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.
Water Boy
Odetta Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you don't come right here
Gonna tell you pa on you
There ain't no hammer
That's on a this mountain
That ring like mine boy
That ring like mine
From here to the Macon
All the way to the jail boy
All the way to the jail
You Jack o diamond
Jack o diamond
Know you of old boy
I know you're of old
You rob-a my pocket
Rob my pocket
Silver and gold boy
Of silver and gold
There ain't no sweat boy
That's on a this mountain
That run like mine boy
That run like mine
The above lyrics are from the song Water Boy by Odetta. The song is about a person who is searching for a water boy and he threatens to report him to his dad if he doesn't show up. The first and second lines of the song create tension by suggesting that the waterboy is hiding and he needs to come out because if he doesn't, the singer will tell his dad. The third line brings out the singer's anger and desperation because he is looking for the waterboy, but he is not showing up. The next line suggests that the singer has a special hammer that rings like no other on the mountain. This line could mean that the singer wants to show off his skills and strength by busting a rock, but for the waterboy to show up, but he is nowhere to be found.
In the second paragraph, the song takes a different turn as the singer mentions Jack o diamond. He accuses Jack o diamond of robbing his pocket of silver and gold. The next two lines emphasize the singer's strength and agility by saying that there is no sweat on the mountain that runs like his. The singer is trying to convey to the audience that he is unstoppable and if he finds the water boy, he will make him pay for his actions. The song is powerful in its use of metaphors and imagery to convey a sense of authority and strength.
Line by Line Meaning
Waterboy, where are you hiding
Asking for the whereabouts of the person in charge of fetching water
If you don't come right here
Requesting waterboy to come immediately
Gonna tell you pa on you
Warning waterboy that his father will be informed if he doesn't comply
There ain't no hammer
There's no tool as special as mine
That's on a this mountain
Comparable tools don't exist in this location
That ring like mine boy
My tool produces musical sounds like no other
I'm gonna bust this rock boy
Working hard on breaking this rock apart
From here to the Macon
I'll keep working without stopping until I reach my destination
All the way to the jail boy
I'll keep working even if I'm punished in jail
You Jack o diamond
Addressing someone being unreliable
Know you of old boy
I'm familiar with your type, I've dealt with people like you before
Rob-a my pocket
You stole from me
Silver and gold boy
I'm aware of the valuable things you took from me
There ain't no sweat boy
There's no challenge as great as mine
That's on a this mountain
I'm unmatched in this line of work
That run like mine boy
No one can work as hard as I do
Contributed by Scarlett B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@toad9964
Waterboy, where are you hiding
If you don't come right here
Gonna tell you pa on you
There ain't no hammer
That's on a this mountain
That ring like mine boy
That ring like mine
I'm gonna bust this rock boy
From here to the Macon
All the way to the jail boy
All the way to the jail
You Jack o diamond
Jack o diamond
Know you of old boy
I know you're of old
You rob-a my pocket
Rob my pocket
Silver and gold boy
Of silver and gold
There ain't no sweat boy
That's on a this mountain
That run like mine boy
That run like mine
@saralynfosnight5139
In somewhere around 1973 I was sitting on a railroad tie at the South Street Seaport Museum in lower Manhattan, with my toddler in a stroller sleeping, my husband and our friends somewhere, all of us come to see Odetta perform. Ever since I first heard her perform earlier in the 1960s, I was her follower, a devoted fan. So I'm hot, exhausted, sitting there, and here she comes with several people, all walking toward the performance area. She saw me, smiled, and I have never forgotten that moment. I felt blessed.
@strooomon
What a beautiful, chilling memory.
@james4948
This is a young women that, to me at least, has a bit of Odetta...........https://www.facebook.com/118817044807770/videos/3349977151767588/
@369marnie
Saralyn: Grateful for this wonderful loving story THANK YOU
@TheAto2000
I'm hearing about her in May 2022 at this moment due to this video .Glad to see your comment as the first and only one so far.
@nobaloneymahoney7940
Love that story 🤗 we're probably about same age
@miriamnezer6382
She has the voice of mother earth, the voice of truth, so deep, so beautiful.
@Shoebil
I'm stunned, i'm moved, i can't describe what i'm feeling. Her voice is incredible.
@zorbogouskuunighu202
The fact this footage exists makes me glad to be alive in these times.
@megdalenagonzalez-mounce1776
So happy to be learning about Odetta in 2022, sad it took me until my 30's to do so. Such an important piece of U.S. and world history she was.