"Here's Your Mop, Mr. Johnson"
This song, inspired by how blues and jazz great Lonnie Johnson ended his days as a janitor, was nominated for Best Song of the Year in the 1995 W.C. Handy Awards.
Anderson has not released his own version of this.
The first recording was done by Keri Leigh on
her Arrival CD. You can listen to the recording by going here and clicking on the song title near the top of the page.
Here's your mop, Mr. Johnson Here's your bucket, Mrs. Brown How time has trampled the carpet So bend those old knees and get down The Bluebird flew off in the forties And Henry Speir is dead in the ground The levee camp is gone, the minstrel show has moved on And the gin joints have all burned down Blind Lemon, he was killed in a blizzard And sweet Bessie was found dead on the road Texas and Blake disappeared with no trace And you'll collapse under your load The uniform is over there in the closet You'll need it when the weather gets cold You could play on the street, or you could die on your feet Or you can come in here and do what you're told So here's your mop, Mr. Johnson And here's your bucket, Mrs. Brown How time has trampled the carpet So bend those old knees and get down
Keri Leigh and Mark Lyon contributed to this song and are listed as co-authors.