The Moonshiner

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"The Moonshiner" is a folk song with disputed origins. It is catalogued as Roud Folk Song Index No. 4301. Some believe that the song originated in America, then later was made famous in Ireland. Others believe that it was the other way around. The Clancy Brothers stated on their recording that the song is of Irish origin, but again, this is disputed. Delia Murphy was singing it in Ireland from the late 1930s.^[1] First American appearance however is recorded in Carl Sandberg's 1927 The American Songbag which credits the Combs family of Kentucky for the collection of the song going back at least to the turn of the century. The minor key arrangement is credited therein to Alfred George Wathall.^[2]

Bob Dylan recorded "Moonshiner" in 1963; this version was released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991. While Dylan's version bears resemblance to the 1930s recordings of Henson and Kazee, both the Henson and Kazee versions include the "I always stay sing single" segment not present in the Sandberg version or in Dylan's, and neither include Dylan's "World's just a bottle" segment which appears with Rolf Cahn's Folkways recording in 1959 and later in Van Ronk's (1964).

The song has also been performed by Elliott Smith, Cat Power, Rumbleseat, Cast Iron Filter, Jalan Crossland, Peter Rowan, Railroad Earth, Bob Forrest, Roscoe Holcomb, Uncle Tupelo, Jeffrey Foucault, The Tallest Man On Earth, Tim Hardin, Charlie Parr, Punch Brothers, Redbird, Robert Francis, Scorpios, Dave Van Ronk, əkoostik hookah, Moriarty, Clay Parker & Jodi James, Lost Dog Street Band, and Parsonsfield.

Lyrics[]

(transcribed from Uncle Tupelo's version, from "March 16–20 - 1992".

I am a moonshiner
For 17 long years
And I spent all my money
On whisky and beers

And I go to some hollow
And set up my still
If whisky don't kill me
Lord, I don't know what will

And I go to some barroom
To drink with my friends
Where the women they can't follow
To see what I spend

God bless them, pretty women
I wish they was mine
With breath as sweet as
The dew on the vine

Let me eat when I'm hungry
Let me drink when I'm dry
Two dollars when I'm hard up
Religion when I die

The whole world is a bottle
And life is but a dram
When the bottle gets empty
Lord, it sure ain't worth a damn

References[]

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