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Sam Cooke — Chain Gang
Album: Portrait of a Legend
Avg rating:
8.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 628









Released: 1960
Length: 2:31
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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(Hoh! Ah!) I hear something saying (Hoh! Ah!)

(Hoh! Ah!) (Well don't you know)
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, ga-ang
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, gang

All day long they're singing (Hoh! Ah!)

(Well don't you know)
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, ga-ang
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, gang

All day long they work so hard till the sun is going down
Working on the highways and byways and wearing, wearing a frown
You hear they moaning their lives away
Then you hear somebody say

That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, ga-ang
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, gang

Can't you hear them singing, mmm (Hoh! Ah!)
I'm going home one of these days
I'm going home, see my woman
Whom I love so dear
But meanwhile I gotta work right here

(Well don't you know)
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, ga-ang
That's the sound of the men,
Working on the chain, gang

All day long they're singing, mmm (Hoh! Ah!)
My work is so hard
Give me water
I'm thirsty, my work is so hard
Woah ooo
My work is so hard
Comments (70)add comment
A1 Beautiful voice 
Posted 7 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
 jhorton wrote:
All the really old people in my trailer park say their grandparents loved this song.

 
You rated "Fever" by Peggy Lee a 10 - it was released the same year as this song.
Posted 7 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
All the really old people in my trailer park say their grandparents loved this song.
Posted 7 years ago by jhorton    [ Reply ]
fabulous voice  : )
Posted 8 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
What a legend, what a song! forever pertinent. 
Posted 9 years ago by Nutgone    [ Reply ]
"Cool Hand Luke" is on TCM tonight, thats one coooool flik for those of us who have "a failure to communicate" with authority
Posted 9 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
One of the first "black" records played by the BBC besides the homogenised Banana Boat song by Harry Belafonte.
Posted 10 years ago by TerryS    [ Reply ]

Everybody in my church loves this song...

Inside the Three Strikes Project— An Inmate's Letter
by Matt Taibbi
RollingStone 

I had to leave a thing or two out of our new article in Rolling Stone on California's insane mandatory sentencing laws, "Cruel and Unusual Punishment— The Shame of The Three Strikes Laws."

The piece was based largely on interviews I did with Three Strikes prisoners as well as students, professors and other members of Stanford University's Three Strikes Project, which was instrumental in passing a 2012 ballot initiative fixing some of the worst aspects of the notorious law. I went out to the Palo Alto area and spent a fair amount of time with the Stanford crew, and also talked a good deal with prisoners, largely by phone, often at odd hours. And it was a strangely emotional experience...

Many are homeless and mentally ill, doing life for piddling nonviolent property crimes, the kind of people who are sympathetic because they may not be wholly responsible for their actions – they're either not capable of functioning without help, or damaged by gruesome childhood abuse, or schizophrenic, or all three things and more...

These are people like Shane Taylor, doing life for allegedly possessing a few grains of alleged meth, or Larry Williams, who got the max for buying a stolen cell phone, or a third, recently-released inmate (whose name is being withheld because he wants to get on with his life) – who got busted for trying to shoplift $28 of plumbing supplies from Home Depot by hiding them in a bag under some bricks that he'd actually paid for...

 


Posted 11 years ago by Lazarus    [ Reply ]
What a voice. What a story.
Posted 11 years ago by Flyingsorcha    [ Reply ]
Nice! 
Posted 11 years ago by jmkate    [ Reply ]
I LOVE THIS SONG!!! Sam Cooke...splendid!!!!! Yep.{#Bananajam}
Posted 12 years ago by ziakut    [ Reply ]
 Kittee wrote:
If you don't rate this a 10, something is wrong with you! What a classic!
And yes, nice transition !
 
Couldn't agree more...Sam was a bad ass

Posted 12 years ago by neuticle    [ Reply ]
pretenders must be coming next...
Posted 12 years ago by lshinkawa    [ Reply ]
Haven't heard this in DECADES!!!
Posted 13 years ago by Ubaldo    [ Reply ]
If you don't rate this a 10, something is wrong with you! What a classic!
And yes, nice transition !
Posted 13 years ago by Kittee    [ Reply ]
That was a fantastic transition. One of Bill's finest.

 jenakle wrote:
Sam Cooke - Chain Gang
Shawn Mullins - See That Train

I see what you did there!

