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Cocaine Blues
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"Cocaine Blues" is a song written by TJ Arnall, a reworking of the traditional song "Little Sadie". This song was originally recorded by Roy Hogsed around the time Johnny Cash was born as well as by Woody Guthrie, but Cash made the song famous.
The song is the tale of a man who shoots his wife to death while under the influence of whiskey and cocaine.
Cash famously performed the song at his
Folsom Prison concert, an event also portrayed by
Joaquin Phoenix in the Cash biographical film
Walk the Line. The film version, edited down to make it shorter, fades into the next scene before the line "I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down" is sung. The
DVD specials include an extended version of the song with the bitter lyric, and the full, unedited version (apparently a different "take") is found on the soundtrack CD.
The song is also featured on Johnny Cash's Columbia album, "Now, There Was a Song!" under the title "Transfusion Blues" substituting the line "took a shot of cocaine" with "took a tranfusion" along with some other minor lyrical changes.
Aside from Johnny Cash, other artists have recorded "Cocaine Blues," including Merle Travis, Hank Thompson, Hank III, Electric Frankenstein, and George Thorogood. In addition, another song of the same title (sometimes called simply "Cocaine") was written and recorded by Luke Jordan during the late 1920s. This song was also recorded by white bluesman Dick Justice - lyrics are here: http://www.cocaine.org/cocaine.htm.
Yet another version of "Cocaine Blues" exists, arguably the most recorded by various artists, it is recognizable for the refrain "Cocaine run all 'round my brain" and the lyric "Cocaine's for horses and it's not for men/They tell me it'll kill me but they won't say when." The Rev. Gary Davis, Dave Van Ronk, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Jackson Browne & Keith Richards among many others, have recorded this song. Found on his Live at the Old Quarter album, Townes Van Zandt's version features a slightly different refrain, but still has the "horses" line. This song originates from Rev. Gary Davis, who Dave Van Ronk and others learnt the song from. Interestingly, the only recorded version from Rev. Gary Davis, recorded in later years is an instrumental.
The
Hank Thompson version of the song appears on the
soundtrack to the 2006
video game,
Scarface: The World is Yours.
See also
