The Lonesome Road

By Gene Austin & Nat Shilkret
1927

Austin himself was the first to record this song, and it became so popular that it was actually incorporated into the 1929 film adaptation of the Broadway smash Show Boat, the first modern musical. In fact, it was the only song not by composers Oscar Hammerstein & Jerome Kern to be featured in the movie.

Lyrics:

Look down, look down
That lonesome road,
Before you travel on.

Look up, look up
And seek your maker,
'fore Gabriel blows his horn.

Weary toting such a load,
Heading down that lonesome road.

Look down, look down
That lonesome road,
Before you travel on.

True love, true love,
What have I done,
That you should treat me so?

You caused me
To walk and talk
Like I never done before.

Weary toting such a load,
Trudging down that lonesome road.

Look down, look down
That lonesome road,
Before you travel on.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Jimmy Lunceford
Louis Armstrong
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
Nat King Cole