“If I Lose, I Don't Care”

Description

Floating verses; singer is clearly a rambler, but the song has no cohesion. "I can't walk/Neither can I talk/Just getting back from the state of old New York/One morning, just before day." Chorus: "If I lose, let me lose/I don't care how much I lose."

Cross references

• cf. "Battleship of Maine" (tune, floating lyrics)
• cf. "Joking Henry" (tune)

Recordings

• Maggie Jones, "If I Lose, Let Me Lose" (Columbia 14059-D, 1925)
• J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers, "If I Lose, Let Me Lose" (Bluebird B-7471, 1938)
• New Lost City Ramblers, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (on NLCR05)
• Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (Columbia 15215-D, 1927; on CPoole02 as "If I Lose, Let Me Lose")

References

1. Cohen/Seeger/Wood, p. 187, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (1 text, 1 tune)
2. Rorrer, p. 75, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (1 text)
3. Darling-NAS, pp. 284-285, "If I Lose, I Don't Care" (1 text)
4. DT, IFILOSE*
5. Roud #12399
6. BI, CSW187