Lomax was son of pioneering musicologist and folklorist John Lomax, with whom he started his career by recording songs sung by prisoners in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. He attended The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut, and then went on to earn a degree in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin and worked on the oral history project for the Library of Congress. To some, he is best known for his theory of cantometrics.
Lomax worked with his father on the Archive of Folk Culture, a collection of more than ten thousand recordings for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress.
Lomax assembled a highly regarded treasure trove of American and international culture. He spent a lifetime collecting folk music from around the world, particularly from the American South. He also recorded substantial interviews with many musicians, including Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, and Jeannie Robertson. He produced radio shows, had a regular television series, and played an important role in both the American and British Folk revivals of the 1950s.
He recorded Irish traditional musicians including some of the songs in English and Irish of Elizabeth Cronin in 1951.
His survey of Italian folk music with Diego Carpitella, conducted in 1953 and 1954, helped capture a snapshot of a multitude of important traditional folk styles shortly before they disappeared. The pair amassed one of the most representative folk song collections of any culture. From Lomax's Spanish and Italian recordings emerged one of the first theories explaining the types of folk singing that emerge in particular areas, a theory that incorporates work style, the environment, and the degrees of social and sexual freedom.
Achievements
Lomax won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award in 1993 for his book The Land Where the Blues Began, the story of the origins of Blues music. Lomax also received a posthumous Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in 2003.
Tangle Eye Blues
Alan Lomax Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well it must have been the devil that fooled me here
I′m all down and out
Lord if I ever get back home, I'll never do wrong
Well if I can just make it home I won′t do wrong no more
Lord I won't do wrong no more
"Daddy please don't go"
Lord I′ll be back home soon
Lord I′ll be home one day 'fore long - just wait for me
Lord I′ve been here rolling for this day so long
Lord I'm all down and out...
My friends won′t come see lord what's done happened to me
Lord if I′d listened to what my dear old mother said
Well she's dead and gone
Oh, she's dead and gone
What am I gonna do now?
The lyrics to Alan Lomax's song Tangle Eye Blues are touching and heartbreaking, as they convey a theme of homesickness and regret. The singer expresses his longing to return home and his regret at having left in the first place. The first lines of the song, "Well I wonder will I ever get back home," set the tone for the rest of the piece. The singer is lost, both physically and emotionally, and he doesn't know if he will ever find his way back to the life he left behind.
The second line of the song, "Well it must have been the devil that fooled me here," is an interesting line as it suggests that the singer may have been tricked into leaving home or into making choices that have led him to this difficult place in his life. He then goes on to express his sorrow at leaving his loved ones behind and how he wishes to return to them. The lines "Lord I left Mae-Willie and the baby in the courthouse crying: 'Daddy please don't go'" are especially poignant, as they convey the pain and desperation of his family left behind.
As the song continues, the singer reflects on his mistakes and how he wishes he had listened to the advice of his mother. But it's too late now, as she has passed away. Throughout the song, the singer's regret and despair are palpable, and the listener can feel his longing to return home and make things right.
Line by Line Meaning
Well I wonder will I ever get back home
I am unsure if I will ever return to my home
Well it must have been the devil that fooled me here
I believe it was the devil who tricked me into being here
I′m all down and out
I feel hopeless and defeated
Lord if I ever get back home, I'll never do wrong
If I return home, I swear to never do anything wrong again
Well if I can just make it home I won′t do wrong no more
If I can manage to reach home, I will not repeat my mistakes
Lord I won't do wrong no more
I promise to never do anything bad ever again
Lord I left Mae-Willie and the baby in the courthouse crying:
"Daddy please don't go"
I left Mae-Willie and our baby in the courthouse, where they were crying and begging me not to leave
Lord I′ll be back home soon
I will return home shortly, my lord
Lord I′ll be home one day 'fore long - just wait for me
I will be home soon, just wait for me a little longer, my lord
Lord I′ve been here rolling for this day so long
I have been struggling for a long time to reach this day
Lord I'm all down and out...
I am filled with sorrow and despair
My friends won′t come see lord what's done happened to me
My friends refuse to visit me because of what I have done
Lord if I′d listened to what my dear old mother said
If only I had heeded the advice of my beloved mother
Well she's dead and gone
Sadly, my mother has passed away
Oh, she's dead and gone
Tragically, my mother is no more
What am I gonna do now?
I am at a loss on what to do next
Writer(s): Alan Lomax
Contributed by Mia M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.