T'was on one bright March morning I bid New Orleans adieu

And I took the rode to Jackson town, me fortune to renew

I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain

Which filled me heart with longin' for the Lakes of Pontchartain.

I stepped on board of a railroad car beneath the morning sun

And I rode the roads 'til evening and I laid me down again

All strangers here, no friends to me 'til a dark girl towards me came

And I fell in love with a Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.

I said my pretty Creole girl, me money here's no good

If it weren't for the alligators I'd sleep out in the wood

You're welcome here kind stranger, our house it's very plain

But we never turn a stranger out at the Lakes of Pontchartrain.

She took me to her mummy's house and she treated me quite well

The hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell

To try and paint her beauty I'm sure t'would be in vain

So handsome was my Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.

I asked her if she'd marry me, she'd said it could never be

For she had got another and he was far at sea

She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain

'Til he returned for his Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.

So fair thee well me bonny o' girl I never see no more

But I'll ne'er forget your kindness and the cottage by the shore

And at each social gathering a flowin' glass I'll raise

And drink a health to me Creole girl from the Lakes of Pontchartrain.