Good God Have Mercy

Down in south carolina in the piny woods

Where they make sweet turpentine;

There I first saw the light of day

Landing on my mind.

Running in the sunshine laughing,

Rolling in the red dirt crying.

I said, hmmh,

Good god have mercy.

Canary warehouses, baby, I went to school;

I even lunched from the cans of our store;

Heating them up on a hot-bellied stove;

I used to keep out in the cold.

Sitting around, you know, just to tell em lies about, ah,

What I'd be when I grew old.

I said, hmmh,

Good god have mercy.

Trestling the track down, mama, where the bnn

Used to haul;

Freight train caught daddy one day;

He took a long, long fall.

I'd only been taught to think on life;

Never thought on death at all.

I said, hmmh,

Good god have mercy.

Now every sunday after church

There' be a meeting on the ground.

Some good soul, she would always say

It's a shame about frieda brown!

Mama and the ladies they formed a society;

They'd run frieda out of town.

I said, hmmh,

Good god have mercy.

Daddy's on the main line, mama wants him home,

Daddy's on the main line, the kid don't need him home.

Good god have mercy.