Ole Slew Foot

—Howard Crockett and James C. Webb

High on a mountain, tell me what do you see
Bear tracks bear tracks looking back at me
Better get your rifles before its too late
The bear's got a little pig and he's headed for the gate

Chorus:
He's big around the middle and broad across the rump
Running ninety miles an hour, taking thirty feet a jump
Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been treed
And some folks say he looks a lot like me

Saved up my money and bought me some bees
Started making honey way up in the trees
Cut down the trees but the honey's all gone
Old slew foot has done made himself at home

Winter's coming on and it's forty below
River's froze over, so where can he go
I'll chase him up the gully and run him in the well
Shoot him in the bottom just to listen to him yell

Verse:

I I I I
I I IV I
I I I I
I I IV I

Chorus:

V V I I
V V I I
I I I I
I I V I

 

Old Old House

There's an old, old house that once was a mansion
On a hill overlooking the town
But time left a wreckage where once there was beauty
And soon the old house will tumble down

Chorus:
But when the leaves start to fall in autumn
And the raindrops drip from the trees
There's an old old man who walks in the garden
And his head is bowed in memories

They say he built the mansion for the love of a woman
They planned to be married in the fall
But her love for him faded in the last days of summer
And the house stood empty after all

¾

Verse:

I I IV I
I I V V
I I IV I
I V I I

Chorus:

V IV I I
V IV I I
I I IV I
I V I I

 

Old Joe Clark

—The Lilly Brothers version

Old Joe Clark had a house
Fifteen stories high
And every story in that house
Was filled with chicken pie

Chorus:
Fare thee well Old Joe Clark
Fare thee well I say
Fare the well Old Joe Clark
I'm a goin' away to stay

I went down to Old Joe's house
He invited me to supper
I stumped my toe on the table leg
And stuck my nose in the butter

Old Joe Clark's a fine old man
Tell you the reason why
He keeps good likker 'round his house
Good old Rock and Rye

Old Joe Clark, the preacher's son
Preached all over the plain
The only text he ever knew
Was High, low, Jack and the game

Old Joe Clark had a yellow cat
She would neither sing or pray
She stuck her head in the buttermilk jar
And washed her sins away

Even more verses:

Old Joe Clark had a mule
His name was Morgan Brown
And every tooth in that mule's head
Was sixteen inches around

Now Old Joe Clark ran through my field
He scared my little pup
He run my black hogs under the floor
And drunk my liquor up.

Now Old Joe Clark's a mean old man
And tough as he can be
Knocked me down with his right hand
And walked all over me

Get out 'the way for Old Joe Clark
Hide that jug of wine
Get out 'the way for Old Joe Clark
He ain't no friend of mine

Eighteen miles of mountain road
And fifteen miles of sand
If ever travel this road again
I'll be a married man

Now I wouldn't marry a widder
Tell you the reason why
She'd have so many children
They'd make those biscuits fly

Sixteen horses in my team
The leaders they are blind
And every time the sun goes down
There's a pretty girl on my mind

Verse:

I I I V
I I I – V I

Chorus:

I I I VII
I I I – V I

 




Old Home Place

—Dean Webb and Mitchell Jayne

It's been ten long years since I left my home
In the hollow where I was born.
Where the cool fall nights make the wood smoke rise,
And a fox hunter blows his horn.

I fell in love with a girl from the town
I thought that she would be true.
I ran away to Charlottesville
and worked in a sawmill or two.

Chorus:
What have they done to the old home place,
why did they tear it down?
And why did I leave the plow in the field,
and look for a job in the town.

Well, the girl ran off with somebody else
the taverns took all my pay.
And here I stand where the old home stood
before they took it away.

Now the geese fly south and the cold wind moans
as I stand here and hang my head.
I've lost my love, I've lost my home
and now I wish that I was dead.

Verse:

I III7 IV I
I I V V
I III7 IV I
I V I I

Chorus:

V V I I
II II V V
I III7 IV I
I V I I

 

Old Blue

Well, I had an old dog and his name was Blue,
Had an old dog and his name was Blue.
Had an old dog and his name was Blue…
Betcha five dollars he's a good dog too…

Callin' Blue…
Blue's a good dog, you

Blue treed a possum in a hollow log
Blue treed a possum in a hollow log
Blue treed a possum in a hollow log
And you could tell from that he's a good ol' dog

Boy I roasted that possum, nice and brown,
Roasted that possum, nice and brown,
Roasted that possum, nice and brown,
Sweet potatoes, n' all around

Callin' here Blue …
You can have some too

Now, Old Blue died and he died so hard,
He shook the ground in my back yard.
So I dug his grave with a silver spade,
Lowered him down on a golden chain.
Every link I did call his name…

Singing here‚ old Blue…
You're a good dog you

Now, when I get to heaven, first thing I'll do.
When I get to heaven, first thing I'll do.
When I get to heaven first thing I'll do,
Pull out my horn and call old Blue…

Callin' here Blue…

Well I'm gonna tell you so you'll know
I'm gonna tell you so you'll know
I'm gonna tell you so you'll know
Old Blue's gone where the good dogs go.

