I too was fascinated by the lyrics. Did some digging on Google etc following up some of the pointers given in earlier posts and found that Joan Baez based her song on a song by Jacob A. Browne And The Greenwood Singers, a Liberian based group that did Cafe Music. Long and interesting story behind the credits on the song, if you do a search for Guthrie Alberts (a descendant of the Arthur S Alberts credited as a writer of Danger Waters) you'll see his website which explains a bit more about the history (Arthur Alberts being an American stationed in West Africa during World War II who then returned in 1949 to record some of the local music including "Hold Me Tight" (which is a precursor to Danger Waters)). He has rereleased Hold Me Tight and although I didnt purchase the track I was able to listen to a couple of 30s samples and scribbled down the following lyrics:
me go buy you slippers
me go buy you shimmy
and i tell you say
make yo mommy no know (repeated)
and i tell her say
make me go no home
and we lay on sofa make her get me labor
and the other wine (repeated)
"tortoise boy no mon ami..." (repeated)

Seems to me that the lyrics here (which are only part of the song) seem to talk about a man who buys gifts for a girl that he's having a secret relationship with. Interestingly here the phrase seems to be "make her get me labor" which sounds more like sex than childbirth. Also the phrases: "me go buy you slippers" and "me go buy you shimmy" have the same sound to them as Danger Waters' "give me back me shilling". Also it seems the story is being told from the male point of view here rather than the female point of view in Danger Waters.

I guess this shows that the lyrics were fluid and evolved over time. If I do download the full "Hold Me Tight" track, I will post up what I learn from the rest of the lyrics!