Katy Cruel
RA, Western, 2008
When first I came to town, they called me the rovin' jewel
Now they've changed their tune, they call me Katy Cruel
Oh-little-o-lie-day-o, little-o-lie-o-day
I know who I love, I know who does love me,
I know where I'm going, I know who'll go with me.
Then thro' the woods I'll go, and thro' the boggy mire,
Straight along the road, till I reach my heart's desire.
I wish I was where I would be, then would I be where I am not
But I must be where I would not, go where I would I cannot.
When first I came to town, they called me the rovin' jewel
Now they've changed their tune, they call me Katy Cruel
Oh-little-o-lie-day-o, little-o-lie-o-day
From This is just one of the songs Tom Westbrook sang - collected or probably heard from somewhere - and it stuck.
About
I find it tantalizingly vague, but very evocative. Made up to a great extent of truisms (I wanna be where I wanna be) it nevertheless conjures up - for me - resignation and anger from someone who doesn't conform, and gets slated for it.
Wikipedia says that Karen Dalton's recording is the best known. She was a folk/country singer and banjo player, native American origins. She was doing things in the 60's and 70's, so I should have heard her, but I didn't. Hearing her now I wish I had. She recorded this song in 1971 - 7 or 8 years after I heard it from Tom.
Recently Sinead O'Connor, Agnes Obel have had a go at it.
The appeal of the song for me, and I am sure for most other people who have sung it, lies somewhere else. In the freefloating, non-specific imagery and language; the figure of an outcast with strength.