A “Nation Sack”/ Nature sack was a love spell, specifically a 19th century Hoodoo spell used exclusively by women to capture and enslave men and/or keep them faithful.
The Hoodoo spell originated in and around Memphis, Tennessee and the word “Nation” is actually a cultural dialect pronunciation of Nature sack. It was a charm bag traditionally made of red flannel and contained Coins used as part of the spell to represent the years between her age & his, herbs, roots, curios, and a few of the man’s personal concerns for whom it is made for. It was carried by a hoodoo woman for as long as she wanted to keep the man. The spell was broken by removing items from it, thus the confident line -
"Oh-ah, she's gone
I know she won't come back
I've taken the last nickel out of her nation sack".
Because he broke the spell.
According to Keith Richards, Brian Jones had the first album, and that’s where I first heard it. I’d just met Brian, and I went around to his apartment-crash pad, actually, all he had in it was a chair, a record player, and a few records. One of which was Robert Johnson. He put it on, and it was just-you know-astounding stuff. When I first heard it, I said to Brian, “Who’s that?” “Robert Johnson”. I said, “Yeah, but who’s the other guy playing with him?” Because I was hearing two guitars, and it took me a long time to realize he was actually doing it all by himself
When I graduated from high school, my grandma handed me a CD and said "time to learn about the blues." She's passed on, but the memories of that Robert Johnson album linger on. I prefer bands like Primus, Black Label Society, and other heavy music...but my roots are in the blues thanks to this man. RESPECT.
You better come on in my kitchen
Babe, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
Ah, the woman I love took from my best friend
Some joker got lucky stole her back again
You better come on in my kitchen
Baby, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
Oh-ah, she's gone
I know she won't come back
I've taken the last nickel out of her nation sack
You better come on in my kitchen
Babe, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
Oh, can't you hear that wind howl?
Oh-y', can't you hear that wind would howl?
You better come on in my kitchen
Babe, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
When a woman gets in trouble everybody throws her down
Lookin' for her good friend none can be found
You better come on in my kitchen
Baby, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
Winter time's comin' hit's gon' to be slow
You can't make the winter, babe
That's dry long so
You better come on in my kitchen
'Cause, it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors
I've probably listened to all 29 of the Johnson tracks a thousand times over the years and this one still sends a chill up my back. This IS the blues, undiluted and distilled down to purity. Beautiful.