Jane Siberry - Pontchartrain

O it was one fine morning
I bid New Orleans adieu
And took the road to Jackson Town
My fortune to renew
I cursed all foreign money
No credit could I gain
Which had my heart a-longing
For the Lakes of Pontchartrain

I stowed aboard a railroad car
Beneath the morning sun
And I rode the rails 'til eventide
'Til I finally lay me down No stranger would befriend me
'Til a dark girl toward me came
And I fell in love with a Creole girl
On the Lakes of Pontchartrain

I said 'My bonnie Creole lass,
My money 'tis no good
And if it weren't for the alligators
I'd sleep here in the wood.'You're welcome here kind stranger
Our house is very plain
But we never turn a stranger out
On the Lakes of Pontchartrain.'