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.".
Smokes Like Lightning
Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Whoa, it smoke like lightnin'
Yeah, but shine like gold
Don't you hear me talking pretty baby
Smoke like lightnin'
Yeah, but shine like gold
Yeah, you know I see my little fair one
Lying there on a cooling bowl
Backed up to our door
Don't you hear me talking?
Soon one morning
Backed up to our door
Well, you know I could see my little baby
Lying there on a cooling bowl
Well, my baby died and left me
Laid her on a cooling bowl
Yes, she died and she left me
They laid her on a cooling bowl
Well, they said, Lightnin'
She's gone and left you now boy
You will never see her smiling face no more
Well, it was sad?
Well, I followed my baby, followed my baby
Down to her burying ground
Well, I followed my baby, followed her
Down to her burying ground
Yeah, it didn't hurt me so bad till I'd seen
Poor miss when they let her down
You know I done lost my little fair one
I guess the next thing will be me
I done lost my little fair one
I guess the next thing will be me
Whoa, I ain't dead, no boys
Po' Lightnin' sinking by degree
By degree
The first verse of Lightnin' Hopkins's song, Smokes Like Lightning, compares the smoke to the lightning that strikes suddenly and then disappears, but still has the power to catch people's eyes just like how Gold does. The singer seems to be talking to someone he is close with, asking them whether they can also hear the smoke as it dissipates, just as it catches their eyes. He says they both know that he can see his lover lying dead "on a cooling bowl," referring to the mortuary slab where the body is kept before burial. The second verse talks about the grief that the singer feels upon his lover's death. Lightnin' Hopkins sings about his lover's funeral, with a hearse being backed up to the door, and then about following her all the way to the burying ground. He says that watching her being lowered into the ground made him sad, indicating that the loss is deep and profound.
The last verse becomes a little more personal, saying that he has lost his fair one and that he is the next one up. He suggests that it is only a matter of time before he is also gone, and the listener can hear the resignation and fixedness in his voice as he talks about sinking slowly, "by degree." The song is filled with sorrow and grief, with the singer fully expressing his pain and the inevitability of death.
Line by Line Meaning
Whoa, it smoke like lightnin'
The smoke from a fire or explosion is similar to lightning in its intensity and power.
Yeah, but shine like gold
Although it has the same intensity as smoke, it looks beautiful like a golden color.
Don't you hear me talking pretty baby
I'm expressing my emotions about my lost loved one.
Smoke like lightnin'
The smoke from the explosion was intense.
Yeah, but shine like gold
Although it has the same intensity as smoke, it looks beautiful like a golden color.
Yeah, you know I see my little fair one
I can still see my beloved partner, even though they have passed away.
Lying there on a cooling bowl
Her body being prepared for burial.
Yes, I see the hearse one morning
I saw the hearse coming to take my loved one away.
Backed up to our door
They brought the hearse right up to our house to take her away.
Don't you hear me talking?
I'm trying to communicate my feelings about my lost loved one.
Soon one morning
In the near future.
Backed up to our door
They brought the hearse right up to our house.
Well, you know I could see my little baby
I can still see my loved one even though they have passed on.
Lying there on a cooling bowl
Her body being prepared for burial.
Well, my baby died and left me
My beloved partner passed away and left me alone.
Laid her on a cooling bowl
They prepared her body for burial.
Yes, she died and she left me
My beloved partner passed away and left me alone.
They laid her on a cooling bowl
Her body being prepared for burial.
Well, they said, Lightnin'
People were consoling me by acknowledging my grief.
She's gone and left you now boy
She passed away and left me alone.
You will never see her smiling face no more
I'll never see her face again because she's gone.
Well, it was sad?
It was a heartbreaking and sad experience.
Well, I followed my baby, followed my baby
I went behind her flatbed truck as they took her body to the burial site.
Down to her burying ground
We arrived at the cemetery.
Well, I followed my baby, followed her
I went behind her flatbed truck as they took her body to the burial site.
Down to her burying ground
We arrived at the cemetery.
Yeah, it didn't hurt me so bad till I'd seen
It didn't hurt as much until I saw them burying her body.
Poor miss when they let her down
It was sad to see her being lowered into the ground like that.
You know I done lost my little fair one
I have lost my beloved partner, and I feel so alone.
I guess the next thing will be me
I don't see any point in living without her around, so I will soon join her.
I done lost my little fair one
I have lost my beloved partner, and I feel so alone.
I guess the next thing will be me
I don't see any point in living without her around, so I will soon join her.
Whoa, I ain't dead, no boys
However, I am still alive.
Po' Lightnin' sinking by degree
I have to come to terms with the loss of my loved one gradually, and it's emotionally draining.
Contributed by Adalyn Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
ShyLow Productions
Play those blues lightin, boy! Play those bluuuuuuuues!
Nunya Beezwacks
Smokestack or smokes like?
Tastyy though either way