as, that 'Lonesome Whistle' that's not calling them. [...] Some versions talk of Bud Russell. Bud was the transfer man in Texas Prison System from 1908-1952 handling more than 115,000 prisoners in Black Annie, the truck that took men from the county jail after sentencing to prison or in Black Betty, the truck that would transfer men from one prison to another ("yonder come Bud Russell, how in the world do you know, I can tell him by his wagon and the chains he wore"). Most mention Rosie or Thelma who sometimes won't visit ("since last July") and sometimes comes in armed with release papers ("whopping, hollering & a crying"). (BarryFinn, rec.music.folk, 18 Sep)
Midnight Special is a traditional folk song, possibly originating among southern prisoners. Multiple artists and bands have covered it, including Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Odetta, The Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, The Beatles, Burl Ives, Big Joe Turner, and Bobby Darin.
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