Arkansas Traveler

AO Folksong - MAY 2020


Lyrics:


Oh, once upon a time in Arkansas
An old man sat at his little cabin door
And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear
A jolly old tune that he played by ear.
It was raining hard, but the fiddler didn't care,
He sawed away at the popular air,
And his rooftop leaked like a waterfall
But it didn't seem to bother the man at all.


A traveler was riding by that day
And stopped to hear him a'practicin' away.
The cabin was afloat and his feet were wet
But still the old man didn't seem to fret.
So the stranger said, "Now, the way it seems to me,
You'd better mend your roof," said he.
But the old man said as he played away,
"I couldn't mend it now; it's a rainy day!"


The traveler replied, "That's all quite true,
But this, I think, is the thing for you to do:
Get busy on a day that is fair and bright,
And patch the old roof til it's good and tight."
But the old man kept on a'playin' at his reel
And tapped the ground with his leathery heel.
"Get along," said he, "for you're giving me a pain.
My cabin never leaks when it doesn't rain!"