This song should be mentioned in the thread Jokes turned into songs. Indeed, I'm sure I first heard the story in the form of a joke, something like this:

Man gets on a train, tells the porter, "I'm going to sleep now. Wake me up in time to get off at Buffalo. Now, I'm always grumpy when I first wake up. I might not seem to cooperate, but pay no attention to that. Just make sure I get off at Buffalo."

Next morning, passenger wakes up to find he has gone way past Buffalo. He yells at the porter, calls him every dirty name in the book, swears he will get him fired, sue the railroad, etc. Then he gets off at the next stop. Another passenger says to the porter, "Boy, he was mad!"

Porter says, "You think he was mad; you should have seen the guy I put off at Buffalo."

You can see the sheet music for this song at Mississippi State University or The Levy Collection, or hear a recorded version from 1901 at The Library of Congress.


Successfully introduced by Harry Conor in Hoyt's "A Trip to Chinatown"
PUT ME OFF AT BUFFALO
Words by Harry Dillon, music by John Dillon.
New York: M. Witmark & Sons, ©1895.

1. He caught the train at Albany, and to the porter said,
"Put me off at Buffalo."
He was tired and took a sleeper, and says, "Now I'll go to bed,
Just to rest an hour or so."
In an undertone he murmured, "Now I lay me down to wink.
Put me off at Buffalo."
Then he tipped the porter, saying, "Port, old boy, come have a drink.
Put me off at Buffalo, oh, oh.

CHORUS 1: "Don't forget to put me off a Buf-'Hallo'-oh-oh.
My berth is lower five.
If you find me hard to wake,
Oh, don't be afraid to shake.
Throw me off there dead or alive.
Mister Porter, when you call me in the morn," he says,
"I'll kick, but of course it doesn't go.
No matter what I say,
Just remember I'm the jay
That goes off the train when you get to Buffalo."

2. The porter started drinking, and you'd think he owned the road.
When he got to Buffalo,
The train was way behind; the engineer he had a load.
"Take water," he says, "no, no."
When the porter went to call his man, he got at the wrong berth,
Says, "Get off at Buffalo."
Oh, the man he says, "You're wrong, old boy; look out! You'll tear my shirt!
I don't get off at Buffalo, oh, oh."

CHORUS 2: "Don't tell me you won't get off at Buf-'Hallo'-oh-oh.
Be quick and grab your clothes.
Here's the hardest guy to wake,"
Said the porter with a shake.
They exchanged some good hard blows.
Oh, the porter got a soaker, but he fired the man.
With a crash through the window he did go.
Then the man they should 'a' woke,
In his sleep says, "That's a joke.
Put me off the train when we get to Buffalo."

3. When the brakeman shouted "Cleveland!" why, the man jumped out of bed,
And says, "We've gone through Buffalo!"
Then he saw the poor old porter with a bandage on his head,
And his eyes swelled out, oh, oh!
His whiskers they were sandy; in the sand he done a jig.
"Put me off at Buffalo!"
He says, "My wife was waiting at the depot with a rig,
Take me back to Buffalo, oh, I—

CHORUS 3: "Thought I told you: put me off at Buf-'Hallo'-oh-oh.
There's trouble in the air."
Oh, the porter shook with fright.
Yes, he turned from black to white.
Oh, how that coon did stare!
"I'm a dead nigger now," he whispered to himself.
"It's my last trip on the road, I know.
My goodness sakes alive!
Here's the gent in number five.
I put the wrong man off the train at Buffalo."