Long Gone
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong Lyrics

Pops, did you hear the story of Long John Dean?
Louis wants to share a story he's heard with his friend Pops.

Not yet drummer
Pops hasn't heard the story yet

A bold bank robber from Bowlin' Green
Long John Dean robbed a bank in Bowlin' Green

Was sent to the jail house yesterday
Long John was arrested and sent to jail recently

But late last night he made his getaway
Long John managed to escape from jail

[Chorus]
Refrain of the song

He was long gone from Kentucky
Long John had escaped the state of Kentucky

Long gone, ain't he lucky?
Louis reflects on how fortunate Long John is to have escaped imprisonment

Long gone, what I mean
Louis is emphasizing how far Long John got from his place of arrest

A long gone John from Bowlin' Green
Long John hailed from Bowlin' Green

Long John stood on the railroad tie
Long John waited by the railroad line

Waitin' for freight train to come by
Long John was waiting for a train to come

Freight train came by puffin' and flyin'
A freight train finally arrived, moving swiftly

Oughta seen long John grabbin' that blind
Long John stealthily hopped on the train

[Chorus]
Refrain of the song

They caught him in 'Frisco to seal his fate
Long John was caught in San Francisco, a major city, to guarantee he would go to prison

At San Quentin they jailed him one evening late
Long John was imprisoned at San Quentin for his crime

But out on the ocean John did escape
Long John escaped from prison while on a ship

'Cause the guards forgot to close the Golden Gate
The prison guards forgot to close the Golden Gate Bridge, letting Long John escape

[Chorus]
Refrain of the song

Well, they offered a reward to bring him back
A reward was put out to encourage someone to bring Long John back to prison

Even put bloodhounds on his track
Bloodhounds were used to sniff out Long John's whereabouts

Those doggone bloodhounds lost his scent
The bloodhounds lost track of Long John

Now nobody knows where John went
Long John's whereabouts are unknown

[Chorus]
Refrain of the song

A gang of men tried to capture Dean
A group of men tried to capture Long John Dean

So they chased him with a submarine
The gang chased Long John using a submarine

Dean jumped overboard and grabbed the submarine
Long John managed to grab onto the submarine to escape his pursuers

And made that gang catch a flyin' machine
Long John managed to trick his pursuers into following a plane, allowing him to escape

He's long gone from Kentucky
Long John has successfully fled Kentucky

A long gone, that boy's lucky
Louis emphasizes how lucky Long John is to have eluded the law

A long gone, what I mean
Louis is still emphasizing how far Long John has gotten

A long gone John from Bowlin' Green
Long John, from Bowlin' Green, has disappeared without a trace

He's long gone, I said, from Kentucky
Louis repeats that Long John has managed to flee Kentucky

Long gone, hmm, that boy's lucky
Louis remarks again how fortunate Long John is to have slipped away

Long gone; yeah, he's got nothing in the head
Louis implies that Long John may not be very intelligent even though he was crafty enough to elude the law

Long gone, long gone
The refrain of the song is repeated once more.