“Cocaine Bill and Morphine Sue”
Description
"Cocaine Bill and Morphine Sue, Strolling down the avenue two by two," decide that a shot will do them no harm. They try to find cocaine, though it is no longer sold in the stores. Now they are dead and buried; no one knows where they went
Notes
Cocaine was outlawed in the early part of this [the twentieth] century, which is probably why Bill and Sue couldn't get it at the drugstore.
This is clearly related to the cross-referenced pieces, but it includes more narrative than "Cocaine Blues", and lacks the "drug-afflicted possessions" so characteristic of "Cocaine Lil". I call it a separate song. - PJS
This is clearly so; even if it arose from one of the other cocaine songs (all of which have a certain sameness), it has gone its own way. - RBW
Cross references
- cf. "Cocaine Blues (I)" (subject) and references there
Recordings
- Anonymous singers, "Cocaine Bill and Morphine Sue" (on Unexp1)
References
- Silber-FSWB, p. 75, "Cocaine Bill and Morphine Sue" (1 text)
- Roud #4790
- BI, FSWB075A