She was born Odetta Holmes in Birmingham, Alabama, grew up in Los Angeles, California, and studied music at Los Angeles City College. Having operatic training from the age of 13, her first professional experience was in musical theater, with a touring company of the musical Finian's Rainbow in 1949.
While on tour with Finian's Rainbow, Odetta "fell in with an enthusiastic group of young balladeers", and after 1951 concentrated on folksinging. She made her name by playing around the country: at the Blue Angel nightclub (New York City), the hungry i (San Francisco), and Tin Angel (San Francisco), where she and Larry Mohr recorded Odetta and Larry in 1954, for Fantasy Records.
A solo career followed, with Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues (1956) and a live album recorded at the Gate of Horn in Chicago in 1957. Harry Belafonte included her in a nationwide television special in 1959, and Odetta Sings Folk Songs was one of 1963's best-selling folk albums.
Odetta was active in the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. called her "the queen of American folk music". Bob Dylan and Joan Baez were among many folk musicians who credited Odetta with being a major influence on their work.
Having previous acting experience, Odetta also acted in several films, notably the film of William Faulkner's Sanctuary (1961) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974).
On December 02, 2008, Odetta died from heart disease in New York City. She was 77 years of age.
No More Cane On the Brazos
Odetta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mmm, mmm
They done ground it all in molasses
Ooh, ooh
Go down, old Hannah, don't you rise no more
Mmm, mmm
If you rise, it'll bring a judgement sure
If I had a sentence like ninety-nine years
Mmm, mmm
All of the dogs on the Brazos wouldn't keep me here
Ooh, ooh
Shoulda been here in nineteen and ten
Ooh, ooh
Drivin' the women just like the men
Ooh, ooh
Should been here in nineteen and four
Mmm, mmm
You could find a dead body in every row
Ooh, ooh
Ain't no more cane on this Brazos
Mmm, mmm
They done ground it all in molasses
Ooh, ooh
The song "No More Cane On the Brazos" is a traditional work song that originated from African American slaves who were forced to work on sugar cane plantations along the Brazos River in Texas. The lyrics of the song have multiple interpretations, but one of the most common is that they describe the end of the sugar cane harvest, with the fields being stripped of their cane and the syrup-making process being completed with the boiling down of the cane juice into molasses. This created a sense of loss for the workers who could no longer engage in their familiar routine of harvesting cane.
The second verse of the song makes reference to the widely held belief among slaves that their deceased forebears, represented in the song by the character "Old Hannah," were still present among them and could influence their lives. The singer urges Hannah not to rise, most likely referring to the belief in ghosts or spirits of the dead haunting the plantation. The line "If you rise, it'll bring a judgement sure" can be read as a warning about the consequences of angering the spirits, but it's also possible that it reflects the singer's own perspective on the harsh conditions of the sugar cane fields.
The remaining verses of the song include references to prison sentences (which were common for those who refused to work in the fields), the gendered nature of plantation work, and the high mortality rates among plantation workers. The song ends with a repeated refrain that summarizes the theme of the piece – "Ain't no more cane on this Brazos, they done ground it all in molasses."
Line by Line Meaning
Ain't no more cane on the Brazos
There is no more sugarcane in the Brazos region
They done ground it all in molasses
The sugarcane has been processed into molasses
Go down, old Hannah, don't you rise no more
The singer addresses someone named Old Hannah and urges them not to bother rising again
If you rise, it'll bring a judgement sure
Rising again will result in certain judgement
If I had a sentence like ninety-nine years
The singer contemplates a hypothetical jail sentence of 99 years
All of the dogs on the Brazos wouldn't keep me here
The singer would not stay in Brazos even if all the dogs in the region tried to keep them there
Shoulda been here in nineteen and ten
The singer reminisces about being in Brazos in 1910
Drivin' the women just like the men
Women were subjected to the same hard labor as men
Should been here in nineteen and four
The singer regrets not being in Brazos in 1904
You could find a dead body in every row
Dead bodies were prevalent in the region
Ain't no more cane on this Brazos
There is no more sugarcane in the Brazos region
They done ground it all in molasses
The sugarcane has been processed into molasses
Contributed by Max O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.