Used as a work song, lots of interchangeable verses with other songs such as Linin' Track. Unfortunately, in this context, most verses are corruptions of verses that originated in spirituals, eg.

Way down the hollow, behind the field,
Trying...
There's an angel working on a chariot wheel
Trying ...

Moses stood on the Dead Sea shore
Smiting the water with a two by four

If I could I surely would
Stand on that rock where Moses stood

Mama caught a chicken and she thought it was a duck
She put it on the table with the legs sticking up

Jesus is the saviour of my soul
Wish he'd get me down off this telegraph pole

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
All them suckers is dead and gone

Nickel is a nickel and a dime is a dime
Got a house full of kids, ain't none of them mine