Here's my attempt at a transcription, from the mp3 file that Peace provided a link to above. OK, "bedeem us brown" doesn't make sense either, but it sure sounds phonetically like what he's saying. But regardless of how you transcribe it, it doesn't rhyme, and it's the only verse in the song that doesn't rhyme. This causes me to think that Green stumbled over this line when he sang it.

JOHNSON CITY BLUES
As sung by Clarence Green

1. Went up on Lookout Mountain, as far as I could see.
I was lookin' for the woman made a monkey out o' me.
I come down to the depot in time to catch a cannonball.
Got the blues [at] Chattanooga. I won't be back till late next fall.

2. Down in Memphis, on East Main Street,
I was watchin' ever'body that I chanced to meet.
I saw my sweet daddy comin' round the flat.
He was dressed in a tailor-made suit and a John B Stetson hat.

3. Daddy, sweet daddy, I know you gonna quit me now,
But I don't need no daddy nohow,
'Cause trouble, trouble, is all I ever find.
Goin' back to Johnson City, for to wear you off my mind.

4. Down in Nicarag'a, as far as I could go,
Was the darnedest bunch o' soldiers that you ever saw.
On the Tennessee River, down below the lock an' dam,
I was lookin' for my good gal, thinkin' she might bedeem us brown.

5. Down in Johnson City, all hospitality,
Are the finest bunch o' people in the state o' Tennessee.
I'm tired of roamin' this way.
Goin' back to Johnson City. I'll go back an' stay some day.