Lonesome Road Blues

Chords you’ll need to know

C D G

Jam-Along Backing Track

Lyrics

They feed me on corn bread and beans They feed me on corn bread and beans They feed me on corn bread and beans, lord, lord And I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way I'm going down this road feeling bad I'm going down this road feeling bad I'm going down this road feeling bad, lord, lord And I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way I'm down in the jailhouse on my knees Down in the jailhouse on my knees Down in the jailhouse on my knees, lord, lord And I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way Got two dollar shoes on my feet Got two dollar shoes on my feet Two dollar shoes they hurt my feet, lord, lord And I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way It takes a ten dollar shoe to fit my foot It takes a ten dollar shoe to fit my foot It takes a ten dollar shoe to fit my foot, Great God And I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way I'm going where the weather fits my clothes I'm going where the weather fits my clothes I'm going where the weather fits my clothes, lord lord And I ain't a-gonna be treated this a-way

About This Song

Lonesome Road Blues is a traditional song, also widely known as "Going Down the Road Feeling Bad." It's one of the old proto-blues songs that were sung all over the South long before anyone recorded them. The first known recording was made by Virginia singer and guitarist Henry Whitter in December 1923 as "Lonesome Road Blues," and it sold well. The oldest versions are sung by a prisoner, and the corn bread and beans verse goes back to them. Woody Guthrie's recording later made the song a folk standard.

Many players, though, first heard it from the Grateful Dead as "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad." The Dead played it live nearly 300 times.

Year	Artist	Notes
1923	Henry Whitter
1960	Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys	Banjo player Curtis McPeake suggested it when the band was stuck for a last song to record
1971	Grateful Dead	Live album often called Skull & Roses, where it comes out of "Not Fade Away"