Bad news travels like wildfire
Good news travels slow
They call me old wildfire
'Cause everybody knows

That I'm bad news
Everywhere I go
Always getting into trouble
And leaving little girls who hate to see me go

I picked peaches down in Georgia
Lumberjacked up in Maine
I've been hired and fired and jailed
In every state you can name

'Cause I'm bad news
Everywhere I go
Always getting into trouble
And leaving little girls who hate to see me go

From north to south
From east to west
The stories is the same
From one state to the other
I have to change my name
'Cause I'm bad news
Everywhere I go
Always getting into trouble
And leaving little girls who hate to see me go

Now they tried to hang me down in Oakland
And they did in San Frisco
But I wouldn't choke
And I broke their rope

And they had to let me go
'Cause I'm bad news
Everywhere I go
Always getting into trouble
And leaving little girls who hate to see me go

Bad news
Oh, talkin' bad news
Bad news
Talkin' about bad news