Cryin' here….Blue…..
I'm a coming there too

Verse:

|: I I I I
I I I V-I :|

 



Old and In the Way

—David Grisman

Chorus:
Old and in the way
That's what I heard him say
They used to heed the words he said
But that was yesterday
Coal will turn to gray
And youth will fade away
They'll never care about you
Cause you're old and in the way

As I hear tell he was happy
He had his share of friends and were kind
Now those freinds have all passed on
He don't have a place called home
Looking back to a better day
When you're old and in the way

When just a boy he left his home
Thought he'd have the world on a string
Now the years have come and gone
Through the streets he walks alone
LIke the old dog gone astray
He's just old and in the way

They'll never care about you
Cause you're old in the way

Verse:

V V I I
IV IV V V
IV IV I VI
IIm IV IV I

Chorus:

|: IV V I IV
IIm IV IV I :|

 

Oh Death

—Jeff Michael & Johnny Williams' version, originally Lloyd Chandler 1920's

Well what is this I cannot see
With icey hands taking hold of me
Well I am death none can excel
I open the doors to heaven or hell

Oh I come for to take your soul
To leave your body and leave it cold
To drop the flesh from off of your frame
The earth and worms both have their claim

Oh death oh death please give me time
To fix my heart and change my mind
Your heart is fixed your doom is bound
I have the shackles to drag you down.

Too late, too late to all farewell
My heart is fixed and summoned to hell
As long as God in heaven shall dwell
My soul, my soul shall scream in hell

Verse:

I I V I
I-IV I I-V I

 

 

Ralph Stanley's version:

Oh death, Oh death
Won't you spare me over til another year

Well what is this that I can't see
With ice cold hands taking hold of me
Well I am death none can excel
I'll open the door to heaven or hell

Whoa death someone would pray
Could you wait to call me another day
The children pray the preacher preached
Time and mercy is out of your reach

I'll fix your feet til you can't walk
I'll lock your jaw til you can't talk
I'll close your eyes so you can't see
This very hour come and go with me

In death I come to take the soul
Leave the body and leave it cold
To drop the flesh off of the frame
The earth and worms both have a claim

Oh death, Oh death
Won't you spare me over til another year

My mother came to my bed
Place a cold towel upon my head
My head is warm my feet are cold
Death is a movin upon my soul

Oh death how you're treatin me
You close my eyes so I can't see
Well you're hurtin my body you make me cold
You run my life right out of my soul

Oh death please consider my age
Please don't take me at this stage
My wealth is all at your command
If you'll remove your icy hands

Oh the young the rich or poor
All alike to me you know
No wealth no land no silver or gold
Nothin satisfies me but your soul

Oh death, Oh death
Won't you spare me over til another year
Won't you spare me over til another year
Won't you spare me over til another year

 

 

No One But My Darlin'

—Bill Monroe

I'll never love no one else but my darlin'
Even though we both had to part
I'll never love no one else but my darlin'
For wherever she goes she'll always have my heart.

Chorus:
As most people say absence makes the heart grow cold
But the kind of love we had each other's heart we'll hold
I'll never love no one else but my darlin'
As we travel down two different lonesome roads

I'll never let no one take your place my darlin'
For you know you meant the world to me
I'll never let no one take your place my darlin'
For your love won't let my heart be free.

Verse:

I I I V
I I I – V I

Chorus:

IV I IV I-V
I I I – V I

 

No Depression in Heaven

—A.P. Carter

For fear the hearts of men are failing,
For these are latter days we know.
The Great Depression now is spreading,
God's word declared it would be so.

Chorus:
I'm going where there's no depression,
To the lovely land that's free from care.
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble,
My home's in Heaven, I'm going there.

In that bright land, there'll be no hunger,
No orphan children cryin' for bread,
No weeping widows, toil or struggle,
No shrouds, no coffins, and no death.

This dark hour of midnight nearing
And tribulation time will come.
The storms will hurl in midnight fear
And sweep lost millions to their doom.

Verse and Chorus:

I I IV I
I I V I

 

Ninety-Nine Years (And One Dark Day)

I've been in this prison twenty years or more
I shot my woman with a .44
I'll be right here till my dyin' day
I got 99 years and one dark day

Well the food is bad and the beds are hard
I spend all day breakin' rocks in the yard
Well there ain't no change, gonna stay that way
I got 99 years and one dark day

I never learned to read, I never learned to write
My whole life's been one big fight
I never heard about the righteous way
I got 99 years and one dark day

There ain't no singer that can sing a song
(to) Convince the warden that I ain't wrong
His mind's made up, gonna stay that way
I got 99 years and one dark day

Verse:

I I V V
V V I I
I I IV IV
I V I I