BLACK SNAKE MOAN
Blind Lemon Jefferson

Oh-h, ain't got no mama now.
Oh-h, ain't got no mama now.
She told me late last night. "You don't need no mama nohow."

Mm-m, black snake crawlin' in my room.
Mm-m, black snake crawlin' in my room.
Some pretty mama better come and get this black snake soon.

Oh-h, that must've been a bedbug. Baby, a chinch can't bite that hard.
Oh-h, that must've been a bedbug. Honey, a chinch can't bite that hard.
Asked my sugar for fifty cents. She said, "Lemon, ain't a dime in the yard."

Mama, that's all right. Mama, that's all right for you.
Mama, that's all right. Mama, that's all right for you.
Mama, that's all right, most any old way you do.

Mm-m, what's the matter now?
Mm-m, honey, what's the matter now?
Sugar, what's the matter? Don't like no black snake nohow.

Mm-m, wonder where my black snake gone.
Mm-m, wonder where the black snake gone.
Old black snake mama done run my darlin' home.

[Sung by Blind Lemon Jefferson on the various-artists CD "The Story of the Blues," Columbia Legacy 86334.]