A 1930 popular song.
Words and music by Arthur Fields and Fred Hall.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- I’m in the hoosegow twenty days
Just twenty days ago
I met the Judge, the kind old Judge
Who was feeling fine and so
He gave me just a year in jail
A socialble sort of gink
All on account of a gallon of corn
That I thought I could drink
Chorus
In eleven more months and ten more days
I’ll be out of the calaboose
In eleven more months and ten more days
They’re going to turn me loose
- A kind old lady called on me
She was just too good to live
She asked me all about myself
My pedigree to give
She said, “Poor man, what brought you here?”
My tears began to drop
I said, “The Black Maria and
A great big husky cop” - Now we play baseball once a week
And you should see the score
Ev’ry player steals a base
He’s stolen things before
There’s lots of folk would like to come
To see us when we play
But they built a wall around the place
To keep the crowds away - A visitor passing by my cell
Just the other day
I called him from my window and
I said, “Now stranger, say
Can you tell me what time it is?”
He looked me in the face
And said, “What do you care what time it is?
You ain’t goin’ any place” - A bird in another cell asked me
“How long are you in here for?”
I told him that I’d be here ‘leven
Months and ten days more
“I’m here until tomorrow,” said he
I said, “You son of a gun
You’re a lucky guy. He said, “Am I?
Tomorrow I’m gonna be hung - Another guy with a ten year stretch
Got three years off his bit
For being a model pris’ner, so
I shook him by the mitt
They’re giving a celebration for
That lucky son of a gun
Because his father’s awful proud
To have such a wonderful son
Sung here by Fred Feild: