She first appeared on stage in Columbus in "A Bunch of Blackberries" at the age of 14. She then joined a traveling vaudeville troupe, the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. After hearing a blues song at a theater in St. Louis sung by a local girl in 1902, she started performing in a blues style. She claimed at that time that she was the one who coined the name "blues" for the style that she specialized in. Musicians and singers who had sang and played in the style said there were no such origins and that the blues had always been. A pioneer in the style, Bunk Johnson said that in the 1880s the blues had already been developed.
She married fellow vaudeville singer William 'Pa' Rainey in 1904, changing her name to Ma Rainey. The pair toured with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels as Rainey & Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues, singing a mix of blues and popular songs. In 1912, she took the young Bessie Smith into the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, trained her, and worked with her until Smith left in 1915.
Also known, though less discussed, is the fact that she was bisexual. Rainey never shied away from her feelings in her music, as is apparent in the lyrics of "Prove It On Me":
"Went out last night with a crowd of my friends,
They must have been women, 'cause I don't like no men.
Wear my clothes just like a fan, Talk to gals just like any old man
'Cause they say I do it, ain't nobody caught me, Sure got to prove it on me."
Rainey was outspoken on women's issues and a role model for future women entertainers who took control of their own careers.
Ma Rainey was already a veteran performer with decades of touring with African-American shows in the U.S. Southern States when she made her first recordings in 1923. Rainey signed with Paramount Records and, between 1923 and 1928, she recorded 100 songs, sometimes accompanied such jazz notables as Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, Fletcher Henderson and others. Rainey was extremely popular among southern blacks in the 1920s, but the Great Depression and changing tastes ended her career by 1933, when she retired.
Rainey died of a heart attack in 1939.
The 1982 August Wilson play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was based on her.
See See Rider
Ma Rainey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Made me love you, now your gal has come
You made me love you, now your gal has come
I'm goin' away, baby, I won't be back till fall, Lord, Lord, Lord
Goin' away, baby, won't be back till fall
If I find me a good man, won't be back at all
Shoot my man, and catch a cannonball
If he won't have me, he won't have no gal at all
See See Rider, where did you stay last night? Lord, Lord, Lord
Your shoes ain't buttoned and your clothes don't fit you right
You didn't come home till the sun was shining bright
The lyrics to Ma Rainey's "See See Rider Blues" are an expression of a broken-hearted woman who has fallen in love with a man who has gone back to his former lover. She blames the Lord for making her fall in love with him and feels betrayed by him. She warns that she is going away, and if she finds another man, she would never come back. The idea of leaving is reiterated throughout the song, and it highlights the heartbreak she feels.
The lyrics also indicate that the woman is ready to take matters into her own hands. She vows to buy a pistol and shoot the man who broke her heart. She seems to be angry and hurt and prepared to do anything to exact revenge on the man who left her. She would rather shoot him than have him be with another woman. The lyrics depict a strong and independent woman who is not afraid to take control of her situation, whether it means leaving or seeking revenge.
Overall, Ma Rainey's "See See Rider Blues" is a powerful ode to heartbreak, betrayal, and female empowerment. It portrays a woman's raw emotions in response to being left behind by a man she loves. The song also captures the power dynamics of relationships and how one person's decision can leave the other feeling like they have lost control over their own lives.
Line by Line Meaning
see what you have done, Lord, Lord, Lord
You caused me to fall in love with you and now your girlfriend has replaced me.
Made me love you, now your gal has come
I fell in love with you but now you have found another.
I'm goin' away, baby, I won't be back till fall, Lord, Lord, Lord
I am leaving and will not return until the fall season.
Goin' away, baby, won't be back till fall
I am leaving and won't be back anytime soon.
If I find me a good man, won't be back at all
If I find a good man, I won't be returning.
I'm gonna buy me a pistol, just as long as I am tall, Lord, Lord, Lord
I am going to purchase a pistol that is as tall as I am.
Shoot my man, and catch a cannonball
I will shoot my man and leave as fast as a cannonball.
If he won't have me, he won't have no gal at all
If he doesn't want to be with me, he won't be with anyone else either.
