Traditional

I went on the mountain
Give my horn a blow
Thought I hear my true love say
Yonder comes by beau

Chorus:
Rove, Riley, Rove
Rove, Riley, Rove
Rove, Riley, poor boy
Ain't got nowhere to go

Mama give me meat
Mother give me bread
Pretty girl give me one sweet kiss
Like to done killed me dead

Chorus

Went up on the mountain
To strip me a load of cane
Make me a barrel of molasses
To sweeten Miss Liza Jane

Chorus

Daddy had a great big house
A hundred stories high
Every story in that house
Was filled with chicken pie

Chorus

Possum is a pretty thing
Rambles in the dark
Only time you know he's round
Is when old Ranger barks

Chorus

Chorus

Notes:

Recorded for the Library of Congress in 1941 by Thaddeau "T.C." Willingham.