Pete Seeger - Joe Bowers lyrics

My name it is Joe Bowers
I've got a brother Ike
I'm just here from Missouri
And all the way from Pike
I'll tell you why I left there
And why I came to roam
And leave my aged parents so
Far away from home

I used to court a girl there
Her name was Sally Black
I asked her if she'd marry
She said it was a whack
She says to me, "Joe Bowers
Before we've hitched for life
You ought to get a little home
To keep your littlе wife"

Says I, "My dearest Sally, oh Sally
For your sakе i"ll go to California and try
And raise a stake"
Says she to me, "Joe Bowers
You're just the one to win"
She gave me a kiss to seal the
Bargain and throwed a dozen in
I'll never forget my feelings when
I bid adieu to all
Sal she cotched me around the neck
And I began to bawl
When I began they all commenced
You never heard the like
How they took on and cried and cried
The day I left old Pike

When I got to this country, I had nary a red
I had such wolfish feelings
I wished myself most dead
But the thoughts of my dear Sally
Soon made this feeling git
And whispered hope to Bowers Lord
I wish I had 'em yet

At last I went to mining
Put in my biggest licks
Come down upon the boulders just
Like a thousand bricks
I worked both late and early, in rain
In sun and snow i was working for my Sally
'twas all the same to Joe

One day I got a letter
From my dear brother Ike
It came from old Missouri all
The way from Pike
It taught me the darnedest news
That ever you did hear
My heart it is a-breaking
So please excuse this tear

It said my Sal was false to me
That her love for me had fled
That she had gotten married to a
Butcher whose hair was red
It told me more than that
It's enough to make me swear
That Sal had had a baby and
The baby had red hair

Now I told you everything about
This sad sad affair
About Sally's marrying the butcher and
The baby had red hair
But whether it was a boy or
Girl the letter never said
It only said the baby's hair
Was inclined to be red