See See Rider, where did you stay last night? Lord, Lord, Lord
Where were you last night, See See Rider?
Your shoes ain't buttoned and your clothes don't fit you right
Your appearance is not put together, it's sloppy.
You didn't come home till the sun was shining bright
You stayed out all night and didn't come home until morning.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: MA RAINEY, DAVID ROWBERRY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel Kubacki
Wow this song goes back to the 20's cool. Never heard this version before. I am use to the Chuck Willis version from 1957. Thanks for posting this song. A Clean 78.
The Brazilian Atlantis
We often hear a garbled version of an interview Ma Rainey once gave in Nashville and are informed that she heard blues music in Missouri in 1902.
In 1939 or 1940 Ma Rainey's brother Thomas Pridgett Jr. wrote: "Her first appearance on the stage was at the Springer Opera House, Columbus, Ga., with the 'Bunch Of Blackberries,' a small show that was gotten up among the local talent of Columbus. Shortly after this appearance, Will Rainey, better known as 'Pa' Rainey, wooed and married her, after which they traveled with a road show called 'Rabbit Foot Minstrels.'" Given that the Raineys married on February 2, 1904, her story about hearing... anything in Missouri in 1902 was apparently a chronological/geographical exaggeration, not surprising if we take into account her claim in the same interview that she was the person who named blues music blues music. (Others who were not reliable sources of information but have been embraced by some writers on early blues anyway are John Jacob Niles, Jelly Roll Morton, and Bill Broonzy.)
W.C. Handy recalled, probably accurately, that he heard "The Bully" in about 1892. If you can trace a black folk song such as "John Henry, ""Duncan And Brady" or "John Hardy" to about 1885-1894, certainly do not expect it to be in 12-bar form. Unless it's "The Bully." But there was nothing strange during about 1895-1904 about a folk song being in 12-bar form. ("Delia" was about a 1900 murder, "Fightin' In The War With Spain" was about the Spanish-American war, "Stagger Lee" was about an 1895 murder, "Railroad Bill" was about a guy killed in 1897, "Frankie" 1899, etc., and the "Chilly Winds"/"Going..." songs apparently date from that era too.) AFAIK there is no credible evidence of any of those songs having the word "blues" in them as of 1904 (e.g. none of the Charles Peabody Mississippi songs of 1901-1902 have that), whereas we have at least four independent sources by 1909 (Howard Odum, a Mr. Aldrich providing lyrics he'd heard to E.C. Perrow, Antonio Maggio learning a number from a black guitarist, and Robert Hoffmann subtitling a tune the "Alabama Blues"). But in Perrow and Odum combined only about two percent of the black folk songs had the word "blues" in them. So "blues" songs got popular roughly 1908-1910, initially among black folk musicians, long after 12-bar songs more generally were popular in black folk music (and 12-bar songs were around, although not particularly popular, in white and black folk music before 1890).
Edward Sharp
Hard to believe but this was first recorded in Chicago in 1924 during the acoustical era and yet the song was still copyright protected until January, 2020. Actually there were several popular and historically important songs created in Chicago during 1924 including the first recognized boogie woogie song, Chicago Stomp. For more information read Chicago's Music Industry
Devil Dog
Excellent, I love the Lou Rawls/Les McCann version also.
ccrider895
Awesome! Thanks for posting.
joe ok
I love LaVern Baker's version and Chuck Willis's.... easy to see how this may have inspired them
See4ward
WoW!!! I can't even think of another word - Just WoW!! Thank you for posting!!
Eric Kesseler
The original meaning of the song was C.C. Rider which stood for Country Circuit rider which rode from town to town in the south, usually leaving a string of broken hearts.
The Brazilian Atlantis
That's a myth someone made up in about the '60s. There was a big family of folk blues with "look look mama/papa" or "see see mama" or "see see rider" or the like -- meaning look, look, mama/papa.
Martin Kasdan
My name is Marty. I’m a 68-year-old attorney and I live in Louisville Kentucky. I have been a fan of the blues since I was in high school. I just listened to “See See Rider” by Ma Rainey.