Publication of the Texas Folklore Society, 1916, p. 29:

If ever I travel this road again,
And tears don't fall and blind me,
I'm going back to Tennessee
To the girl I left behind me.

Chorus—

Oh, that girl, that pretty little girl,
That girl I left behind me,
With rosy cheeks and curly hair,
That girl I left behind me.

If ever I travel this road again,
And the angels they don't find me,
I'll reconcile and stay a little while
With the girl I left behind me.—Chorus.

I'll cross the Red River one more time,
If the tears don't fall and drown me,
A-weeping for that pretty litle gal,
The gal I left behind me.—Chorus.

I'll build my nest in a hollow tree,
Where the cuckoos they won't find me,
I'll weep and sigh till the day I die,
For the gal I left behind me.—Chorus.

If ever I git off this warpath,
And the Indians they don't find me,
I'll go right back to see that gal,
The gal I left behind me.—Chorus.

I could buy such girls as you
For fifteen cents a dozen,
But I'm going back tomorrow,
And marry my country cousin.