In The Pines

Lyrics: Traditional
Music: Traditional

This is only known to have been played once by the Grateful Dead, on 17 July 1966. But it was no doubt played on other occasions in the early years - and was played pre-Dead as well (see below).

This is the version on Birth Of The Dead. Although the song is traditional and dates back at least to the 1870s (see below), it is credited in the liner notes to Clayton McMichen and Slim Bryant, who played with Bill Monroe - though their version has different lyrics.

Little girl, little girl what have I done
To make you treat me so
You have caused me to weep, you have caused me to mourn
You have caused me to leave my home

Chorus
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
I shiver when the cold winds blow

My daddy was a railroad man
Drove a mile and a half uptown
His head was found 'neath the driving wheel
His body has never been found

[chorus]

The longest train I ever saw
Was down that northern line
The engine passed by at ten o'clock
The cab passed by at nine

[chorus]

Little girl, little girl what have I done
To make you treat me so
You have caused me to weep, you have caused me to mourn
You have caused me to leave my home

[chorus]

This is the version by the Black Mountain Boys on Before The Dead. It is essentially the same as Bill Monroe's version (and is credited to Clayton McMichen, Jimmie Davis and Slim Bryant).

The longest train I ever saw
Went down the Georgia line
The engine passed at six o'clock
And the cab it passed at nine

Chorus
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And you shiver when the cold wind blows

I asked my captain for the time of day
He said he throwed his watch away
It's a long steel rail and a short cross tie
I'm on my way back home

[Chorus]

Little girl, little girl, what have I done
That makes you treat me so
You caused me to weep, and caused me to mourn
You caused me to leave my home

[Chorus]

Another pre-Dead version is on a tape usually referred to as the Unident Thing, with Pigpen and Garcia, probably dating from 1962. (thanks to Matt Schofield for this). Garcia calls for "Black Girl" before the song, which is an alternative title, often used in recordings by Leadbelly. That may well be where Pigpen learnt it: what he sings is a truncated version of Leadbelly's versions.

Black girl, black girl, don't you lie to me
Tell me where did you stay last night
In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shines
And I shiver the whole night through

You caused me to weep and you caused me to mourn
And you caused me to leave my happy home

Black girl, black girl, don't you lie to me
Tell me where did you stay last night
In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shines
And I shiver the whole night through

Black girl, black girl, don't you lie to me
Tell me where did you stay last night
In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shines
And I shiver the whole night through

You caused me to weep and you caused me to mourn
And you caused me to leave my happy home

Grateful Dead And Related Recordings
	Date	Album	Recorded By
	6 Mar 1964	Before The Dead	Black Mountain Boys
	live Jul 1966	Birth Of The Dead	Grateful Dead (note 1)

Notes
(1) originally released as part of the Rhino box set The Golden Road (1965-1973)

Origins
The song has a long history, under different titles (including 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night', 'Black Girl' and 'The Longest Train') and with many different verses. It dates back to at least the 1870s.

In her 1970 Indiana University PhD thesis, "In the Pines: The Melodic-Textual Identity of an American Lyric Folksong Cluster", Judith McCulloh fond 160 different permutations of the song. She identified three common textual motifs: "In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines" (118 texts), "The longest train I ever saw" (96 versions), and "(His/her) head was (found) on the driver's wheel, (His/her) body never was found." The Dead and pre-Dead versions include the first two of these but not the third.

Judith McCulloh's thesis seems only to be available in university libraries. But there is more background in Norm Cohen's book "Long Steel Rail: The Railroad In American Folksong".

Cecil Sharp collected a version in 1917 containing just one verse:

Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me
Where did you stay last night
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shines
And shivered when the cold wind blows

The first commercial recording seems to have been by Dock Walsh in 1926 and contains all three of Judith McCulloh's common motifs (thanks to Eric Levy for pointing me to this):

In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shine
And I shivered when the cold wind blow

Oh, if I'd minded what grandma said
Oh, where would I been tonight
I'd-a been in the pines, where the sun never shine
And shivered when the cold wind blow.

The longest train I ever saw
Went down the Georgie line
The engine it stopped at a six-mile post
The cabin never left the town

Chorus
Now darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie
Where did you stay last night
I stayed in the pines, where the sun never shine
And I shivered when the cold wind blow

The prettiest little girl that I ever saw
Went walking down the line
Her hair it was of a curly type
Her cheeks was rosy red

[chorus]

The train run back one mile from town
And killed my girl, you know
Her head was caught in the driver wheel
Her body I never could find

[chorus]

The best of friends is to part sometimes
And why not you and I

[chorus]

Oh, transportation has brought me here
Take a money for to carry me away

[chorus]

The song was popularised (in very different versions) by Bill Monroe and by Leadbelly. The Bill Monroe version is as played by the Black Mountain Boys (above). Leadbelly recorded a number of slightly different versions under the titles "Black Girl" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night".

Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me (note a)
Tell me, where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shine
I would shiver the whole night through

Black girl, black girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shine
I would shiver the whole night through

Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines where the sun never shine
I would shiver the whole night through

My husband was a railroad man
Killed a mile and a half from here
His head was found in a driver wheel
And his body hasn't never been found

Black girl, black girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
You caused me to weep and you caused me to mourn
You caused me to leave my home

Notes
(a) in some versions this is "My girl, my girl ..."

I haven't been able to find any version that exactly matched what the Grateful Dead sang.

Further Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography