If I mistreat you girl, I sure don't mean no harm
If I mistreat you girl, I sure don't mean no harm
Well, I'm a motherless child, I don't know right from wrong

Please tell me pretty mama, honey where'd you stay last night?
Please tell me pretty mama, honey where'd you stay last night?
Well, you didn't come home till the sun was shining bright

I have to go so far, girl, to get my ham bones boiled
Have to go so far, girl, to get my ham bones boiled
Well, he's had a lot of women, going to let my ham bones burn

Well, I did more for you, girl, than your daddy ever done
Well, I did more for you, girl, than your daddy ever done
Well, I give you my jelly, he ain't give you none

And when you see two women always running hand in hand
When you see two women always running hand in hand
You can bet your bottom dollar, one got the other one's man

Lord, I'm going to the river, get me a tangled rocking chair
I'm going to the river, get me a tangled rocking chair
And if the blues overtake me, going to rock away from here