Speaking of "Backslider's Wine" . . .

Vernon Oxford

You Tube

. . . here's Vernon Oxford's version of Michael Martin Murphey's barroom lament:

Backslider's Wine

As the rain ruins my alibi,
I'm down to telling you my troubled mind.
It's not the sun-bright path
That bade me leave my home.
It's that fine Backslider's Wine.

My momma sings out in my memory.
Son, don't drink no red-eyed shine.
Fight for your rights
But just don't fight the past,
And do not drink Backslider's Wine.

I took myself to be a strong and loving soul
Till I found myself,
Face down on a barroom floor,
Crying o God what has become of me.
I dare not drink Backslider's Wine no more.

My momma sings out in my memory.
Son, don't drink no red-eyed shine.
Fight for your rights
But just don't fight the past.
Please don't drink Backslider's Wine.

And please don't drink Backslider's Wine.

This a bit different from my memory of the version sung by Jerry Jeff Walker, which I heard 35 years ago and loved but cannot locate on You Tube. I'm particularly uncertain of the line "But just don't fight the past," specifically "the past," which might be "the path" or even "to pass," and I'd appreciate any correction from some attuned soul with better ears than mine. But whatever the precise version, I reckon I can accept this honky-tonk one by Vernon Oxford since the fellow was born in the Arkansas Ozark town of Rogers.

Besides, I don't even know if Walker sings it like Murphey originally meant it . . .