Perhaps best known for his distinct yodelling, he charted more than seventy singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980, including the Number One hits 'I'm Movin' On' and 'I Don't Hurt Anymore'. Performing in lavish and colourful sequin-studded suits, Snow had a career covering six decades during which he sold more than 80 million albums, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1979.
THERE IS A HANK SNOW MUSEUM CLOSE TO BROOKLYN IN LIVERPOOL, NOVA SCOTIA, APPROPRIATELY, IT IS HOUSED IN AN ABANDONED TRAIN STATION. VERY WELL DONE
I reckon Hank Snow was better known for his distinctive self taught guitar style. Hank was influenced by the famous Rail road blues singer Jimmie Rodgers and though Hank did copy Rodgers style in his early days, including the "blue yodel" he later abandoned this and developed his own gritty style of singing. His guitar playing was so good he once cut a duet album of guitar music with the late Chet Atkins, master country Guitarist and music producer for RCA Victor. Hank was with RCA Victor label for almost 50 years and towards the end of his waning career RCA dropped him, just before he would have celebrated his half century with that label-always thought that was a bit mean of them.. Hank Snow and his Rainbow ranch boys, with Chubby Hayes on fiddle gave really great live concerts and the singing and playing they did was superlative and sounded as good as, if not equal to their recorded works.
Southern Cannonball
Hank Snow Lyrics
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We didn't agree at all
There was always something wrong
With the Southern Cannon Ball.
[Chorus]
Odle ayee adle eedle
Ayee odle eedle ayee.
I once loved a maiden
She was fair and tall
Her father was the engineer
On the Southern Cannon Ball.
She promised she would wed me
In the merry month of June
And go to the magic islands
To spend our honeymoon.
At last my dreams were shattered
When she put me off with a stall
She said the whistle was broken
On the Southern Cannon Ball.
I loved this girl sincerely
So I fixed the whistle back
The next thing she told me
Was, "The caboose is off the track."
For days and nights I labored
To get it back with the train
All was ready for the "hop-off"
When, the bell refused to ring.
I fixed the bell in a jiffy
And called for Preacher Dunn
Who married us in a boxcar
But the train refused to run.
The lyrics of Hank Snow's "Southern Cannonball" tells a story of a man who worked for the rail road, but had to quit because he could not stand the flaws of the train that he worked in. The Southern Cannon Ball was always having something wrong with it, which made it difficult for the man to work efficiently. Despite hating his job, he was in love with a woman who was the daughter of the train's engineer. The man and the woman had plans of getting married and spending their honeymoon on some magical islands. However, things did not go as planned. The woman broke off the engagement because she claimed that the whistle was broken on the Southern Cannon Ball.
Determined to make things right with the woman he loved, the man fixed the whistle himself, but there was another problem. The caboose was off the track, and it took him days and nights of hard work to fix it. Finally, after fixing the caboose, the bell of the train stopped ringing. He quickly fixed the bell and called Preacher Dunn to marry him and his lover in a boxcar. Unfortunately, it appeared as though fate was against them once again as the train refused to run.
Line by Line Meaning
I had to quit rail roadin'
I had to leave my job as a railroad worker
We didn't agree at all
I had disagreements with the Southern Cannon Ball train
There was always something wrong
The train was always having issues
With the Southern Cannon Ball
The specific train I had trouble with was the Southern Cannon Ball
I once loved a maiden
I was once in love with a woman
She was fair and tall
She was beautiful and tall
Her father was the engineer
Her dad worked as the engineer on the same train I had trouble with
On the Southern Cannon Ball.
The train was, once again, the Southern Cannon Ball.
She promised she would wed me
She said she would marry me
In the merry month of June
She said we would get married in June
And go to the magic islands
We would go on our honeymoon to a magical place
To spend our honeymoon.
That magical place would be where we spent our honeymoon.
At last my dreams were shattered
My dreams were crushed
When she put me off with a stall
When she avoided marrying me by making excuses
She said the whistle was broken
She said the train's whistle was broken
On the Southern Cannon Ball.
And, once again, it was specifically the Southern Cannon Ball.
I loved this girl sincerely
I truly and deeply loved her
So I fixed the whistle back
I repaired the train whistle
The next thing she told me
She then said something even worse
Was, "The caboose is off the track."
She told me that the train's caboose had derailed.
For days and nights I labored
I worked tirelessly for multiple days and nights
To get it back with the train
To get the caboose back onto the train track
All was ready for the "hop-off"
Everything was ready for us to begin our journey
When, the bell refused to ring.
But then the train bell wouldn't work.
I fixed the bell in a jiffy
I repaired the bell quickly
And called for Preacher Dunn
I called for a preacher to marry us
Who married us in a boxcar
We got married in a boxcar on the train
But the train refused to run.
Unfortunately, the train still wouldn't go.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JIMMIE RODGERS, RAYMOND E. HALL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@danielboone3770
LOVE this song!!
@macmac8249
Haven’t heard this song in 45+ years and it came to mind today, 13 November ‘21. Just kind of rang a bell with me…..thanks for posting this….Mac
@coreypage2851
WOHO!