From the sheet music at The University of Alabama:


WAY DOWN IN ARKANSAW
Words and music by James White, ©1915.

[1] Way down south where I was born,
Amid the cotton and the golden corn,
There's the place I long to be
In that land of hospitality,
Where the jaybirds sweetly sing,
In the winter just the same as spring.
Guess I'll grab a southbound train
And go back to my old home again.

[CHORUS] Way down in Arkansas,
You'll find the turkey in the straw,
And the rooster crowing at the break of day,
On an old oak stump amid the new-mown hay.
There's where my great-grandpa
First met my great grandma,
And there they settled down together,
Because they loved each other,
Way down in Arkansas.

[2] I will take that first choo-choo
That leaves tomorrow morn 'bout half-past two.
Here's my ticket in my hand
That will take me back to Dixieland.
Soon I'll be back home again
With the darkies in the sugarcane.
I've a longing to be there
And breathe once again that balmy air.