They Caught The Devil And Put Him In Jail In Eudora, Arkansas (1971)
THEY CAUGHT THE DEVIL AND PUT HIM IN JAIL IN EUDORA, ARKANSAS (Tony Joe White)
I was walking down a dirt road And the night was coming on fast I had gone to for some corn meal for our supper By the time I got to miss Johnson's house I knew there was something wrong By the worried look she had upon her face I said: Miss Johnson could you tell me What are you shaking for She said: Lord, they caught the devil And they got him in jail in Eudora, Arkansas
And he's got a mean that looked like leather And a long and foggy tail And when he touches it against the sepbars Sparks would fly
I did not know of what she spoke But I believed every word she said And I burned the souls of my feet on my way back home Well the next day a crowd had gathered Out in front of the Eudora jailhouse But there was not a chase to be seen of the devil Now the jailer had been a poor man And now his pockets were stuffed with money And he was sitting outside in a BRand new Continental Lincoln
With famous skirts on it
He would not say where he got the money Was he a part of the devils bargain? And did he set him free that night in Eudora, Arkansas? Now who's to say.