The lyrics are largely biographical containing a number of details from Jesse James' life, portraying him as an American version of Robin Hood, though there is no evidence to indicate that he actually "stole from the rich and gave to the poor". The song is the starting point of the Jesse James panel of a mural on American folk songs by Thomas Hart Benton.
But that dirty little coward That shot Mr. Howard Has laid poor Jesse in his grave.
Robert Ford, who killed Jesse, was a James' gang member. Mr. Howard was the alias that James lived under in Saint Joseph, Missouri at the time of his killing. The song was recorded in 1924 by Bascom Lamar Lunsford and subsequently by many artists, including Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Eddy Arnold, Jackson C. Frank, The Country Gentlemen, The Pogues, The Kingston Trio, Van Morrison, Bob Seger, Willy DeVille, Mungo Jerry and Bruce Springsteen. It is the most famous song about James. Part of the song is heard at the end of the 1939 movie, Jesse James. The song was used in a 1958 episode of the TV western series Lawman, in which the marshal tries to get Robert Ford out of town safely. Ry Cooder's arrangement of the song plays over the end credits of Walter Hill's 1980 movieThe Long Riders and a portion of the song is performed on-screen by Nick Cave, who plays a strolling balladeer in a bar patronized by Robert Ford in the 2007 movieThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. The folksinger Almeda Riddle, born Almeda James, was a first cousin twice removed of Frank and Jesse James. On a recording of the song she noted, "I'm sure you've read of Frank and Jesse James. Well, my father's grandfather and their father was brothers. I never was ashamed of the James boys was my cousins, but neither was I proud of it." The composer of the song is unknown, but it is attributed in the lyrics of some versions to a to "Billy Gashade" or ""Billy LaShade", though no historical record exists for anyone under either name. This song is popular in the bluegrass repertoire; it is usually played as an instrumental, most often in the key of B.
Lyrics
Although the lyrics and structure of the song vary among versions, the following arrangement is typical:
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. Well Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life, Three children, they were brave, Well that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard, He laid poor Jesse 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 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.
A somewhat different version, alternately titled I Wonder Where My Poor Old Jesse's Gone, is as follows:
Jesse James was a man that was knowed through all the land For Jesse he was bold and bad and brave But that dirty little coward that shot down Mr. Howard Has went and laid poor Jesse in his grave Oh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone Oh I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone I will meet him in that land where I've never been before And I wonder where my poor old Jesse's gone Jesse and his brother, Frank, they robbed the Gallatin bank And carried the money from the town It was in that very place that they had a little race And they shot Captain Sheets to the ground It was on a Wednesday night and the moon was shining bright They robbed the Glendale train And the agent on his knees, delivered up the keys To the outlaws, Frank and Jesse James It was on a Friday night and the moon was shining bright Bob Ford had been hiding in a cave He had ate of Jesse's bread, he had slept in Jesse's bed But he went and laid poor Jesse in his grave Jesse James was alone a-straightening up his home Stood on a chair to dust a picture frame When Bob Ford fired the ball that pulled Jesse from the wall And he went and laid poor Jesse in his grave Jesse James has gone to rest with his hands upon his breast There's many a man that never knowed his face He was born one day in the county of Clay And he came from a solitary race
