Story Behind The Song

I'm not sure. I grew up raising cotton, and my great grandmother was named Mabel and my grandfather was nicknamed Joe Eddie. I just liked the names.

Song Description

Lively, story song about a man and a woman who are bound together by their mutual respect for one another and their mutual contempt for a wicked boss man.

Lyrics

MABEL AND JO-EDDIE (by scott aycock)


Mabel came to Arkansas
With a suitcase in her hand.
She'd heard there was land a plenty
And six foot cotton stands.

She'd come from Tenn.
Where she'd left a hard mean man.
Now all she had to barter with
Was her golden wedding band.

With that gold she rent a tenant shack
Bought some flour and some beans.
Worked the fields from sun up to sundown
Fell hard in bed and dreamed.

She saved her money in a coffee can
She hid underneath the floor.
Counted the days when she'd have enough
When enough felt like more.

The boss man gave her sharecroppin' rights
To some land down in a draw.
He said, "Mabel if you clear that land
In a year you can have it all."

Or.. he said, "you can be my bride and
Don't ever turn me away,
And I will see that the land is yours
I'll even clear it straight away.



Well Mabel weren't afraid of work
Nor did she fear being poor,
But she would not be owned again
She'd not be any man's whore.

So they struck a deal, she'd clear the draw,
And raise herself some cotton.
But the boss man said, with a grin
There's one thing I've forgotten.

I'll come to you when the moon is full
And the sun sets in the sky
If there be any trees a'standing,
Then you can still be my bride.

But,if you don't have it cleared by spring
Then this deal will be ill'gotten
And I will take possession of the land
And you'll go back to choppin' cotton.
So Mabel took the challenge on
And hired some men to help her.
She paid them 2 cents on the dollar
For every tree they sold for lumber.

They worked on through the winter months
In snow and sometimes freezing cold
Mabel worked beside these men
And matched them blow for blow.



The men all came to respect her
For the conviction of her dream
And they all worked even harder
For soon it would be spring.

One man in particular
He watched her from afar
His name it was Jo Eddie
No man worked any harder

The work went well 'till the spring rains came
And the roads were turned to mud.
Then the wagons stopped and the money too,
And the men left one by one.
Mabel kept a steady pace.
She seemed to go undaunted
Until all that stood by her side
Was Jo Eddie and her dreams that haunted.

But the day came when the boss man come
On a mule to do his reckoning
And the sun was low and the land was bare
Except for two hickories a'standing

He dismounted and strode to Mabel's side
Said, "well done, but I see there's two trees left
I'm afraid the deal is off
I believe you've lost the bet".




Now the boss man weren't a smart man
Knew only how to swindle
And he had a taste for women and liquor
But he really loved to gamble.

Jo Eddie stepped to block his path
Said, " I hear tell you like a good wager."
The boss man's eyes lit up at these words, and he said,
Tell me what's your pleasure."

Jo Eddie said, "I'll bet mule for mule
That I can fell that hickory
And you can have that scrawny tree
And I'll still be the one to beat you."

The boss man said, "I'll take your bet,
I'm sure you won't mind losing."
So they grabbed their axes, began to whacking
At a pace of their own choosing.

Now Jo Eddie was the stronger man
A mighty blow he'd wield.
But his axe was much more dull from use
Than the one the boss man held.

And as the evening sun began to sink
They were each one chop away
The boss man quicker with his axe
Let fall the deciding blade.


Jo Eddie just an inch behind
His tree began to tremble
But the boss man's tree it hit the ground
As Jo Eddie's tree crashed thru the brambles.

The boss man grinned and hissed these words,
"I'll take that mule sir with me."
Jo Eddie handed him the reins and said,
"you do that, and go quickly.

Cuz you see your on Miss. Mabel's land,
The sun is just now setting
And you'd best be on your way
For you are now trespassing.

The boss when he saw that he'd been had
He cursed and kicked his mule to turn her.
And Mabel placed her hand in Jo's
And they went on to love and plow those fields together.