It was one fine March morning
I bid New Orleans Adieu
And I took the road to Jackson Town
My fortune to renew

I cursed all foreign money
No credit could I gain
Which filled my heart with a longing for
The Lakes of Ponchartrain

I stepped on board of a railroad car
Beneath the morning sun
I rode the rods till evening
And I laid me down again

All strangers there no friends to me
'Til a dark girl towards me came
And I fell in love with the Creole Girl
By the Lakes of Ponchartrain

I said "Me pretty Creole Girl
Me money here's no good
If it weren't for the alligators
I'd sleep out there in the wood"

"You're welcome here kind stranger
From such sad thoughts refrain"
"For me Mammy welcomes strangers
By the Lakes of Ponchartrain"
She took me into her mammy's house
And treated me right well
The hair upon her shoulders
In jet black ringlets fell

To try and paint here beauty
I'm sure 'twould be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl
By the Lakes of Ponchartrain

I asked her if she'd marry me
She said that ne'er could be
For she had got a lover
And he was far at sea

She said that she would wait for him
And true she would remain
Till he'd return to his Creole girl
On the Lakes of Ponchartrain

It's fare thee well, me Creole girl
I'll never see you more
I'll never forget your kindness
In the cottage by the shore
And at each social gathering
A flowing bowl I'll drain