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.".
Stool Pigeon Blues
Lightnin' Hopkins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm gonna send you another prayer
This is taped
Yes, till tomorrow
This black man gonna send you another prayer
You know, sometimes I begin to wonder
What in the world am I doin' over here?
You don't love me no more, baby
You don't love me no more, baby
Po' Lightnin' can't see the reason why
You know, I never told you no story
If you don't understand that
And I never have told you a lie
Yeah, the birds was singin'
And the wind begin to blow
Yeah, the birds was singin'
You know, the wind begin to blow
You know when a pigeon joined in and went to singin'
I never heard such a sweet voice before
You know a pigeon mean more than one that fly in the air
It can be a stool pigeon
You know that's--you know what that is?
One that sit on a stool and pimp to the law
That is a pigeon
I want everybody understand me so they know
I just done give up and I ain't gonna try
To live they life no more
No, no more
You know, I ain't gonna find no heaven here
Now, no place on earth I go
Lightnin' Hopkins's song Stool Pigeon Blues is a lamentation about lost love and feeling out of place. The song opens with Lightnin' Hopkins asking God for his life to continue till the next day so he can send another prayer in the hope of redeeming his relationship with his lover. Lightnin' Hopkins's struggle to understand why his lover is no longer with him is brought to the surface in the following lines when he wonders what he is doing in that place. He feels abandoned and lost. The line "You don't love me no more, baby, and I can't see the reason why" is the refrain of this song, and with each repetition of the line, Hopkins's frustration and pain seem to increase.
Line by Line Meaning
Good Lord, just let me live till tomorrow
I hope to live through the night
I'm gonna send you another prayer
I'll send my thoughts of hope and faith to you
Yes, till tomorrow
I hope to live till morning
This black man gonna send you another prayer
I, a black man, will send you thoughts of hope and faith
You know, sometimes I begin to wonder
I sometimes think about
What in the world am I doin' over here?
Why am I in this situation?
You don't love me no more, baby
You no longer have love for me
And I can't see the reason why
I don't understand why
Po' Lightnin' can't see the reason why
Poor Lightnin' can't understand why
You know, I never told you no story
I've always been truthful to you
If you don't understand that
If you don't comprehend that
And I never have told you a lie
I've always been honest with you
Yeah, the birds was singin'
The birds were singing
And the wind begin to blow
The wind started blowing
You know when a pigeon joined in and went to singin'
A pigeon started singing along
I never heard such a sweet voice before
I've never heard a nicer voice
You know a pigeon mean more than one that fly in the air
A pigeon can have more significance than those flying in the air
It can be a stool pigeon
It can act as a spy for law enforcement
You know that's--you know what that is?
Do you understand what that means?
One that sit on a stool and pimp to the law
A person who sits and informs law enforcement
That is a pigeon
That's what a stool pigeon is
I want everybody understand me so they know
I want everyone to understand me
I just done give up and I ain't gonna try
I've given up and won't make the effort
To live they life no more
To live someone else's life
No, no more
Definitely not anymore
You know, I ain't gonna find no heaven here
I won't find happiness in this place
Now, no place on earth I go
Regardless of where I go
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: SAM HOPKINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fred Barkley
where would today's Music be without these Guys?
Shirley Wilson
love your your music mrllighten hoppen may god be with your family
bmxmagponthu
will music ever come back?
Mark M
Nope. That's why it's important for us to keep this kind of music going.
QUIETSTORM
I see me in a 1968 Cadillac Coupe Deville, black and windows blacked out a bottle of whiskey and a cigarette riding in the evening headed somewhere out in the Midwest without a care and my sunglasses on when I listen the blues.
Prince Johnson
At least there is three of us.
Robert Hoek
nowhere