Mr. Bojangles-David Bromberg

[00:10.061] I knew a man Bojangles [00:11.445] And he danced for you [00:17.317] In worn out shoes [00:20.252] With silver hair, a ragged shirt, and baggy pants [00:27.159] He did the old soft shoe [00:31.025] He jumped so high [00:34.094] You know he jumped so high [00:38.082] And then he lightly touched down [00:47.957] Mister Bojangles [00:53.244] Mister Bojangles [00:57.064] Mister Bojangles [01:01.351] C’mon dance [01:05.921] I met him in a cell down in New Orleans, alright [01:12.514] I was down and out [01:17.717] He looked to me to be [01:18.795] The eyes of age as he spoke right out [01:28.466] He talked of life [01:31.502] Yes, he talked of life [01:35.289] He laughed and slapped his leg a step [01:41.487] He said the name Bojangles [01:44.306] And then he danced a lick [01:49.544] Across the cell [01:53.030] He grabbed his pants a better stance [01:55.682] Oh, he jumped up high, high [02:00.853] He clicked his heels [02:04.322] He let go a laugh [02:07.379] You know he let go a laugh [02:13.350] He shook back his clothes all around [02:21.757] Mister Bojangles [02:26.895] Mister Bojangles [02:31.282] Mister Bojangles [02:35.201] C’mon dance [02:40.033] [Spoken by David Bromberg, “This is really a true story, ya know. A lot of people had heard the song. [02:44.303] And well, at least Jerry Jeff has told me it was a true story. [02:47.439] I played guitar with Jerry Jeff Walker for about two years and we did this song every night for two years. [02:54.778] And I never got tired of it. [02:58.231] Jerry got a little tired of it. [03:01.584] At night after the clubs closed we would do horrible things to it. [03:06.772] It was a true story, he,this guy, Bojangles was a,he was a street dancer in New Orleans. [03:13.593] What he do was go from bar to bar, [03:16.647] and ah, he put-a, put money in the jukebox or get someone else to do it. [03:21.484] And then he would either dance or pantomime the tune, right. [03:24.420] And for that people would buy him drinks, [03:27.705] get him pretty drunk, and then he would go onto the next bar and,the next one until it was closing time. [03:32.609] And then he would do it the next night. [03:36.329] And after a few night of this, he would end up on the corner and the cops would pick him up and take him to the drunk-tank; which is where Jerry Jeff met him. [03:46.789] Ah, Jerry Jeff wasn’t there on a research project, [03:50.208] I... I mean the way I got that story, I, I may have that wrong, but the way I got that was he propositioned the right woman, at the right time, in the wrong place. [04:01.151] And her husband, the bartender… [04:05.170] ah, called the cops and they, ah, they took Jerry, ah, to the parish jail. [04:16.680] And he, he and this guy just talked for three days in the cell about, you know about what he does.”] [04:24.169] He said he danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs [04:31.325] Throughout the south [04:34.695] He spoke with tears of fifteen years [04:37.981] How his dog and him [04:42.118] Traveled about [04:46.388] His dog up and died [04:48.973] You know his dog up and died [04:54.301] After twenty years he still grieves [05:00.159] He said, I dance now at every chance in honky-tonks [05:07.566] For drinks and tips [05:10.688] But most the time [05:12.823] I spend behind these county bars [05:18.311] ‘Cause I drinks a bit [05:22.165] He shook his head [05:27.052] And as he shook his head [05:32.290] I heard someone ask please [05:40.412] Mister Bojangles [05:50.931] Mister Bojangles [05:53.989] C’mon [05:56.486] [Instrumental Interlude] [07:03.403] I knew a man Bojangles [07:04.556] And he danced for you, c’mon