"Lord, Send Me an Angel" is a song by

Blind Willie McTell Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a Piedmont blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont bl ...

of which two versions were recorded on September 19, 1933 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, with

Curley Weaver Curley James Weaver (March 25, 1906 – September 20, 1962) was an American blues musician, also known as Slim Gordon. Biography Early years Weaver was born in Covington, Georgia, and raised on a farm near Porterdale. His mother, Savannah "Dip" ...

on second guitar. Accompanied by his wife,

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

, McTell re-recorded it as "Ticket Agent Blues" in 1935, albeit with some alternate verses. This was used as the B-side to his

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Bell Street Blues" on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. The song was covered by

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band,

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...

, which was released as a single in October 2000. The original version of the song begins with a dialogue between the singer and

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

. The former asks for an angel and the latter says, having no angels, He'll send ''"a teasin' brown"''. The rest of the lyrics describe the singer's promiscuity and liking for women of different complexions: ''"One woman's Atlanta yellow, the other is Macon brown, but the Statesboro blackskin will turn your damper down"''. The song ends with the singer addressing a lover, saying he's leaving her and that she'll be sorry she drove him away, perhaps wishful thinking judging by the way he claims to regard women. The alternate verses of "Ticket Agent Blues" lengthens the song, telling a story of the protagonist seeking his lover at a train station, describing her appearance to the ticket agent, and includes a warning to avoid relationships with married women, ''"cause their husband will grab ya, and beat ya ragged as a cedar tree"''. The song then ends in a similar fashion, the addressing a lover to tell her he's leaving her; however, this time the singer warns ''"I'ma tell you pretty mama exactly who I am, when I walk in that front door and hear that back door slam"''.

The White Stripes single

The White Stripes' cover version features a few changes to the original lyrics: Frontman

Jack White's Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, i ...

name replaces McTell's, and Detroit replaces Macon and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

as place names. ;Track listing

References

* AllMusic: "Lord, Send Me an Angel" Retrieved September 21, 2005. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lord, Send Me An Angel 2000 singles The White Stripes songs 1933 songs Wikipedia requested audio of songs