Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) was an American blues guitarist and vo… Read Full Bio ↴Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) was an American blues guitarist and vocalist. Fuller was born in July 10, 1907 in Wadesboro, North Carolina and died February 13, 1941 in Durham, North Carolina. He played a steel National resonator guitar.

As a boy Fuller learned to play the guitar and also learned from older singers the field hollers, country rags, and traditional songs and blues popular in poor, rural areas. It is reported that around 1926 he suffered from ulcerated eyes and became partially blind. His vision continued to deteriorate until 1928, when he was completely blind.

He started playing at informal gatherings and as he grew older, the opportunities for a blind black man being limited, he turned to getting what employment he could as a singer and entertainer at dives, street corners, house parties, and dances for pay.

He became well known enough that in 1935 he received an offer to record. Over a period of five years, Fuller made over 120 sides and his recordings appeared on several labels.

His style of singing was rough and direct, and his lyrics explicit and uninhibited as he drew from from every aspect of his experience as an underpriviledged person on the streets -- pawnshops, jailhouses, sickness, death -- with an honesty that lacked sentimentality. Although he was not sophisticated, his artistry as a folk singer lay in the honesty and integrity of his self-expression. His songs contained desire, love, jealousy, disappointment, menace and humor.[1]

Blind Boy Fuller was one of the most popular of the Piedmont blues artists that counted Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake amongst its number. He was so popular that when he died, his protégé Brownie McGhee reluctantly began a short lived career as Blind Boy Fuller No. 2 so that Columbia Records could cash in on his popularity. His song, 'Trucking My Blues Away', also gave America the famous saying 'Keep On Trucking'. He was often accompanied on harmonica by Sonny Terry.

Blind Boy Fuller died from a severe bladder infection in 1942, when he was only 33 years old. Blind Boy Fuller was an expressive vocalist and a masterful guitar player, best remembered for his uptempo ragtime hits "Rag Mama Rag," "Trucking My Blues Away," and "Step It Up and Go." At the same time he was capable of deeper material, and his versions of "Lost Lover Blues", "Rattlesnakin' Daddy" and "Mamie" are as deep as most Delta blues. Because of his popularity, he may have been overexposed on records, yet most of his songs remained close to tradition and much of his repertoire and style is kept alive by North Carolina and Virginia artists today.

The location of the final resting place of Blind Boy Fuller is Grove Hill Cemetery, located on private property in Durham, North Carolina. State records indicate that this was once an official cemetery, and Fuller's interment is recorded. The only remaining headstone is that of Mary Caston Langey.

Blind Boy Fuller has been recognized on two different plaques in the City of Durham. The North Carolina Division of Archives and History plaque is located a few miles north of Fuller's gravesite, along Fayetteville St. in Durham. The City of Durham officially recognized Fuller on July 16, 2001, and the commemorating plaque is located along the American Tobacco Trail, adjacent to the property where Fuller's unmarked grave is located (several hundred feet east of Fayetteville St.).

Weeping Willow
Blind Boy Fuller Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Lord, that weeping willow, and that mourning dove.
That weeping willow and that mourning dove.
I got a gal up the country, Lord, you know I sure do love.
Now, if you see my woman tell her I says hurry home (Aw shucks!)
You see my woman, tell her I says hurry home I ain't had no lovin' since my girl been gone.
Where it ain't no love mama ain't no gitt'n' along.
Where it ain't no love mama ain't no gitt'n' along.
My gal treats me so mean and dirty, sometime I don't know right from wrong.

Lord, I lied down last night, tried to take my rest.
I lied down last night, tried to take my rest (what happened, boy?)
You know my mind got to ramblin' just like wild gees in the west. Gwin'a buy me a bulldog, watch you whils' I sleep.
Gonna buy me a bulldog, watch you whils' I sleep.
Just to keep these men from making this early mornin' creep. Now, if you see my woman tell her I says hurry home.
You see my woman, tell her I says hurry home I ain't had no lovin' since my little girl been gone.
You gwine want my love, baby some lonesome day (yeah!).

You're gonna want my love, mama, some old lonesome day.
And it'll be too late, I'll be gone too far away.

Overall Meaning

Blind Boy Fuller's "Weeping Willow" is a blues tune that speaks about the pain of being separated from a loved one. The lyrics revolve around the image of a weeping willow and a mourning dove, which symbolize sorrow and loss. The singer of the song has a woman he loves who lives up in the country, and he implores anyone who might see her to tell her to hurry back to him. He sings about how difficult it is to live without love and how it makes life unbearable. He also hints at the possibility of infidelity in his relationship.

The song continues with the singer expressing his desire to purchase a bulldog to protect himself from other men while he sleeps. The final verse is a warning to his lover that she will regret leaving him and that he will not be around when she finally realizes her mistake. The lyrics are simple and straightforward, but they convey a raw emotion that is typical of blues music.

Line by Line Meaning

Lord, that weeping willow, and that mourning dove.
The singer is observing a weeping willow and a mourning dove.

I got a gal up the country, Lord, you know I sure do love.
The singer has a girlfriend who lives in the countryside and he loves her very much.

Now, if you see my woman tell her I says hurry home (Aw shucks!)
The singer wants someone to tell his girlfriend to hurry home because he misses her.

You see my woman, tell her I says hurry home I ain't had no lovin' since my girl been gone.
The singer is expressing his loneliness and desire for his girlfriend's return.

Where it ain't no love mama ain't no gitt'n' along.
The singer believes that without love, life is not worth living.

My gal treats me so mean and dirty, sometime I don't know right from wrong.
The singer's girlfriend sometimes mistreats him so badly that he becomes confused about what is right and wrong.

Lord, I lied down last night, tried to take my rest.
The singer tried to go to sleep last night.

You know my mind got to ramblin' just like wild gees in the west. Gwin'a buy me a bulldog, watch you whils' I sleep.
The singer's mind wandered like wild geese, so he plans to buy a bulldog to watch over him while he sleeps.

Just to keep these men from making this early mornin' creep.
The singer wants the bulldog to keep any men from creeping into his house in the early morning.

You gwine want my love, baby some lonesome day (yeah!).
The singer believes that his girlfriend will come to regret not loving him enough one day.

You're gonna want my love, mama, some old lonesome day.
The singer believes that his girlfriend will come to regret not loving him enough one day.

And it'll be too late, I'll be gone too far away.
When his girlfriend realizes her mistake, the singer will be too far gone to forgive her.

Writer(s): Paul Doherty, Allen Fulton

Contributed by Elizabeth N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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