Digital Tradition Mirror

Haywire Outfit

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
Pennywhistle notation and Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

Haywire Outfit
(Bill Lore)
1.  Now a loggin' outfit, so they say,
    Has got to be good, or it will not pay.
    But let me tell you of one I know
    Which was broke down more than she ever did go.

cho: Haywire crew, haywire riggin',
     Haywire truck and an old h.d.
     As the boys come home in the evenin',
     How haywire can an outfit be?

2. We were loading logs that were short and small,
    Building a load that was wide and tall,
    She was just at the face when the hook pulled free -
    Oh, how haywire can an outfit be?

3.  The teamster's face was black and grim,
    He reached for an axe to chop a limb,
    The team took off and straddled a tree -
    Oh, how haywire can an outfit be?

4.  One fell down, and they caught him fine,
    The other took the spreaders and lines,
    Down the road and through the trees,
    Oh, how haywire can an outfit be?

5.  The cat-man's pulling the winch line back,
    The hot sun's melting him in his tracks,
    The sweat's in his eyes and he cannot see -
    Oh, how haywire can an outfit be?

6.  The boys at the mill are good, in a way,
    But they watch the log trucks every day,
    As the White comes in, they shout with glee -
    "Oh, how haywire can an outfit be?"

7.  The mechanics wait in the waning light
    They wonder what will be wrong tonight,
    They grin and say, as they look and see,
    "Oh, how haywire can an outfit be?"


- by Bill Lore, c. 1955: PJT Coll 346.  "Haywire" is used to
fix broken vehicles, machinery, etc. and thus by extension a
"haywire outfit" is one that is barely held together; also
"gyppo". Tune is "Casey Jones".
___________________________________________________________________________
JB
oct96

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!