{#Daisy}{#Yes}{#Daisy}
 

Posted 13 years ago by alph    [ Reply ]
This is great!
Posted 13 years ago by Bleyfusz    [ Reply ]
Love me some Sam Cooke! I saw his name mentioned in Solomon Burke's obit in Rolling Stone, and I've been listening to some old sides from back when all week. Thanks Bill. {#Wave}
Posted 14 years ago by toterola    [ Reply ]
Sam Cooke - Chain Gang
Shawn Mullins - See That Train

I see what you did there!

{#Daisy}{#Yes}{#Daisy}

Posted 14 years ago by jenakle    [ Reply ]
 lmic wrote:

Agree. Especially since he wrote the song after seeing an actual working Southern chain gang. Was it WonderLizard who said elsewhere something about Sam Cooke being especially subversive, crooning tunes like this one to white audiences back when?

 
Sure, but isn't that what those work songs are all about?  Finding a way to tolerate the intolerable by singing?

Posted 14 years ago by Dave_Mack    [ Reply ]
Great one, and great sequencing from that Shawn Mullins song with all the grunting (which I didn't really like, but the transition is fab).
Posted 14 years ago by Dave_Mack    [ Reply ]
It's hard to go wrong with Sam cooke on a play-list. :)
Posted 14 years ago by rbigelo    [ Reply ]
 Hannio wrote:
This song has always seemed much too cheery for the subject matter.
 
Agree. Especially since he wrote the song after seeing an actual working Southern chain gang. Was it WonderLizard who said elsewhere something about Sam Cooke being especially subversive, crooning tunes like this one to white audiences back when?

Posted 14 years ago by lmic    [ Reply ]
My friends and I sang this chrous sooooo much in high school. I was born in 1982. Let that sink in a bit. Sam Cooke... timeless.

Posted 14 years ago by Jamunca    [ Reply ]
This song has help up very well to the test of time...
Posted 14 years ago by DaveInSaoMiguel    [ Reply ]
Great song, great voice, but cannot compare to A Change Is Gonna Come.  Granted that's an unfair comparison, because that song is an absolute landmark.
Posted 14 years ago by window    [ Reply ]
Hmmm....
Posted 15 years ago by derekd    [ Reply ]
This song has always seemed much too cheery for the subject matter.

