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It was on one fine March morning
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I bid New Orleans adieu.
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And I was on the road to Jackson town,
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my fortune to renew,
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I cursed all foreign money,
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no credit could I gain,
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Which filled my heart with longing for
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the lakes of Pontchartrain.
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I sat on board a railway car,
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beneath the morning sun,
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and I road the rails till evening,
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and I laid me down again,
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All strangers there no friends to me,
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till a dark girl towards me came,
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And I fell in love with a Creole girl,
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by the lakes of Pontchartrain.
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I said, "My pretty Creole girl,
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my money here's no good,
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But if it weren't for the alligators,
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I would sleep out in the woods".
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"You're welcome here kind stranger,
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our house is very plain.
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But we never turn a stranger out,
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>From the lakes of Pontchartrain."
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She took me into her momma's house,
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and treated me right well,
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The hair upon her shoulder
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in jet black ringlets fell.
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To try and paint her beauty,
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I'm sure 'twould be in vain,
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So handsome was my Creole girl,
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By the lakes of Pontchartrain.
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I asked her would she'd marry me,
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she said it never would be,
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For she had got another,
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and he was of at sea.
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She said that she would wait for him
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and faithful she'd remain.
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Waiting for her sailor,
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on the lakes of Pontchartrain.
========== banjo solo goes here (any help appreciated) ============
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So fare you well my Bonny ol girl,
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I never will see you no more,
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I wont forget your kindness,
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in the cottage by the shore.
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at every social gathering,
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a golden glass I'll drain,
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And I'll drink all health to the Creole girl,
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And the lakes of Pontchartrain.
