When Jimmie Rodgers Said Goodbye
by Dwight Butcher and Lou Herscher
"This song was written a few days after Jimmie's death. I had always idolized Jimmie but, having been raised on a Tennessee hillside farm, never got too far away or ever had a chance to meet him. When Ralph Peer told me he was coming up to New York for a session in the spring and that he might record some of my songs, well, this was just about the most important thing I had ever had to look forward to. Lou Herscher and I had been writing songs together that year (1933) and decided to present to Jimmie, through Ralph Peer, four or five of our best numbers. 'Old Love Letters Bring Memories Of You' being among them. Jimmie arrived but he didn't last long. I went over to the Taft Hotel several evenings and rehearsed the songs with him. He would lay on the bed and prop himself up with pillows in order to hold the guitar. The last song on his last session, he recorded our song, 'Old Love Letters.' He died that night. We wrote 'When Jimmie Rodgers Said Goodbye' a few days later. I wrote the words and Lou wrote the music. Because of our great admiration for this man, we wrote this song. Every word came straight from the heart."
— Dwight Butcher
When Jimmie Rodgers Said Goodbye
There's an old guitar that's lonely
For its master gone away
Now he's singing to the angels
Way up in heaven today.
He left a blue song for the brakeman
And for the kids a lullaby
To all sweethearts he left a love song
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
He left a yodel for the cowboy
They'll sing it now with tear-dimmed eyes
For he left every prairie lonely
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
They'll miss him down in Alabama
In Tennessee you'll hear them sigh
And Mississippi lost their blue yodeler
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
And though the freight trains keep on running
He caught a fast one on the fly
But he left his guitar behind him
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
And I lost my pal and true friend
When Jimmie rodgers said goodbye.
by Dwight Butcher and Lou Herscher
"This song was written a few days after Jimmie's death. I had always idolized Jimmie but, having been raised on a Tennessee hillside farm, never got too far away or ever had a chance to meet him. When Ralph Peer told me he was coming up to New York for a session in the spring and that he might record some of my songs, well, this was just about the most important thing I had ever had to look forward to. Lou Herscher and I had been writing songs together that year (1933) and decided to present to Jimmie, through Ralph Peer, four or five of our best numbers. 'Old Love Letters Bring Memories Of You' being among them. Jimmie arrived but he didn't last long. I went over to the Taft Hotel several evenings and rehearsed the songs with him. He would lay on the bed and prop himself up with pillows in order to hold the guitar. The last song on his last session, he recorded our song, 'Old Love Letters.' He died that night. We wrote 'When Jimmie Rodgers Said Goodbye' a few days later. I wrote the words and Lou wrote the music. Because of our great admiration for this man, we wrote this song. Every word came straight from the heart."
— Dwight Butcher
When Jimmie Rodgers Said Goodbye
There's an old guitar that's lonely
For its master gone away
Now he's singing to the angels
Way up in heaven today.
He left a blue song for the brakeman
And for the kids a lullaby
To all sweethearts he left a love song
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
He left a yodel for the cowboy
They'll sing it now with tear-dimmed eyes
For he left every prairie lonely
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
They'll miss him down in Alabama
In Tennessee you'll hear them sigh
And Mississippi lost their blue yodeler
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
And though the freight trains keep on running
He caught a fast one on the fly
But he left his guitar behind him
When Jimmie Rodgers said goodbye.
And I lost my pal and true friend
When Jimmie rodgers said goodbye.
