The Tramp on the Street
Notation:
Standard Notation
ABC Notation
Accomp. Notation
Mandolin Tablature
legacy / hymn tune
PDF Files:
--- choose file type ---
Standard Notation
Accomp. Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Song Sheet
Grady and Hazel Cole
Play
MIDI
No audio
available
Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
View
notes
Lyrics:
Only a tramp was Lazarus that begged,
He who lay down by the rich man's gate.
Well, he begged for some crumbs from the rich man to eat
He was only a tramp found dead on the street.
Chorus:
He was some mother's darlin', he was some mother's son;
Once he was fair and once he was young,
And some mother rocked him, a little darlin' to sleep,
But they left him to die like a tramp on the street.
Jesus who died on Calvary's tree,
Gave His life's blood for you and for me.
They pierced his side, his hands and his feet,
Then they left Him to die like a tramp on the street.
Chorus 2:
He was Mary's own darlin', he was God's chosen son;
Once He was fair and once he was young,
And Mary, she rocked Him, her little darlin' to sleep,
But they left him to die like a tramp on the street.
If Jesus should come and knock on your door,
Would you let Him come in and pick from your store?
Would you turn Him away, with nothing to eat?
Would you leave Him to die like a tramp on the street?
Chorus 2
"The Tramp on the Street" was written by Grady and Hazel Cole.<br> In 1877 White, Smith & Co. of Boston published a song entitled "Only A Tramp!"<br> that was composed by Dr. Addison D. Crabtre. The first verse of the song tells<br> about a night watchman finding, dead on the street, a tramp who, according to a<br> coroner, had died of starvation. The second verse asks the listener,<br> "If Jesus was here and asked at your door<br> A place to rest in, and food from your store<br> As once he thus wander'd with poverty's stamp<br> Would you turn Him away as only a tramp?"<br> Dorothy Horstman, in Sing Your Heart Out Country Boy, states that Cole's composition,<br> "The Tramp On The Street", was "patterned after" Crabtre's song. The title and<br> chorus of the country gospel classic, which was made famous by Cole during the<br> late 1930s and 1940s, bear a strong resemblance to the earlier song.<br> Instead of the anonymous tramp in Crabtre's first verse, Cole, in his first verse<br> speaks of the Biblical Lazarus who was left to "die like a tramp on the street".<br> The song went through several alterations, mainly in the tune. Most modern renditions<br> use a tune different from the Cole's tune which seems to date back to the recordings<br> of Molly O'Day and Hank Williams.<br> It was first recorded by Grady and Hazel Cole in 1939.<br> It was also recorded by Molly O'Day, Hank Williams, The Skillet Lickers,<br> George Jones, The Statler Brothers, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, <br> Joan Baez, Peter, Paul & Mary and others.<br> I learned it from the Joan Baez recording. The version given here is a composite<br> of those of Hank Williams and Joan Baez.<br>
Click
here
for a full page view.