Digital Tradition Mirror

McKinley's Rag

McKinley's Rag
(Riley Puckett)

Hey, Mr. McKinley
Why didn't you run?
See that man a-comin' with a Johnson forty-one
From Buffalo to Washington

Doctor, Doctor,
Do all you can,
A man just shot my husband with a handkerchief over his hand
From Buffalo to Washington

Doctor comes a-runnin'
Takes off his specs
Says, "Mr. McKinley, you've done cashed your checks"
From Buffalo to Washington

Mrs. McKinley in Brooklyn,
Dressed all in red
Weepin' and a-moanin' for her husband was dead
From Buffalo to Washington

Jailer said to Zolgotz,
"What ya doin here?"
Took and shot McKinley, gonna take the electric chair
From Buffalo to Washington

Zolgotz told the jailer,
"Treat me like a man,
You know that when I die, I got to go to Dixieland."
From Buffalo to Washington

Roosevelt's in the White House
Doin' his best
McKinley's in the gravehard, he's takin' his rest
He's gone a long, long time.

Hush, little children,
Don't you fret;
You know you'll draw a pension as your poppa's dead
From Buffalo to Washington

Hey, Mr. McKinley
Why didn't you run?
See that man a-comin' with a Johnson forty-one
From Buffalo to Washington

Transcribed from the "Never Grow Old" CD by Anne Hills and Cindy Mangsen
A version of "White House Blues"

JRO

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!