Lyrics Ginseng Sullivan - David Rawlings, Gillian Welch

Ginseng Sullivan

Not too far from the battleyard
On a reverse curve on down
Not two miles of the town depot
Sullivan’s shack was found
Back on the higher ground
You could see him every day
Walking on down the line
Old brown sack across his back
Long hair down behind
Speaking his worried mind
It’s long way from the Delta
From the North Georgia Hills
And a tote sack full of ginseng
Don’t pay no traveling bills
I’m too old to ride the rails
Or thumb the road alone
So I guess I’ll never make it back to home
My muddy water Mississippi Delta home
Now the winters here, they get too cold
The damp, it makes me ill
Can’t dig no roots on a mountainside
With the ground froze hard and still
Gotta stay at the foot of the hill
But next summer, when things turn right
The companies will pay high
I’ll make enough money to pay my bills
And bid this mountain goodbye
Then he said with a smile
It’s long way from the Delta
From the North Georgia Hills
And a tote sack full of ginseng
Don’t pay no traveling bills
I’m too old to ride the rails
Or thumb the road alone
So I guess I’ll never make it back to home
My muddy water Mississippi Delta home