Before I start, I have to apologize that despite the fact that I have listened to Charlie Poole untold times over the last thirty years or so, there are some phrases that I simply cannot decipher. His diction is difficult to interpret, to say the least. I considered not putting up anything until I had a clearer version, but finally decided that I would put up what I had so far, and maybe that would lead others to finish it. Where long phrases are unclear, or I have only a small part of it, I have put (indecipherable). Where only a word or two is missing, I have put ???. I will continue to work on it, and will check with some of my sources sometime in the next few weeks. Again, I apologize for such an unsatisfactory translation.
I'm The Man That Rode The Mule 'Round The World
as recorded by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, 1925
Reissued on County 540, Charlie Poole, Volume 4, probably early 70s
(indecipherable)
Down at the stockyards about a mile and a half away
(indecipherable)
She's my freckle faced ??? Sara Jane
Oh she's my daisy, black-eyed and crazy
Sweetest girl I thought I ever saw
Now her breath smells sweet, but I'd rather smell her feet
For she's my freckle faced ??? Sara Jane
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
Rode in Noah's ark, I'm as happy as a lark
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I was born four thousand years ago
And there's nothing on this earth I do not know
I saw Moses on the water, fighting pharaoh and his armies
And I can whup the man that says it tisn't so
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I rode in Noah's Ark and I'm happy as a lark
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I saw Satan when he ??? that garden oe'r
I saw Satan when he ??? that garden oe'r
The apple they were eating, through the bushes I was peeping
I can prove it, I'm the man that ate the core
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I rode in Noah's Ark and I'm happy as a lark
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I'm a highly educated man
and there are things in my brains that I have planned
Now I've been on earth too long, ??? sing a song
(indecipherable, something about Jacob and Abraham)
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I rode in Noah's ark, he surround me with a shark
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world
I rode up to the line and I fell up against a pine
I'm the man who rode the mule around the world^^