Posted 15 years ago by Hannio    [ Reply ]
wow... great song. Haven't heard in years.
Posted 15 years ago by Flipmode    [ Reply ]
Thank you{#Clap}
Posted 15 years ago by Dahlia_Gumbo    [ Reply ]
Had to turn this one up. {#Music}
Posted 15 years ago by bugleboy624    [ Reply ]
Everything he touched was made brilliant.
Posted 15 years ago by drife    [ Reply ]
The voice of an angel!!
Posted 16 years ago by bb_bubbab    [ Reply ]
This song is a 10 for all the right reasons.
Posted 16 years ago by nigelr    [ Reply ]
Not creepy. Brilliant. He did the same thing in a much more overt and powerful way with "A Change is Gonna Come."
Posted 16 years ago by copymonkey    [ Reply ]
WonderLizard wrote:
What's remarkable is that Cooke took this Jim Crow metaphor for bitter oppression and turned it into a pop song that white kids danced to on American Bandstand. Creepy when you think about it. Still, a 9+.
astute observation and agreed.
Posted 16 years ago by universal_bee    [ Reply ]
What's remarkable is that Cooke took this Jim Crow metaphor for bitter oppression and turned it into a pop song that white kids danced to on American Bandstand. Creepy when you think about it. Still, a 9+.
Posted 16 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
You know what amazes me most about Sam Cooke? He made this sound easy. What a talent this dude had!
Posted 16 years ago by ptooey    [ Reply ]
meydele wrote:
Probably it was Physicsgenius.
Maybe, but most likely he felt there was too much of the 90% on RP and left, as I haven't read a post from him in a while.
Posted 16 years ago by Dior    [ Reply ]
HazzeSwede wrote:
Great singer,sounds a little like Niel Young,don't you think?
Wha??
Posted 16 years ago by Hannio    [ Reply ]
always good to hear Sam...whata voice!
Posted 16 years ago by merkabah    [ Reply ]
back on the......
Posted 16 years ago by driver8    [ Reply ]
damn if I'd known this crowd would dig it I'd have uploaded Sam Cooke long ago. kudos.
Posted 16 years ago by yogaboat    [ Reply ]
Truly, one of the greats of all time.
Posted 16 years ago by rbigelo    [ Reply ]
Great singer,sounds a little like Niel Young,don't you think?
Posted 17 years ago by HazzeSwede    [ Reply ]
victoryluna wrote:
More from Sam Cooke!!!
I can't imagine anyone thinking that his music is less than great.
Posted 17 years ago by capandjudy    [ Reply ]
That\'s good stuff, let\'s party
Posted 17 years ago by Saliby_Br    [ Reply ]
More from Sam Cooke!!!
Posted 17 years ago by victoryluna    [ Reply ]
Bill - you can\'t play enough Sam Cooke...more, more, more.
Posted 17 years ago by ruralfree    [ Reply ]
A song of summer, in my mind. Sam Cooke, never another like him, before or after.
Posted 17 years ago by jadewahoo    [ Reply ]
This song will always remind me of one of my favorite movies - Cadence
Posted 17 years ago by heyjoe3577    [ Reply ]
love this song.. wasn't exactly a chain gang, but this song and "i fought the law" playing in my head made tolerable the weekends of community service i served a few years ago
Posted 17 years ago by corndog4000    [ Reply ]
canadave wrote:
I really enjoy this song, though I prefer the version done by the Nylons, mainly for nostalgic values. Has a great timeless feel to it.
What an astonishing statement! A classic? Well, yes, but the Nylons? Jeez!
Posted 17 years ago by dionysius    [ Reply ]
I love it when Bill throws a classic like this into the mix. Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett in the same morning = me happy.
Posted 17 years ago by Smoove_D    [ Reply ]
Sam Cooke
Posted 17 years ago by Shesdifferent    [ Reply ]
10! And who else is at work listening to this? :)
Posted 17 years ago by DoctorHooey    [ Reply ]
9- Outstanding!!
Posted 17 years ago by leahnichole    [ Reply ]
What a voice!! Only on RP will you find the Smiths followed by Sam Cooke. Brilliant!!!
Posted 17 years ago by sircharles    [ Reply ]
What a voice.
Posted 17 years ago by shayborg    [ Reply ]
To the dude running the playlist - I love you, man!
Posted 17 years ago by MadPercolator    [ Reply ]
wally42 wrote:
Who out there could possibly think so little of the genius of Sam Cook to rate this tune a 1!
Probably it was Physicsgenius.
Posted 17 years ago by meydele    [ Reply ]
What's amazing about this song is the soft, velvety pop arrangement behind a wrenching story of convicts laboring in the hot sun--think "Cool Hand Luke" only much blacker.
Posted 17 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
Who out there could possibly think so little of the genius of Sam Cook to rate this tune a 1! Okay I'll say.... can't help it... MORON! You must have done it out of spite!
Posted 17 years ago by wally42    [ Reply ]
canadave wrote:
I really enjoy this song, though I prefer the version done by the Nylons, mainly for nostalgic values. Has a great timeless feel to it.
Another Nylons fan here. I wonder if RP has ever played any of their stuff?
Posted 17 years ago by Hawk24    [ Reply ]
Great song for a Wednesday afternoon at work....
Posted 17 years ago by rluss    [ Reply ]
YES! Godlike!
Posted 17 years ago by wally42    [ Reply ]
I really enjoy this song, though I prefer the version done by the Nylons, mainly for nostalgic values. Has a great timeless feel to it.
Posted 17 years ago by canadave    [ Reply ]