OLD DAN TUCKER

Ol' Dan Tucker's a fine old man,
Washed his face in a fryin' pan,
Combed his head wid a wagon wheel
And died with a toothache in his heel.

CHORUS:
Git out the way, ol' Dan Tucker,
You too late to git yo' supper,
Supper's over an' dinner's cookin'
— An ol' Dan Tucker jes' standin' there lookin'!

I come to town the other night,
To hear the noise and see the fight,
The watchman he was a-runnin' around,
Cryin', "Ol' Dan Tucker's come to town."

Ol' Dan Tucker come to town,
Ridin' a billygoat an' leadin' a houn',
Houn' barked and the billygoat jumped,
Throwed ol' Dan right straddle of a stump.

Ol' Dan Tucker dumb a tree,
His Lord and Master for to see,
The limb, it broke an' Dan got a fall,
Never got to see his Lord at all.

Ol' Dan Tucker went to the mill,
To git some meal to put in the swill;
The miller swore by the p'int of his knife
He never had seed such man in his life.

Ol' Dan Tucker he got drunk
Fell in the fire and he kicked up a chunk;
Red hot coal got in his shoe,
Lord godamighty, how the ashes flew!

Ol' Dan Tucker he come to town,
Swingin' the ladies round an' around;
First to the right an' then to the left,
An' then to the one that you love best.

Ol' Dan an' me, we did fall out,
An' what do you reckon it was about?
He stepped on my corn,
I kicked him on the shin,
An' that's the way this row begin.

Ol' Dan Tucker begun in early life
To play the banjo an' the fife;
He'd play the boys and gals to sleep
An' then into his bunk he'd creep.


Source: Best Loved American Folk Songs (Folk Song U.S.A.), by John A. & Alan Lomax, 1947. #27, pp. 92-93