You go to Banglin'(1), tell my boys You go to Banglin', tell my boys What times I'm havin' up in Illinois In Illinois, up in Illinois
When I gin(2) my little cotton I'm going to sell my seed When I gin my little cotton and sell my seed I'm gonna give my baby, everything she need Everything she need, ev'rything she need I'm gonna give my baby everything she need
You know, I been in Texas and I been in Arkansas I been in Texas and I been in Arkansas But I never had a good time till I got to Illinois Up in Illinois, up in Illinois
The people will treat you just so-so so'(3) You'll never go back to old Banglin' no more Never no more, never no more
I been to Chicago and I been to Detroit I been to Chicago and I been to Detroit But I never had a good time till I got up in Illinois In Illinois, up in Illinois
When you go down in Banglin', will you tell my boys When you go down in Banglin', tell my boys What a good time's a-waitin' up in Illinois Up in Illinois, up in Illinois
__________ Note 1: Banglin', James spelling, was Skip James's own pet name of a lumber camp operating out of Pelahatchie, Mississippi, that employed him as a timber-cutter in the early twenties. His explanation of this word coinage - that it followed from the camp's "saggy" position on a bluff - suggests that it may have arisen through confusion with "dangling"; Note 2: gin, a cotton gin, a machine that separates the seeds, hulls, and foreign material from cotton; Note 3: so', soft