So the stories goes that Robert Johnson had a way with the ladies that may have gotten him into trouble on occasion with a jealous boyfriend or husband. This certainly wasn't the way of the world in the 30's to say the least.
Robert had a time in his life were it seemed he had disappeared from the street corner performances and juke joints of the smaller towns in Mississippi and Arkansas and some believed that his rambling lifestyle and the occasional run in with a ladies boyfriend may have gotten the best of him. Others believed that Johnson had made a deal with the devil.
When he returned Robert had became more fluent in his guitar playing and thus added to the rumors of Johnson's infamous deal with devil. Son House a contemporary of Robert Johnson who knew him told the story as an explanation of Johnson's astonishing rapid mastery of the guitar.
Did Robert make a deal with the devil to tune his guitar? Nobody knows but what is evident in some of Johnson's lyrics are the traveling ways he desired and of the ladies.
Here is I Believe I'll Dust My Broom in which Johnson sings of leaving his woman and traveling around the world if that's what it takes to find the woman of his desires.
I'm gointa get up in the mornin
I believe I'll dust my broom
I'm gointa get up in the mornin
I believe I'll dust my broom
Girlfriend the black man you've been lovin
Girlfriend can get my room
I'm gonna write a letter
Telephone every town I know
I'm gonna write a letter
Telephone every town I know
If I can't find her in West Helena
She must be in East Monroe I know
I don't want no woman
Wants every downtown man she meets
I don't want no woman
Wants every downtown man she meets
She's a no good dooney
They shouldn't allow her on the street
I believe, I believe I'll go back home
I believe, I believe I'll go back home
You can mistreat me here babe,
But you can't when I'm back home
And I'm gettin up in the mornin
I believe I'll dust my broom
I'm gettin up in the mornin
I believe I'll dust my broom
Girlfriend the black man you been lovin
Girlfriend can get my room
I'm gonna call up Chiney
See is my good girl over there
I'm gonna call up China
See is my good girl over there
I can't find her on Phillipine's island
She must be in Ethiopia somewhere
I believe I'll dust my broom
I'm gointa get up in the mornin
I believe I'll dust my broom
Girlfriend the black man you've been lovin
Girlfriend can get my room
I'm gonna write a letter
Telephone every town I know
I'm gonna write a letter
Telephone every town I know
If I can't find her in West Helena
She must be in East Monroe I know
I don't want no woman
Wants every downtown man she meets
I don't want no woman
Wants every downtown man she meets
She's a no good dooney
They shouldn't allow her on the street
I believe, I believe I'll go back home
I believe, I believe I'll go back home
You can mistreat me here babe,
But you can't when I'm back home
And I'm gettin up in the mornin
I believe I'll dust my broom
I'm gettin up in the mornin
I believe I'll dust my broom
Girlfriend the black man you been lovin
Girlfriend can get my room
I'm gonna call up Chiney
See is my good girl over there
I'm gonna call up China
See is my good girl over there
I can't find her on Phillipine's island
She must be in Ethiopia somewhere