Look Up, Look Down That Long Muddy Road (Willie Moore)

The longest day I ever saw
Was the day I left my home,
I walked the porch from post to post
Hung down my head and cried.
Look up, look down that long muddy road
Hang down your head and cry.
The best of friends must part sometimes,
Darlin', why must you and I?
Don't you hear that lonesome turtle dove
As he flies from pine to pine,
He's mourning for his own true love
Just as I mourn for mine.
One of the most poignant and beautiful folk songs I've heard in recent years.
I had been familiar with the traditional Willie Moore (which the first half of the melody uses here) since I don't now when, but I only heard "Muddy Road" for the first time last year, when I was blown away by ‪@CliftonHicksbanjo‬ 's spellbinding interpretation of it, which he played on his homemade gourd banjo. Clifton Hicks has shared dozens of performances of traditionals on his page that I love, but probably none more than this one.
Watch his version here: • Clifton Hicks - Muddy ...
According to Hicks, he "learned "Muddy Road" from a 1960s recording of Claude Wolfenbarger of Grainger County, Tennessee. This song is known by various titles, including "County Jail," "Fall On My Knees," and "Lonesome Road.""
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As for the book, it's THE WISDOM OF THE DESERT, Thomas Merton's translations of sayings and stories about the Desert Fathers. I'd strongly recommend it to anyone.
Here're a few excerpts:
"Once some robbers came into the monastery and said to one of the elders: We have come to take away everything that is in your cell. And he said: My sons, take all you want. So they took everything they could find in the cell and started off. But they left behind a little bag that was hidden in the cell. The elder picked it up and followed after them, crying out: My sons, take this, you forgot it in the cell! Amazed at the patience of the elder, they brought everything back into his cell and did penance, saying: This one really is a man of God!"
AND:
"There was a certain elder who, if anyone maligned him, would go in person to offer him presents, if he lived nearby. And if he lived at a distance he would send presents by the hand of another."
AND:
"There were two elders living together in a cell, and they never had so much as one quarrel with one another. One therefore said to the other: Come on, let us have at least one quarrel, like other men. The other said: I don't now how to start a quarrel. The first said: I will take this brick and place it here between us. Then I will say: It is mine. After that you will say: It is mine. This is what leads to a dispute and a fight. So then they placed the brick between them, one said: It is mine, and the other replied to the first: I do believe that it is mine. The first one said again: It is not yours, it is mine. So the other answered: Well then, if it is yours, take it! Thus they did not manage after all to get into a quarrel."

[@artist-reader]

Merton has long been a personal inspiration. Many have co-opted his writing and (I think) misrepresent his meaning/thought. Lovely, always to just read the man himself and that book is a gem. Thanks ever for sharing your musical gift. Thanks also to a new-to-me tune.

[@DanDDirges]

Excellent Seth! New song for me although, Willie Moore is one of my most favorite songs. I just checked out Cliftons version and I like it a lot too.

[@sethmountain]

Thanks, Dan! That walking the porch from post to post line kills me. So simple, says so much.

[@diEgita]

Man! thats amazing! just discovered u

[@sethmountain]

Thank you kindly. Just now checking out your live looping videos in wild settings. Great stuff!

[@dain2606]

Hello Mr.seth iam hanyul

[@sethmountain]

Hello Hanyul! :)