Too Darn Mean to Cry

I've been on this song's trail for hours now. Or more precisely trying to fathom its relationship to either of the two Lightnin' Hopkins songs of the same name and what, if any, these two songs have to one another. The jury's still out. In the midst of my deliberations I did learn that I have purchased another worthless book (don't you hate that!). The book is a compendium of blues lyrics nearly five hundred pages long with no index, no alphabetizing, nothing other than (sort of) thematic arrangements. It also simply offers the lyrics without anything in the way of commentary. It just goes to show once again that the guy that wrote The Paradox of Choice is right: having lingered over all the available choices in this genre I should have made the right choice and that I didn't is my own damned fault, so choice ultimately leads to unhappiness. If, on the other hand, this had been the only book there was I'd be absolved of responsibility for my disappointment. This strikes me as a very blues concept. Needless to say, the lyrics are from the web.I hate to hear that engine blow boo hooI hate to hear that engine blow boo hooEverytime I hear it blowin', I feel like riden' tooI'll ask the brakeman to let me ride the blindI'll ask the brakeman to let me ride the blindHe said, "Man, you know this train ain't mine."That's a mean ol' fireman, cruel ol' engineerThat's a mean ol' fireman, cruel ol' engineerIt was a mean ol' train that took my gal away from here.I've got the freight train blues,but too darn mean to cry.I've got the freight train blues, but too darn mean to cry.I'm gonna love that gal 'till the day she dies.There's three trains ready but none ain't goin' my wayI say, there are three trains ready but none ain't goin' my wayBut the sun's gonna shine in my back door some day.Word to the wise, in the blues you better look out when an estranged lover says he's gonna love you til the day YOU die.