In The Pines

this is a traditional tune... GangstaFeelsGood tells me that the first recorded version of In The Pines was by Leadbelly while he was in prison in the 20s, although Leadbelly called it Where did you sleep last night as far as he knows

I've heard a great bluegrass versions of it, but my favorite is Nirvana's take on from the Unplugged disc. Goes to show Kurt knew his roots, as he follows the Leadbelly version to the T.

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Little girl, little girl what have I done
To make you treat me so
You have caused me to weep, you have caused me to moan
You have caused me to leave my home

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
I shiver when the cold winds blow

My daddy was a railroad man
Drove a mile and a half uptown
His head was found 'neath the driving wheel
His body has never been found

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
I shiver when the cold winds blow

The longest train I ever saw
Was down that northern line
The engine passed by at ten o'clock
The cab passed by at nine

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
I shiver when the cold winds blow

Little girl, little girl what have I done
To make you treat me so
You have caused me to weep, you have caused me to moan
You have caused me to leave my home

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Here's another version by the Black Mountain Boys:

The longest train that ever I saw
Went down the Georgia line
The engine passed at six o'clock
And the cab it passed at nine

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And you shiver when the cold wind blows

I asked my captain for the time of day
He (said?) throwed his watch away
It's a long (?) and a short (cross tie?)
I'm on my way back home

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And you shiver when the cold wind blows

Little girl, little girl, what have I done
That makes you treat me so
You caused me to weep, and caused me to mourn
You caused me to leave my home

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And you shiver when the cold wind blows

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There is another version I've heard dating back to the Palo Alto folk scene of the early 60s. This version of the song occurs on the "Unident Thing" tape with Pig Pen on harmonica and Jerry Garcia (of later fame with the Grateful Dead) on guitar and vocals. Date/venue unknown. Garcia calls for Black Girl before the song - which is a name used on some Leadbelly recordings of it. Which I'd guess is the source for this. This is a blues version, two guitars and Pigpen's harmonica.

Black girl, black girl, don't you lie to me
Tell me where did you stay last night

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And I shiver the whole night through

You caused me to weep and you caused me to mourn
And you caused me to leave my happy home

Black girl, black girl, don't you lie to me
Tell me where did you stay last night

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And I shiver the whole night through

Black girl, black girl, don't you lie to me
Tell me where did you stay last night

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And I shiver the whole night through

You caused me to weep and you caused me to mourn
And you caused me to leave my happy home

This is the version my aunt taught me about ten years ago; it's based on Leadbelly's, which is the version most people my age know, courtesy of Kurt Cobain. Leadbelly called it "Black Girl," Cobain called it "My Girl" or "In the Pines," and my Pete Seeger book calles it "Little Girl." For some reason, I used to think that she killed her husband, but I guess he was in an accident.

Chorus:

      E           E7          A      G
Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me
        E             B7         E       B7 
Tell me where did you sleep last night?
       E             E7               A               G
In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don't never shine
      E            B7          E      
And I shivered the whole night through


   E       E7    A        G
My husband was a railroad man
         E          B7        E     B7
Killed a mile and a half from here
    E        E7               A        G
His head was found 'neath the drivers' wheel
    E        B7        E   
And his body never was found


It caused me to weep and it caused me to moan
And it caused me to leave my home
I wish to God I'd never seen his face
I'm sorry he ever was born