what is the meaning of the song down in the valley
Down in the Valley ( folk song ) - wikipedia Down in the Valley ( folk song ) Jump to : navigation , search `` Birmingham Jail '' redirects here . For the open letter written by Martin Luther King , Jr. , see Letter from Birmingham Jail . `` Down in the Valley '' , also known as `` Birmingham Jail '' , is a traditional country - blues American folk song . It has been recorded by many artists , and is included in the Songs of Expanding America recordings in the Burl Ives six - album set Historical America in Song . The verses mentioning `` Birmingham Jail '' refer to the Birmingham City Jail which was known in the mid-1920s . According to one biographer of Lead Belly he performed it for Texas Governor Pat Neff at the Sugarland Penitentiary in 1924 . Guitarist Jimmie Tarlton claimed to have written the lyrics in 1925 while he was jailed in Birmingham for moonshining . It was first recorded by Tarlton and his partner Tom Darby on November 10 , 1927 in Atlanta , Georgia for Columbia Records . It is a ballad played in the 3 / 4 time signature . Lyrics vary , as with most folk songs . For example , sometimes the line `` Hang your head over , hear the wind blow '' is replaced by `` Late in the evening , hear the train blow '' . In 1927 , Darby and Tarlton sang `` down in the levee '' in place of `` down in the valley '' ; the version sung by Lead Belly in 1934 substitutes `` Shreveport jail '' for `` Birmingham jail '' . Contents ( hide ) 1 Selected recordings 2 In other media 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links Selected recordings ( edit ) Darby and Tarleton ( 1927 , Columbia 15212D ) -- sold over 200,000 copies , one of Columbia 's best - sellers at the time Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs ( 1961 ) Jerry Garcia and David Grisman , on the 1996 album Shady Grove In other media ( edit ) The song is the basis of the 1945 Kurt Weill and Arnold Sundgaard opera Down in the Valley . It was performed on The Alvin Show and The Andy Griffith Show in 1962 . The author / songwriter David M. Pierce used selected lyrics from the song as titles for a series of detective novels written between 1989 and 1996 : Down in the Valley , Hear the Wind Blow , Dear , Roses Love Sunshine , Angels in Heaven , Write Me a Letter and As She Rides By . The first four verses are featured in Catherine Marshall 's novel , Christy , before the prologue . The song is sung in the movie Stir Crazy by the character Grossberger portrayed by Erland Van Lidth Jim and Anna sing the song in Tille Olsen 's novel _Yonnondio_ as they arrive in the Dakotas . The 3 / 4 time and melancholy of the song contrast with the hope they are feeling as they arrive there . The song is performed by Ronnie Cox ( Ozark Bule ) and David Carradine ( Woody Guthrie ) in the Academy Award winning film ( Best Cinematography / Best Music - Score ) `` Bound For Glory '' ( biography of Woody Guthrie ) in the scene that takes place in a migrant fruit pickers camp . http://www.halashby.co.uk/page18.html References ( edit ) Jump up ^ Ken Tate ; Janice Tate ( 2004 ) . Favorite Songs of the Good Old Days . DRG Wholesale . p. 29 . ISBN 978 - 1 - 59217 - 034 - 0 . Jump up ^ Henry M. Belden ; Arthur P. Hudson , eds. ( 1952 ) . Folk Songs from North Carolina . The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore. 3 . Duke University Press . Jump up ^ `` The Shreveport Jail / Leadbelly '' . Traditional Music and Spoken Word Catalog . Library of Congress . Retrieved 2015 - 03 - 06 . Jump up ^ Charles K. Wolfe ( 2002 ) . Classic Country : Legends of Country Music . Routledge . p. 90 . ISBN 978 - 1 - 135 - 95734 - 6 . Whitburn , Joel ( 2008 ) . Joel Whitburn Presents Across the Charts : The 1960s . Record Research . p. 60 . ISBN 978 - 0 - 89820 - 175 - 8 . Further reading ( edit ) Kittredge , G.L. ( July -- September 1917 ) . `` Ballads and Songs '' . The Journal of American Folk - Lore . XXX ( 117 ) : 283 -- 369 . JSTOR 534379 . External links ( edit ) `` Traditional Ballad Index of Folk Songs '' at California State University , Fresno `` Down in the Valley '' , Darby and Tarlton 1929 recording at the Internet Archive Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Down_in_the_Valley_(folk_song)&oldid=819317959 '' Categories : American folk songs Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 8 January 2018 , at 18 : 29 . Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply . By using this site , you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation , Inc. , a non-profit organization . About Wikipedia
1. "Down in the Valley" - folk song
2. Birmingham Jail
3. Traditional country-blues American folk song
4. Recorded by many artists
5. Lyrics and variations of the song