Dear Ben,

Here are the lyrics from Doc and Merle Watson's rendition of GIMME BACK MY FIFTEEN CENTS. I came across it during my days as a DJ in West Virginia. The recording is on an LP from the early 80s. (The record label was "Sugar Hill," if memory serves, though I don't recall any other specifics apart from a hand-tinted photo of an old country store on the cover.)

I'd be very interested in seeing any other verses you may have picked up from the live performance. This is a fun tune to play and usually garners a smile from the happily married as well as the nuptially challenged.
Thanks for bringing it back to mind!

1. I left my home in Tennessee. Thought I'd learn to travel
And then I met a pretty little girl and soon we played the Devil.
I loved that gal and she loved me and I thought we'd live together,
But then we tied that fatal knot and now I'm gone forever

CHORUS: Gimme back my fifteen cents.
Gimme back my money.
Gimme back my fifteen cents
And I'll go home t' mammy!

2. 'Twas fifteen cents for the preacher man and a dollar for the paper.
Then dear old mother-in-law moved in and, Lordy, what a caper!
I fiddled a tune for her one day. She called me a joker.
Then that old sow got mad at me and hit me with a poker. CHORUS

3. I worked in town and I worked on the farm but there's no way t' suit 'em.
There both so dad-burn mean t' me, somebody oughta shoot 'em.
I'm tired o' lookin' at my mother-in-law. I'd like t' see my Granny.
Gonna leave the state of Arkansas an' go back home t' mammy. CHORUS