Down by the river where you ought not go
Live a man and a monkey on Bottom Road
He's got a mojo workin' on a black cat bone
John the Conqueroo, gonna take it home
Gonna tune my banjer, tap with the bone
Sprinkle with the water, gonna make it groan
Tar-paper shack with a kettle out back
Cookin' up somethin', smoke curlin' black
Y'know the mudflats was buzzin' in the late afternoon
Hush fell now, storm clouds comin' soon
Dust in the air and lightnin' in the sky
But the old man sees through clouded eye
Don't want money, don't want corn pone
Looked me in the eye, said "Somethin' you own"
So I handed him the knife that my papa handed me
Turned his back, said "Let me be"
I ran through the bramble and I ran through the reed
And I swan to the day he's a-followin' me
Down by the river where you ought not go
Live a man and a monkey on Bottom Road