SLEEPY EYED JOHN
Music and lyrics by T. Atchison
Way down yonder on Caney Creek
I whittled out a fiddle from a wagon seat
I tuned my fiddle and rosined my bow
Play this tune wherever I go
Chorus:
Sleepy eyed John, you better get your britches on
Sleepy eyed John, better tie your shoe
Sleepy eyed John, better get your britches on
Try to get to Heaven ‘fore the devil gets to you
Sleepy eyed John he stole the goose
The goose she flopped but she couldn’t get loose
Said John to the goose, “If you don’t be still,
We’ll miss our supper down at Caney Hill.”
Chorus
Sleepy eyed John had a wooden leg
The leg wasn’t nothing but a little wooden peg
One shoe off and one shoe on
He could play the double shuffle ‘til the cows come home
Chorus
Well I took twenty dollars to build a fence
I took that money and I ain’t worked since
Sold my mule and sold my plow
Wouldn’t take a dollar for my Jersey cow
Chorus