Old Joe Clark

(words collected by Peter Budd)

From: Joe Newberry and Tar Heel Hotshots. Mount Airy 1992

Old Joe Clark’s a preacher man
He preached all over the ...
The only ?song? he ever knew
Was ?hallowed ...

I went round to Old Joe’s house
And sat down at his table
I eat so much of the hog eyed meat
The grease ran out of my navel

Chorus:

Fare you well, Old Joe Clark
Goodbye Betty Brown
Fare you well, Old Joe Clark
I’m bound to leave this town

I went down to Old Joe’s house
And found him sick in bed
I put my fingers down his throat
And pulled out a chicken head



From: Uncle Charlie Osborne. 100 Years Farther On.JA0064C

Old Joe Clark, he got sick
And what do you reckon ailed him
Drunk six quarts of possum soup
And then his stomach failed him

Fare you well Old Joe Clark
Goodbye little Betsy Brown
Fare you well, Old Joe Clark
I’m going to leave this town

I went down to Joe Clark’s house
He invited me in for supper
Stubbed my toe on the table leg
And stuck my nose in the butter




From Pete Seeger book. How to play the five string banjo

Old Joe Clark the preacher’s son
Preached all over the plain
The only text he ever knew
Was high, low, jack and the game

Old Joe Clark had a mule
His name was Morgan Brown
And every tooth in that mules head
Was sixteen inches round

Old Joe Clark had a yellow cat
She would neither sing nor pray
She stuck her head in the buttermilk jar
And washed her sins away

Old Joe Clark had a house
Fifteen stories high
And every story in that house
Was filled with chicken pie

I went down to old Joe’s house
He invited me in to supper
I stumped my toe on the table leg
And stuck my nose in the butter

Now I wouldn’t marry a widder
Tell you the reason why
She’d have so many children
They’d make those biscuits fly

Sixteen horses in my team
The leaders they are blind
And every time the sun goes down
There’s a pretty girl on my mind

Eighteen miles of mountain road
And fifteen miles of sand
If I ever travel this road again
I’ll be a married man

I wish I had a sweetheart
I’d put her on a shelf
And every time she’d smile at me
I’d get up there myself

Well, I wouldn’t marry that old maid
I’ll tell you the reason why
Her neck’s so long and stringy, boys
I fear she’d never die

And I wouldn’t marry an old schoolteacher
Tell you the reason why
She blows her nose in old cornbread
And call it pumpkin pie




From: Da Costa Woltz Southern Broadcasters

I went to see my honey babe
She’s standing in the door
Shoes and stockings in her hand
And her feet all over the floor

Fare you well, Old Joe Clark
Goodbye Betsy Brown
Fare you well, Old Joe Clark
I’m bound to leave this town

Never marry an old maid, boys
I’ll tell you the reason why
Her neck’s so long and stringy, boys
I’m afraid she’ll never die

Old Joe Clark’s a ?(grand old rogue)
I’ll tell you the reason why
Dashed through my field the other day
And throwed down all my rye
I also remember a verse about

Old Joe Clark’s a ?(grand old rogue)
Old Joe Clark will steal
?




From Back Home In The Blue Ridge

I don’t like old Joe Clark
I’ll tell you the reason why
Ran through my field the other day
Flattened all my Rye

Chorus: 
Fare you well Old Joe Clark
Goodbye Betty Brown
Fare you well Old Joe Clark
I’m going to leave this town

I used to live on a mountainside
Now I live in town
Working in that big hotel
Courting Betty Brown

Old Joe Clark’s a fine old man
So is Betty Brown
Old Joe Clarks a fine old man
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