Traveling Riverside Blues

Album: Coda (1982)
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  • If your man get personal, want to have your fun
    If your man get personal, want to have your fun
    Best come on back to Friar's Point, mama, barrelhouse all night long

    I got women's in Vicksburg, clean on into Tennessee
    I got women's in Vicksburg, clean on into Tennessee
    But my Friar's Point rider, now, hops all over me

    I ain't gon' to state no color but her front teeth crowned with gold
    I ain't gon' to state no color but her front teeth is crowned with gold
    She got a mortgage on my body, now, layin' on my soul

    Lord, I'm goin' to Rosedale, gon' take my rider by my side
    Lord, I'm goin' to Rosedale, gon' take my rider by my side
    We can still barrelhouse baby, on the riverside

    Now you can squeeze my lemon 'til the juice run down my
    'Til the juice rune down my leg, baby, you know what I'm talkin' about
    You can squeeze my lemon 'til the juice run down my leg
    That's what I'm talkin' 'bout, now
    But I'm goin' back to Friar's Point, if I be rockin'to my head Writer/s: ROBERT LEROY JOHNSON
    Publisher: CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 21

  • Tyler W from FloridaOne small note, there were many blues musicians decades before BB King who used the line "I've had no lovin' since my baby been gone" and variations of it.
  • Rick from MiamiPlease don't squeeze me lemon
  • Stungem 75x from Lancaster, PaDefinitely, one of the sexiest songs Zepp ever did. Definitely, one of my top 5 favs. It’s like a slow driving machine. Givin it to ya and unstoppable.
  • Louis from Drexel Hill, PaAhmet Ertegun once said that Plant knew every lyric to every song ever recorded. You can hear that on albums and recordings of live performances.
    The lyrics "...kind-hearted woman, studies evil all the time..." comes from the Robert Johnson song "Kind-Hearted Woman".
  • Ray from Bonneville Salt Flats, Ut@- kenny, Minneapolis, MN. You've heard the lyrics correctly: "I AIN'T GOING TO STATE NO COLOR, BUT HER front teeth is crowned with gold." RJ was talkin about one of his black hoochie mamas, very possibly the woman about whom he wrote Love in Vain. John Hammond did a video/DVD thing in the late 70s and looked up some of the people who knew RJ....including the woman "Willie Mae", I think. When he played the song for her she burst into tears. Remember...he wrote these songs in a much different time that the one we live in now and taking it further, RJ lived in a microcosm of barrooms, brothels, juke joints and other high class establishments. His co-denizens of this blues world within the southern black world was...how to say it....pretty raw and sex, color and other subjects that would be taboo in out politically correct world were acceptable in that juke joint world.
  • Josh from Champaign, IlInviting a woman into the "kitchen" in this context is an allegory for inviting them in the bedroom to do some "cookin'" ;o) If you can't stand the heat...
  • Lisa from Blountville , TnI've got a kind hearted woman, / she studies evil all the time. / I've got a kind hearted woman, / she studies evil all the time. / You would do to quit me ...
    Robert Johnson

    Got no lien on my body. / Got no mortgage on my soul. / Got no lien on my body, baby. / Got no mortgage on my soul John Lee Hooker

    First time I heard this was on the box set .I thought well Zeppelin dug up some old stuff.This was back in the day before I started to collect Zeppelin bootlegs. I've heard the Clapton version...aahh it's ok. Zeppelin's version is far superior. Great slide from Jimmy.Robert belting out almost every well know blues line is so great you really felt as if in this song it was Zeppelin way of saying how much love and respect they have for the blues.
  • David from Los Angeles , CaThis song is freakin' cool, if you like this song i suggest you listen to Jennings Farm Blues.
  • Kenny from Minneapolis, Mn"Come On In My Kitchen" is explained by an excellent, very informative article on Wikipedia.

    On the liner notes of the Robert Johnson LP, the lyrics of "Travelling Riverside" are quoted as
    "I'm going to stay around Goldsboro, til my front teeth is crowned with gold." Listen to it. To my ear, he says, "I AIN'T GOING TO STATE NO COLOR, BUT HER front teeth is crowned with gold." Am I wrong? If I'm right, what does that lyric mean?? My only guess is so unbelievable, I'm afraid to say it.

  • Oldpink from New Castle, InNo wonder that opening guitar sounded so "jingle jangle!"
    Roger McGuinn probably gets a big smile whenever he hears this one.
    Great fun, and it's cool how Plant bellows out random delta blues lines.
  • Ray from Bonneville Salt Flats, UtAn interesting experiment: Listen to RJ's original recording. Then listen to Eric Clapton's version. Finally listen to LZ's version.

    Clapton's lyrics are almost word-for-word with RJ's.

    LZ's is far, far away from the original and includes lines from so many Delta blues song as to leave yer head spinning.

    Having said that, I still love all 3 versions. The only criticism I have of LZ is that the electric guitar added to the acoustic 12-string sticks out like a sore thumb. It just doesn't belong there. Still, it's one of my favorite LZ songs and gets a lot of play in my car and at home via WinAmp.
  • Peter Griffin from Quahog, RiNope, it's definitely "geen bone". How Zeppelin could have never recorded this song for an album is beyond me. It is FREAKING AWESOME.
  • Smalls from Uniontown, Pa, PaI could probably type all day about this song, if I wanted to, but I'll keep it short and sweet. This song is so f'n awesome that words alone do it no justice, go and listen to it.
  • Jamey from Montgomery, AlInstead of 'My baby geen bone', I think the lyric was "Had no lovin' since my baby could ball,yeah".
  • Jambi from T-town, Mianother one of jimmy's beautiful bluesy slide performances
  • Peter Griffin from Quahog, RiHe does say "geen bone". He switched the vowels around.
  • Peter Griffin from Quahog, RiSame sexual innuendo as The Lemon Song, sung differently and worded slightly differently.
  • Hanna from Trondheim, NorwaySqueeze my lemon, yeah! :p
    Led Zeppelin rooccks.
  • Michael from Lorain, Oh"Squeeze My lemon" Classic, one of my favorites. I cannot believe how my parents did not like me listening to singers like marilyn manson. The lyrics are the same to their music. The only difference is the meaning is laid between the lines.
    It is just the same as my parents parents not wanting them to listen to the begginings of Rock and Roll.
    Rock and Roll can never die. Guitars and drums are what got me this far.
    Peace, Mikey
  • Kuriente from Binangonan, OtherThe quote, "Why don't you come in my kitchen?" is actually a Robert Johnson quote. Johnson being the one who originally wrote this song back in the 30's. The Zeppelin version of this song is actually quite different than the original and is more of a tribute to Johnson than a cover. "Why don't you come in my kitchen" comes from Johnson's "Come on in my kitchen." There are also some references to "Kind Hearted Woman Blues".
  • Anonymous from , WiYes, we know what you're talking about, Robert... but what does he mean when he asks, "Why don't you come in my kitchen?" I feel like there's something I'm not getting here...
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