Here's a couple more versions to choose from:

I.

Scraping up sand in the bottom of the sea, Shiloh, Shiloh
Scraping up sand in the bottom of the sea, Shiloh, Liza Jane

CHORUS: Oh how I love her, Oh Liza Jane
Oh how I love her, Goodbye Liza Jane.

Black those shoes and make them shine, Shiloh, Shiloh etc.

A hump-back mule I'm bound to ride....

Hopped up a chicken and he flew upstairs...

II.

Liza up in the 'simmon tree, and the possum on the ground
Possum said, "You son of a gun, shake them 'simmons down."

CHORUS: Whoopee Liza, pretty little girl
Whoopee, Liza Jane.
Whoopee, Liza pretty little girl
She died on the train.

Cheeks are like the cherries, cherries like a rose.
How I like that pretty little girl, goodness gracious knows.

The old folks down in the mountains, grinding sugar cane.
Making barrels of molasses, for to sweeten old Liza Jane.

Whiskey by the gallon, sugar by the pound,
A great big bowl to put it in and Liza to stir it round.

I went to see my Liza Jane, she was standing in the door
Shoes and stockings in her hand and her feet all over the floor.

Her head is like a coffee pot, her nose is like a spout
Her mouth is like an old fireplace with the ashes all raked out.

I wouldn't marry a poor girl, I'll tell you the reason why.
She'd have so many poor kinfolks, she'd make my biscuits fly.

The hardest work I ever done, was a-brakin' on a train.
The easiest work I ever done, was huggin' little Liza Jane

The second version is from the singing of Bradley Kincaid. He was a professional entertainer who did mostly traditional based songs. He spent some time on the National Barn Dance and the Grand Ole Opry. This version is a blend of "Liza Jane" and "Possum Up a 'Simmon Tree" which were both minstrel songs. Note that many of the verses are not unique to "Liza Jane" but show up in versions of "Cindy" and "old Joe Clark". The second verse bears a resemblance to "Colorado Trail", and the fourth verse is similar to one in "Mary Anne". In the 1880's Eddie Cox, a minstrel show performer, published "Good-bye, Liza Jane" however he didn't claim any credit for writing it, just arranging it. In 1903 the Tin Pan Alley composer, Harry von Tilzer, published "Good-Bye, Eliza Jane" which was a different song altogether. In 1917 Cecil Sharp collected "Liza Anne" in Kentucky that also seems to blend Liza and the Piossum. Another version called "Liza Jane" was published in 1931 by Jean Thomas in a book "Devil's Ditties"
rich r

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 9-Jun-02.