Midnight Special (song)

"Midnight Special" (Roud 6364) is a traditional folk song thought to have originated among prisoners in the American South.

Lyrics appearing in the song were first recorded in print by Howard Odum in 1905:[2] Get up in the mornin' when ding dong rings, Look at table — see the same damn thing However, these lyrics are known to be floater lines, appearing in various African-American songs of that period, notably in the "Grade-Songs", which are about prison captains and have nothing to do with a train or a light.

I know by the apron and the dress she wears[10] In 1934, Huddie William "Lead Belly" Ledbetter recorded a version of the song at Angola Prison for John and Alan Lomax, who mistakenly attributed it to him as the author.

However, Ledbetter, for his Angola session, appears to have inserted several stanzas relating to a 1923 Houston jailbreak into the traditional song.

John and Alan Lomax, in their book, Best Loved American Folk Songs, told a credible story identifying the Midnight Special as a train from Houston shining its light into a cell in the Sugar Land Prison.

The song has been recorded by Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Odetta, Les Paul, Jesse Fuller, The Kingston Trio (who also recorded their song "The Tijuana Jail", which retains the same music but with new lyrics),[16] Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul and Mary, Burl Ives, Big Joe Turner, Bobby Darin, Cisco Houston, Jimmy Smith, Mungo Jerry, Van Morrison, Little Richard, Buckwheat Zydeco, Otis Rush, The Spencer Davis Group, Lonnie Donegan, Eric Clapton, The Louvin Brothers, Long John Baldry, The Kentucky Headhunters, Willie Watson, Mischief Brew, Hoyt Axton, Odetta, Billy Bragg, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, among others.

[18] Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s 1969 version was used in the opening sequence of Twilight Zone: The Movie, in a scene featuring Albert Brooks and Dan Aykroyd enthusiastically singing along.

ABBA recorded the song in 1975 for charity, as a part of a folk medley, along with "Pick a Bale of Cotton" and "On Top of Old Smokey".

[19] Dylan references a line from the song — "Shine your light on me" — on the second track, "Precious Angel", of his 1979 gospel album Slow Train Coming.