OLD DEVIL
As recorded by Bo Carter, 1938.

Go back, old devil, and look up on your shelf.
Go back, old devil, and look up on your shelf.
Go back, old devil—it ain't no joke, no lie this time—
Look up on your shelf and get you soap and water and bathe your dirty self.

I beat my baby, man, with a rope and a line.
I beat my baby, hoo! man, with a rope and a line.
I beat my baby—it ain't no joke, no lie this time—
With a rope and a line until she went stone blind.

Some low-down scoun'l been fishin' all in my pond.
Some low-down scoun'l, hoo! been fishin' all in my pond.
Some low-down scoun'l—it ain't no joke, no lie this time—
Been fishin' in my pond, catchin' all my game fish and dryin' up the pond.

What you want with a woman, man, and she can't rob and steal?
What you want with a woman, hoo! man, and she can't rob and steal?
What you want with a woman—it ain't no joke, no lie this time—
She can't rob and steal? You don't need no man, baby; don't know you in the dark when he steal.