Good people, my own mother tagged With a very unbecoming name I'd end up on a slab of marble Or living in a house of shame Indeed, that'd been easy for her to say But believe me, things won't end that way You can't do that kind of thing to me My future remains for us to see A man is no beast... We all make the bed we must lie in And tuck...Learn More

It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees They're putting up reindeer Singing songs of joy and peace I wish I had a river I could skate away on But it don't snow here It stays pretty green I'm gonna make a lot of money And quit this crazy scene I wish I had a river I could skate away on I wish I had a river so long I would teach my feet...Learn More

I've been a moonshiner For seventeen long years I've spent all my money On whiskey and beers In a wild, lonesome holler I'll build me my still And I'll make you a gallon For a two-dollar bill I'll go to some grocery I'll drink with my friends No women to follow me To see what I spend God bless those pretty women I wish they was mine Their breath...Learn More

I went into a restaurant as hungry as a bear And like a raving maniac I grabbed the bill of fare The waiter said "what will you have?" "Give me a steak," I say He took my order, bowed his head, and slowly walked away And he never came back He never came back Though I waited an hour or more Oh, his face I will break If he don't bring that...Learn More

I buyed me a little dog His color, it was brown I taught him to whistle To sing, dance, and run His legs, they were fourteen yards long; his ears, they were broad Around the world in half a day, and on him I could ride Sing, "taddle-o-day" I buyed me a little bull About four inches high And everyone did fear him That ever did hear him cry When he...Learn More

A shanty man's life is a wearisome one Though some think it’s free from care It's the swinging of an axe from morning 'till night In the forests wild and drear Transported as we are from the lady so fair To the banks of some lonely stream Where the wolf, bear, and owl with their terrible howl Disturb our nightly dream Our sleeping at night in our...Learn More

There was a lady, and a lady gay Of children she had three She sent them away to the North Country For to learn their grammarie They had not been there very long Scarcely six months and a day When death, cold death come a-hastening along And stole those babes away She prayed to the lord that was in heaven Who wears a golden crown Pray, send to me...Learn More

Oh, Molly, dear, go ask your mother If you may be a bride of mine If she says yes, we will be married If she says no, we'll run away Oh, Willie, dear, I dare not ask her She's in her chamber taking a rest And at her side a silver dagger To kill the one that I love best Oh, Molly, dear, go ask your father If you may be a bride of mine If he says...Learn More

In America, you'll get food to eat Won't have to run through the jungle and scuff up your feet You'll just sing about Jesus and drink wine all day It's great to be an American Ain't no lions, no tigers, ain't no mamba snake Just the sweet watermelon and the buckwheat cake Everybody is as happy as a man can be Climb aboard, little wog, sail away...Learn More

There is a world the rats love A rat's world, a rotted world It fits myself like a hand a glove And as you seek, so shall you find There is a world of saffron seeds Of cardamom and pennyroyal And someone lives there that I love But the rats are gnawing and I am blind I am blind There is a world of grime and grim An angry world, an ugly...Learn More

And the shark has, pretty teeth dear And he shows them, pearly white Just a jackknife, has Mac Heath dear And he keeps it, out of sight When the shark bites, with his teeth dear Scarlet billows, start to spread Fancy gloves though, wears Mac Heath dear So theres not a trace of red On the sidewalk, Sunday mornin' Lies a body oozin' life Someone’s...Learn More

It was down at Old Joe's bar room On a corner of the square They were serving drinks as usual And the usual crowd was there On my left stood Big Joe McKennedy His eyes were bloodshot red Turned to the crowd around him These are the very words he said I went down to that St-James Infirmary I saw my baby there Stretched out on a long white table So...Learn More