Man Of Constant Sorrow - Mountain Banjo - Folk Song

2 years ago
95

Man Of Constant Sorrow is an old time traditional folk song that I sing and play on the banjo in the clawhammer style. This song was featured in the Coen Brothers movie, Oh Brother Where Art Thou. Ralph Stanley is well known for this song as well as many other bluegrass artists. There is a Greenwich Village version which Bob Dylan and many others played that has a different melody. I have had a few requests for this song over the years. I didnt really know which version to sing or how to approach the song until I heard the Josh Turknett (ClawhammerBrainjo) version. I`m a big fan of his music, the songs he chooses to sing and how he performs and sings them. I tried to play it kind of like how he did. Here is the link if you want to have a listen to his version. (BTW if you want to learn how to play banjo he is the best to learn from)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOZuXz__3NE

Man Of Constant Sorrow lyrics
Banjo in standard tuning only a lot lower

I am a man of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my day.
I bid farewell to old Kentucky,
The place where I was born and raised.

For six long years I've been in trouble,
No pleasures here on earth I found.
For in this world I'm bound to ramble,
I have no friends to help me now.

It's fare thee well my old lover.
I never expect to see you again.
For I'm bound to ride that northern railroad,
Perhaps I'll die upon this train.

You can bury me in some deep valley, (dark holler?)
For many years where I may lay.
Then you may learn to love another,
While I am sleeping in my grave.

Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face, you'll never see no more.
But there is one promise that is given
I'll meet you on God's golden shore.

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