In the Night with Jesse James

I have no idea why I woke up in the middle of the night with that old song "The Ballad of Jesse James" ricocheting through my head. (See lyrics below--courtesy of Wikipedia.) I think I first heard this song back in the 1960s--the folk era--and I even learned to play it on my guitar. (I thank the Gods of Music that there is no recording of that!)

So, last night, here came that song, unbidden, and I lost sleep trying to remember all of the lyrics. (Thank you, brain.)

Jesse James was a prominent figure in my childhood--at least on TV and at the movies. I knew his name far before--and long after--I knew the names of prominent literary and cultural figures. I wasn't a big Jesse fan--I kind of preferred Billy the Kid and other killers. (In fact, years later, I would write with some of my students a middle school play, cleverly called Billy the Kid--a musical!--that we performed twice at Harmon Middle School. Two different productions. A decade or so apart.)

So ... the "real" Jesse James? Jesse Woodsen James (1847-82). Missouri. Pro-slavery. Bank and train robber. The James-Younger Gang (starring Jesse, his brother Frank, and the Younger brothers).

He had, in pop culture, a sort of "Robin Hood" image--but he was really just more of a robbin' hood. One of his most famous raids was in Northfield, Minnesota (Sept. 7, 1876), a raid that produced books and some pretty good films, including The Great Northfield, Minnesota Raid, 1972, a film by Philip Kaufman, starring Cliff Robertson, Robert Duvall, and other notables. (Link to film trailer.) The entire film is now on YouTube.

There was also another good book and film about Jesse: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, 2007; Casey Affleck played Ford. It was based on the Ron Hansen novel of the same title (1983). (Link to film trailer.)

Ford murdered Jesse on April 3, 1882, gunning him down in his own house while James was straightening a picture on the wall.

So it goes in Outlaw World.

A world that swirled into my memory last night and will not let me alone!

**

Link to a moment in a film when some of the song is sung.

Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man,

He robbed the Glendale train,

He stole from the rich and he gave to the poor,

He'd a hand and a heart and a brain.

Well it was Robert Ford, that dirty little coward,

I wonder how he feels,

For he ate of Jesse's bread and he slept in Jesse's bed,

And he laid poor Jesse in his grave.

(chorus)

Well Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life,

Three children, [now] they were brave,

Well that dirty little coward that shot Mr. [Mister] Howard,

He laid poor Jesse [Has laid Jesse James] in his grave.

Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,

He'd never rob a mother or a child,

There never was a man with the law in his hand,

That could take Jesse James alive.

Jesse was a man, a friend to the poor,

He'd never see a man suffer pain,

And with his brother Frank he robbed the Chicago bank,

And stopped the Glendale train.

It was on a Saturday night and the moon was shining bright,

They robbed the Glendale train,

And people they did say o'er many miles away

It was those outlaws, they're Frank and Jesse James

(chorus)

Now the people held their breath when they heard of Jesse's death,

And wondered how he ever came to fall

Robert Ford, it was a fact, he shot Jesse in the back

While Jesse hung a picture on the wall

Now Jesse went to rest with his hand on his breast,

The devil will be upon his knee.

He was born one day in the County Clay,

And he came from a solitary race.

(chorus)