Born in Forest, Mississippi and living and working in throughout the South and Midwest as a migrant worker for a time, he and his family returned to Mississippi in 1926. He sang gospel, then began his career as a blues singer around Clarksdale, Mississippi. He visited Chicago as member of the Harmonizing Four in 1939 and stayed there to work as a solo musician, but barely made a living as a street singer. Record producer Lester Melrose allegedly found him while he was living in a packing crate, introduced him to Tampa Red and signed him to a contract with RCA Victor's Bluebird label.
He recorded with RCA in the late 1940s and with Ace Records, Checker Records and Trumpet Records in the early 1950s and toured throughout the country, specifically Black establishments in the South, with Sonny Boy Williamson II and Elmore James. He also recorded under the names Elmer James and Percy Lee Crudup.
Crudup stopped recording in the 1950s, however, after further battles over royalties. He returned to recording with Fire Records and Delmark Records and touring in the 1960s, sometimes labeled "The Father of Rock and Roll", a title which he accepted with some bemusement. Throughout this time Crudup worked as a laborer to augment the small wages he received as a singer and non-existent royalties. Crudup returned to Mississippi after a dispute with Melrose over royalties, then went into bootlegging, and later moved to Virginia where he had lived and worked as a musician and laborer. In the early 1970's, two local Virginia activists, Celia Santiago and Margaret Carter, both assisted him in attempting to gain Royalties he felt he were due, to little gain.
From the mid 60's Crudup returned to bootlegging and working as an agricultural laborer, chiefly in Virginia, where he lived with his family including three sons and several of his own siblings. On the Eastern Shore of Virginia, while he lived in relative poverty as a field laborer, he occasionally sang and supplied moonshine to a number of drinking establishments, including one called the Dew Drop Inn, in Accomack County for some time prior to his eventual death, due to complications from heart disease and diabetes. (There was some confusion as to his actual date of death because of his use of several names, including those of his siblings.) He passed away in the Nassawadox hospital in Northampton County, Virginia, also on the Eastern Shore in 1976.
I'm Gonna Dig Myself a Hole
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Move my baby down in the ground
I might dig myself a hole
Move my baby down in the ground
You know when I come out
There won't be no wars around
Well, I got my white canary, my class card, too
Might dig myself a hole
Move my baby down in the ground
You know when I come out
There won't be no wars around
Yeah!
Well, they take me to the river front, cross the deep blue sea
My baby begin to wonder what in the world become of me
Dig myself a hole
Move my baby down in the ground
You know when I come out
There won't be no wars around
I'm might-a leave my baby all pulled up and crying
You know that's the reason why I 'm really gonna change my mind
Dig myself a hole
Move my baby down in the ground
You know when I come out
There won't be no wars around
Well, I ain't got no one to love me, all I got is gone
My baby leavin' me and I'm leavin' up my home
I might dig myself a hole
Move my baby down in the ground
You know when I come up
There won't be no wars around
The lyrics of "I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole" speak of a man's desperation in the face of heartbreak. The thought of losing his lover causes him to contemplate some extreme measures, including digging a hole and burying himself and his lover so that there would be no war or conflict around them. He feels so alone, with no one left to love him, and he's willing to go to great lengths to keep his lover by his side.
The line about having a "white canary" and a "class card" hints at his aspirations and perhaps a sense of upward mobility, but with his lover gone, he feels lost and unsure of what to do with his life. The desperation and self-destructive thoughts in the song seems to be born out of a deep-seated sense of hopelessness and despair over a love lost.
Throughout the song, the singer's thoughts oscillate between wanting to bury himself and his lover and wanting to change his mind and not go through with it. The song ends with him hoping that someday things will get better, and there won't be any wars around.
Overall, the lyrics of "I'm Gonna Dig Myself A Hole" capture the profound sense of loss, desperation, and despair that often come with a broken heart.
Line by Line Meaning
I might dig myself a hole
I am contemplating burying myself.
Move my baby down in the ground
If I dig a hole, I'll also move my partner's body to the grave.
You know when I come out
There won't be no wars around
I believe that burying myself will bring peace to everyone around me.
Well, I got my white canary, my class card, too
My baby's wondering Lord now what am I to do
I have nothing else but my possesssions; my partner is worried about the situation.
Well, they take me to the river front, cross the deep blue sea
My baby begin to wonder what in the world become of me
My partner is anxious about me leaving town and never returning.
I'm might-a leave my baby all pulled up and crying
You know that's the reason why I 'm really gonna change my mind
The thought of leaving my partner alone and upset makes me reconsider my plan to bury myself.
Well, I ain't got no one to love me, all I got is gone
My baby leavin' me and I'm leavin' up my home
I feel alone and abandoned after my partner leaves me, and I plan to leave my empty home behind.
Contributed by Aaliyah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@That_50s_Guy
I'm not even joking when I say this, but I was listening to this song on max volume on my speaker while speeding through some backroads, and right whenever the brat dropped a Georgia highway patrolman pulled out from behind an abandoned farmhouse and lit me up. Lucky for me, he was one of those cool old cops, he said he let me off with a warning because he did the same shit to the same music when he was my age. I will now forever tie that memory to this song.
@dreadedpatrick9876
that's ironic lol. you dug yourself a hole (in the law), luckily the cop was cool
@Talwyn22
The best of the playlist IMHO, just an awesome rockin' blues tune and my favourite when roaming the wastelands. Thanks for posting it up plus all the others as well!
@dragon53777
Talwyn22 It's damn good.
@FrankWolfeUDL
It's so good because it sounds chipper but it's about some pretty grim shit
perfect for a great fallout game like New Vegas!
@howlingsandy
Re: the lyrics, it's not "white canary," it's "QUESTIONARY" (old patois for draft notice) . I played drums with Arthur (the true father of Rock & Roll, a very cool and wonderful guy, not even inducted into the Rock Hall as influence, though he was admittedly Elvis Presley's greatest) and corresponded with him, took a few nice portraits of him in 1969. In fact, the album I play harp on and wrote songs for Mike Wilhelm is titled "Mean Ol' Frisco" (we cover Arthur's classic song on it, too) SGS
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