Boggs was born in Norton, Virginia and began working in the coal mines of Appalachia at the age of twelve. At around this time, Boggs became interested in the banjo. As was the case of many musicians and performers of his era, Boggs learned to play the banjo watching and listening to family members and other performers, drawing additional influence from local African American musicians.
Boggs, while playing a traditional-style of play, did not play in the knock-down, sometimes called clawhammer or frailing style, instead employing a three-finger method that involved picking upwards on the strings of the banjo and permitted him to execute crisp single-note runs in a manner similar to that of a fingerstyle guitarist. Nevertheless, Boggs' style should not be confused with the bluegrass style of playing otherwise known as Scruggs style, made famous by Earl Scruggs, which also involves up-picking the banjo strings.
In 1920 Dock Boggs became influenced by blues tunes. He heard music played and sung by African-Americans while working in the coal mines and around the railroads of Appalachia. In 1927 he attended an audition in Bristol, Tennessee with the Brunswick record company. He was offered a contract to record with Brunswick and as a result travelled to New York where he recorded eight sides: "Sugar Baby," "Down Home Blues," "Country Blues," "Sammie Where Have You Been So Long," "Danville Girl," "Pretty Polly," "New Prisoner's Song" and "Hard Luck Blues." After these sessions, Boggs never recorded for Brunswick again.
By 1933, Boggs had given up hope of making a living as a musician. He hocked his banjo and did not play again until the early 1960s when he was re-discovered by Mike Seeger of the New Lost City Ramblers. As a result of his relationship with Seeger, Boggs enjoyed a renaissance of sorts during the Folk Revival, and recorded again.
Sugar Baby
Dock Boggs Lyrics
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All I can do is to seek peace with you
And I can't get along this a-way
Can't get along this a-way
All I can do, I've said all I can say
I'll send it to your mama next payday
Send you to your mama next payday.
I got no use for the red rockin' chair,
I've got no honey baby now
Got no sugar baby now
Who'll rock the cradle, who'll sing the song
Who'll rock the cradle when I'm gone
Who'll rock the cradle when I'm gone?
I'll rock the cradle, I'll sing the song
I'll rock the cradle when you gone.
It's all I can do
It's all I can say,
I will send you to your mama next payday
Laid her in the shade, give her every dime I made
What more could a poor boy do
What more could a poor boy do?
Oh Ive got no honey baby now
Got no sugar baby now
Said all I can say, I've done all I can do
And I cant make a living with you
Can't make a living with you
Dock Boggs's song Sugar Baby is a mournful and poignant expression of lost love and the emptiness that it brings. In the opening verse, Boggs reflects on his lack of a sugar baby, the term for a girlfriend or lover. He laments that all he can do is seek peace with the person he's addressing. The repetition of "Can't get along this a-way" emphasizes the desperation he feels without that person.
The second verse continues with Boggs expressing that he has exhausted all his efforts to win back his lover, and he now plans to send his message through her mother on payday. The refrain "Got no sugar baby now" serves to underscore the loss he feels. Boggs then sings about the lack of meaning in his life without his lover, represented in the next verse by the unused red rocking chair.
The song's sadness is tempered by the fourth and final verse, in which Boggs questions who will care for and sing to a baby when he's gone. In response, he declares that he will take up that role himself, an act of compassion and kindness that has no hope of ever being appreciated by the person he misses. The song ends with the repetition of "Can't make a living with you," a resigned acknowledgement that, without his sugar baby, he is unable to move forward with his life.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh I've got no sugar baby now
I don't have a sweetheart anymore
All I can do is to seek peace with you
All I can do now is try to make things right between us
And I can't get along this a-way
I can't carry on like this
Can't get along this a-way
Things can't continue the way they are
All I can do, I've said all I can say
I've run out of things to say and do
I'll send it to your mama next payday
I'll send you to your mother's house next time I get paid
Send you to your mama next payday.
I'll get rid of you by sending you away
I got no use for the red rockin' chair
I have no interest in sitting in the rocking chair
I've got no honey baby now
I don't have a lover anymore
Got no sugar baby now
I don't have a girlfriend anymore
Who'll rock the cradle, who'll sing the song
Who will take care of things when I'm not around?
Who'll rock the cradle when I'm gone
Who will take care of things when I'm no longer here?
Who'll rock the cradle when I'm gone?
Who will take care of my responsibilities when I'm dead?
I'll rock the cradle, I'll sing the song
I will take care of things while you're gone
I'll rock the cradle when you gone.
I will take care of your responsibilities when you're dead
It's all I can do
This is the best I can do
It's all I can say, I will send you to your mama next payday
I've said and done all I can, so I'll send you away next time I get paid
Laid her in the shade, give her every dime I made
I took care of her and gave her everything I had
What more could a poor boy do
What else could I have done as a poor man?
Said all I can say, I've done all I can do
I've exhausted all my efforts and words
And I cant make a living with you
I can't survive while being with you
Can't make a living with you
I can't earn a livelihood while being in this relationship
Contributed by Avery H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.