Originally from New York, Elliott grew up in a Jewish family and had always wanted to be a cowboy. Pressured by his parents to follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor, Elliott resisted and inspired by the rodeos he attended at Madison Square Garden, he ran away from home at the age of 15 and joined the J.E. Ranch Rodeo. Although he was only with the rodeo for three months (before his parents tracked him down and he was sent home), Elliott was exposed to his first singing cowboy, a rodeo clown who played guitar and banjo and sang songs.
Returning home, Elliott taught himself to play guitar and started busking for a living. Eventually he hooked up with Woody Guthrie and lived with him as a kind of student.
With banjo player Derroll Adams, he later toured Great Britain and Europe and had a lasting effect on the music scene there. By 1960, he had made three folk albums for the British label, Topic. Playing in the small clubs and pubs of London by day, he would then take his act to the smart, west end night clubs. Upon arriving back in the U.S., Elliott discovered he had become well-known within the folk scene.
Elliott's greatest influence was Woody Guthrie. Guthrie's son, Arlo, has said that because of his dad's illness and early death, he never really got to know him. Arlo acknowledged that he learned his dad's songs and musical style through Elliott.
Elliott's musical style influenced Bob Dylan so heavily that Dylan's first gig in New York City was billed as "Son of Jack Elliott." While Dylan rose to prominence through his compositions, Elliott continued as an interpretive troubadour, bringing old songs to new audiences in an idiosyncratic manner.
Elliott appeared on Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue and played Longheno de Castro in Dylan's Renaldo and Clara.
Jack Elliott's style is distinctive in its use of excellent guitar technique matched with laconic, humorous storytelling and an emotional intensity in the singing.
Elliott's nickname is due not to his travel habits, but rather to the countless stories he would relate before answering the simplest of questions. Folk singer Odetta claims that it was her mother who gave him the name by remarking, "Oh Jack Elliott, yeah, he can sure ramble on!"
He was famously parodied in on the BBC in the 1960s by Kenneth Williams as Rambling Syd Rumpo who was a recurring character on Round the Horne. His claims of authenticity as a folk artist (despite being a Jewish doctor's son from New York City) and disparagement of other folk artists were also parodied by the Folksmen (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) in A Mighty Wind both in the name of their "hit" Ramblin' and in their claims that their version was more authentic than the New Main Street Singers's version.
Jack Elliott's first recording in 20 years, "South Coast", earned him his first Grammy in 1995. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1998. Ramblin' Jack's long career and strained relationship with his daughter Aiyana were chronicled in her 2000 documentary, "The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack".
At 75, he has recently changed labels and released "I Stand Alone" on the Anti- label, with an assortment of guest backup players including members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers; again, an idiosyncratic collection of little-known music delivered with humor and intensity. He is on record as saying his intention was to title the album "Not For The Tourists" because it was recorded in response to his daughter's request for songs he loved but never played in concert. When she asked why he did not play them in public, he replied "These songs are not for the tourists".
Dark As A Dungeon
Ramblin' Jack Elliott Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Seek not your fortune in a dark dreary mine
It'll form as a habit and seep in your soul
Till the stream of your blood runs as black as the coal
Where it's dark as a dungeon damp as the dew danger is double pleasures are few
Where the rain never falls the sun never shines
It's a dark as a dungeon way down in the mine
(uh huh no laughin' during this song please it's bein' recorded)
Like a fiend with his dope and a drunkard with his wine
A man will have lust for the lure of the mine
And pray when I'm dead and my ages shall roll
That my body would blacken and turn into coal
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home
And pity the miner digging my bones
Where it's dark as a dungeon
"Dark As A Dungeon" by Ramblin' Jack Elliott is a song that speaks about the harsh realities of working in a coal mine. The first stanza of the song is a warning to young miners not to seek their fortune in a mine because it will form as a habit and seep into their souls. The unfortunate result of this habit is that the stream of their blood will run as black as the coal, leaving them in a dark, damp dungeon.
The second stanza of the song talks about the alluring temptations that can lead a man to mine. A man with an addiction to dope or wine may have a lust for the lure of the mine. The singer then goes on to pray that when his body dies, it will turn into coal so that he can look down from his heavenly home and pity the miner digging his bones. The song ends with a repetition of the first stanza, emphasizing the danger and bleakness of life in the mine.
Overall, "Dark As A Dungeon" paints a vivid picture of the desolate, oppressive environment of a coal mine. It is a song of warning and lament for those who toil under the earth to extract the fuel that powers the world above.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh come all you young fellers so young and so fine
The singer addresses young men, warning them not to seek their fortune in mines.
Seek not your fortune in a dark dreary mine
He advises them not to pursue mining, because the hardship will take its toll on their soul.
It'll form as a habit and seep in your soul
The difficulties of mining will become a routine and affect their character.
Till the stream of your blood runs as black as the coal
The hardship will permeate every aspect of their being, making them feel as dark and empty as the coal they extract.
Where it's dark as a dungeon damp as the dew danger is double pleasures are few
Mining is a dangerous and joyless occupation, with no light or comfort.
Where the rain never falls the sun never shines
The singer paints a bleak picture of the mining environment, with constant darkness and no natural elements.
It's a dark as a dungeon way down in the mine
Working in a mine is a grueling and oppressive experience.
Well it's many a man that I've seen in my day
The singer reflects on the many men he has witnessed being consumed by the hardships of mining.
Like a fiend with his dope and a drunkard with his wine
The way some men are addicted to drugs or alcohol, others are addicted to mining despite the harm it causes.
A man will have lust for the lure of the mine
The desire to make money from mining will pull men in, no matter the consequences.
And pray when I'm dead and my ages shall roll
The singer imagines his own death, hoping that his body will turn into coal after he's gone.
That my body would blacken and turn into coal
He sees his death as a way to become one with the coal that once tortured him.
Then I'll look from the door of my heavenly home
From the perspective of the afterlife, he'll be able to see the miners still toiling away.
And pity the miner digging my bones
He'll feel sorry for those who still work in mines, knowing firsthand the toll it takes.
Where it's dark as a dungeon
Once again, the singer emphasizes the darkness and hardships of mining.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Merle Travis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
labyrinth75
This is one of my favorite songs. I was born in West Virginia, and I love mining songs. It's hard to find people that do justice to this music. This guy nails it.
Herwin
never heared country before, this is just awsome!
JamTracks by Randy Struble
What a great tune performed by two great legends!!
Barry Vorse
So true.
William Bulla
"... What force leads a man
To a life filled with danger
High on seas or a mile underground?
It's when need is his master
And poverty's no stranger,
And there's no other work to be found..." -- Silly Wizard
MyMoppet52
One of my very favorites of his!!! Thank you very much!
Marjorie Cameron
Love this! Will always treasure meeting Ramblin'Jack on the Cowboy Train and having a chat with him. He told me about sailing the Bras d'or Lakes in 83!
truelily7
I have met Jack and he is the coolest!
Layla ORB
love it!!!!
Patrick Mullen
Ramblin Jack was A hero to me because of his poetic descriptions of people and places and feelings. Few could do better and don't forget the music "Part" Yea that was pretty too.