I heard this on the radio today, so I took the opportunity to transcribe it.

ME AND BROTHER BILL
(Louis Armstrong)

Me and Brother Bill went hunting, way in the east of Maine.
The reason why we went up there, we thought we could catch some game.

As we were a-hunting, way in the middle of the night,
We shot at something like a grizzly bear. The doggone thing turned white.

I said to my brother, "Come on and let's go home."
He said, "Now, if you're going to the house, you'll have to go alone."

As we were a-hunting, it commenced to bristen (?) up high.*
I looked toward my house, and I didn't even say goodbye.

I dropped that gun,
And away I run.
Brother Bill said, "Boy, what's the matter with you?"
Had he known like me, he would have run some, too.
I run so fast, they say,
That they couldn't catch me all day.
The way I run across that field,
No, you couldn't catch me with an automobile.

SPOKEN: Second spasm! Second spasm!

Brother Bill got so excited, he commenced to shooting at me.
I heard those bullets sizzling all among those trees.

I was running so fast that night, my feet was dragging the ground.
I heard a little jaybird in the tree sing, "He's Alabama Bound."

I passed right by a firehouse. I didn't have time to knock.
I passed right by a good crap game. I didn't have time to stop.

I passed right by a gin mill, stopped in to get a little gin,
And I didn't have a dime to pay for it, and I had to start running again.

I'm going home.
I'm all alone.
Brother Bill said, "Boy, what's the matter with you?"
Had he known like me, he would have cut out, too.
I run so fast, they say,
That they couldn't catch me all day.
The way I run across that field,
(SCAT CADENZA)
Yes, you couldn't catch me—
You couldn't catch me—
No, you couldn't catch me with a automobile.


[Recorded by Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars.

[This was taken from a "live" performance. *I think Armstrong stumbled over this line and he meant to sing "the moon had risen up high." I also think Armstrong recorded this song more than once, and probably sang it correctly on a different recording.

[You can hear an archived radio program that includes this song. Go to this page, then under "Monday, August 28, 2006" click on "Listen 7 - 9 a.m.", then advance to 1 hour 48 minutes and 4 seconds from the beginning of the file.]