Here is the verson from Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag (1927). It's almost identical to the first version (click) in the Digital Tradition, but I think the differences are worth noting.

THE GOOD BOY

I have led a good life, full of peace and quiet
I shall have an old age full of rum and riot;
I have been a good boy, wed to peace and study,
I shall have an old age, ribald, coarse and bloody.

I have never cut throats, even when I yearned to,
Never sang dirty songs that my fancy turned to;
I have been a nice boy and done what was expected,
I shall be an old bum loved but unrespected.

Pay attention to Sandburg's notes, which differ from the attribution given in the Digital Tradition:

Lem Parton, a New York journalist who farms at Sneeden's Landing up the Hudson, gives the following version of a highbrow folk song which has several variants.

Note the tune, which is something like "Gambolier."

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Click to play

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I think I like the Spaeth version of the lyrics best.
-Joe Offer-