The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".
Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas, and as a child was immersed in the sounds of the blues. He developed a deep appreciation for this music at the age of 8, when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas. That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him".[citation needed] He went on to learn from his older (distant) cousin, the country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander. (Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.) Hopkins began accompanying Jefferson on guitar at informal church gatherings. Jefferson reputedly never let anyone play with him except young Hopkins, and Hopkins learned much from Jefferson at these gatherings.
Hopkins's style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle technique often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, and percussion at the same time. He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single-note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.
Much of Hopkins's music follows the standard 12-bar blues template, but his phrasing was free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer.[citation needed] Lyrically, his songs expressed the problems of life in the segregated South, bad luck in love and other subjects common in the blues idiom. He dealt with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres, and he was known for his humorous introductions to songs.
Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His obituary in the New York Times described him as "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players.".
Long Time
Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I come all the way from Texas just to shake glad hands with you
Yes, but when I seed in your smiling face
I didn't know just what to do
I ought to been knowing these things for a great long time
I ought to been knowing these things for a great long time
You know it take me for quite awhile
Got to play it a minute
I'm gonna tell all my friends just as soon as I go back home
I'm gonna tell all my friends just as soon as I go back home
Know they all gonna get on
And wonder what is I been waiting on
The lyrics to Lightnin' Hopkins's song Long Time suggest that the singer has come from Texas to meet someone special, someone they hold in high esteem. They express their excitement and eagerness to shake hands with this person, which they have travelled a long distance to do. However, upon seeing this person's smiling face, they become overwhelmed and uncertain of what to do next. The singer acknowledges that they should have known how they would feel when meeting this person for a long time but didn't fully comprehend the situation until now.
In the second verse, the singer seems to have come to terms with their emotions and declares that they will tell all their friends about the encounter when they return home. The singer suggests that their friends will be just as excited and wonder why they had been waiting so long to make the journey. Overall, the lyrics seem to express genuine admiration and respect for someone who the singer considers to be important and worthy of the effort it took to get there.
Line by Line Meaning
I come all the way from Texas just to shake glad hands with you
I traveled a great distance just to meet and greet you
Yes, but when I seed in your smiling face
I didn't know just what to do
Although I was happy to see you, I felt a little shy and unsure
I ought to been knowing these things for a great long time
I should have been aware of these things for a long time
You know it take me for quite awhile
Before I made it up in my mind
It took me a while to come to a decision
Got to play it a minute
I need some time to figure things out
I'm gonna tell all my friends just as soon as I go back home
I plan on informing all of my friends as soon as I return home
Know they all gonna get on
And wonder what is I been waiting on
They will all be curious why I took so long to share this news with them
Contributed by Katherine F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
RichardFeynmanRules
One of the towering GREATS of the blues! If you don't know Lightnin', you don't know the blues!