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.
My Baby Left Me
Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Never said a word.
Was it something I done,
Something that she heard?
My baby left me,
My baby left me.
My baby even left me,
Never said a word.
Wring my hands and cry.
I hate to lose that woman,
Hate to say goodbye.
You know she left me,
Yes, she left me.
My baby even left me,
Never said a word.
Baby, one of these mornings,
Lord, it won't be long,
You'll look for me and,
Baby, and daddy he'll be gone.
You know you left me,
You know you left me.
My baby even left me,
Never said a word.
Now, I stand at my window,
Wring my hands and moan.
All I know is that
The one I love is gone.
My baby left me,
You know she left me.
My baby even left me,
Never said a word.
The lyrics of Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's song My Baby Left Me narrate the story of a man whose lover left him abruptly without giving any reason or saying a word. The singer is filled with remorse as he contemplates what could have led his partner to leave him. He wonders if it was something that he did or something that she heard that caused her to leave him. The singer is heartbroken over the sudden breakup and spends most of his time crying and wringing his hands. He hates to lose his woman and finds it hard to say goodbye.
The chorus repeats the line, "My baby left me, never said a word," emphasizing the sudden and silent nature of the breakup. In the second verse, the singer sings that one morning his lover will look for him, but he won't be there as he will have left. This is an indication that he is planning to move on from the breakup, and that he cannot wait for his lover to come back. The final verse repeats the earlier sentiments of heartbreak as the singer confesses that all he knows is that the one he loves is gone.
The lyrics of My Baby Left Me are simple and straightforward, but they are also quite emotional and relatable. The song speaks to anyone who has ever experienced the pain of a sudden and unexplained breakup.
Line by Line Meaning
Yes my baby left me,
My significant other left me.
Never said a word.
They did not indicate why they were leaving and did not give a reason.
Was it something I done,
Is there something that I did wrong that caused them to leave?
Something that she heard?
Did my significant other hear something about me that made them leave?
My baby left me,
My significant other left me.
My baby even left me,
Even worse, my significant other left me without any explanation.
Now I stand at my window,
I am standing by the window, reflecting on what happened.
Wring my hands and cry.
I am wringing my hands and crying due to the pain caused by the departure of my significant other.
I hate to lose that woman,
I do not want to lose my significant other, who is a woman.
Hate to say goodbye.
It hurts to say goodbye to someone you care about.
You know she left me,
You understand that my significant other left me.
Baby one of these mornings,
In the future, at some mornings.
Lord it won't be long,
It won't be a long time before.
You'll look for me and,
You will search for me and find me.
Baby and daddy he'll be gone.
I will be gone, and you will not be able to find me.
You know you left me,
You know that you left me, causing me much pain.
Now, I stand at my window,
I am standing by the window, reflecting on what happened.
Wring my hands and moan.
I am wringing my hands and moaning due to the pain caused by the departure of my significant other.
All I know is that
The only thing I am aware of is that...
The one I love is gone.
The person I love has disappeared.
My baby left me,
My significant other left me.
You know she left me.
You understand that my significant other left me.
My baby even left me,
Even worse, my significant other left me without any explanation.
Never said a word.
They did not indicate why they were leaving and did not give a reason.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ARTHUR CRUDUP
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind