chorus:
Round and round, old Joe Clarke
Round and round, I say
Round and round, old Joe Clarke
I ain’t got long to stay
Fare thee well, old Joe Clarke
Fare thee well, I say
He’d follow me ten thousand miles
To hear my fiddle play
verses:
Old Joe Clarke the preacher’s son
Preached all over the plain
The only text he ever used
Was high low jack and the game
I went down to old Joe’s house
Never been there before
He slept on the feather bed
And I slept on the floor
(chorus)
Old Joe Clarke he had a dog
As blind as he could be
Chased a redbug ’round a stump
And a coon up a hollow tree
Old Joe had a yellow cat
She would not sing or pray
She stuck her head in a buttermilk jar
And washed her sins away
(chorus)
I went down to old Joe’s house
Old Joe wasn’t at home
I ate up all of old Joe’s meat
And left old Joe the bone
I used to live on mountaintop
But now I live in town
I’m boarding at the big hotel
Courting Betsy Brown
(chorus)