Lakes Of Pontchartrain

	  		


       G      D            Em   C 
It was on one bright March morning   
   G      D          G 
I bid New Orleans adieu 
      G        D       Em      C 
And I took the road to Jackson town, 
   G       D     C 
My fortune to renew 
  G          D       Em  C 
I cursed all foreign money 
   G      D       C 
No credit could I gain 
      G         D          Em      C 
Which filled my heart with longing for 
    G        D        G 
The lakes of Pontchartrain 


   G          D         Em       C 
I stepped on board of a railroad car 
    G        D       G 
Beneath the morning sun 
       G        D        Em   C 
And I rode the rods till evening 
       G       D     C 
And I laid me down again 
     G        D          Em        C 
All strangers there, no friends to me, 
       G            D        C 
'Til a dark girl towards me came, 
       G       D            Em    C 
And I fell in love with a Creole girl 
        G        D     G 
By the lakes of Pontchartrain 


   G        D     Em     C 
I said 'My pretty Creole girl, 
    G     D          G 
My money here's no good. 
          G               D   Em   C 
And if it weren't for the alligators 
         G         D     C 
I would sleep out in the wood' 
         G      D          Em   C 
'You're welcome here, kind stranger, 
     G       D     C 
Our house is very plain. 
        G     D       Em        C 
And we never turned a stranger out 
        G        D      G 
On the lakes of Pontchartrain' 


    G        D       Em      C 
She took me into her mammy's house 
     G      D          G 
And treated me right well. 
    G      D      Em   C 
The hair upon her shoulders  
    G         D        C 
In jet black ringlets fell. 
    G      D        Em   C 
To try to paint her beauty, 
     G         D     C 
I'm sure would be in vain, 
   G        D      Em      C 
So handsome was my Creole girl 
        G        D       G 
By the lakes of Pontchartrain 

   G         D        Em    C 
I asked her would she marry me, 
     G               D     G 
She said 'This could never be'. 
    G        D    Em   C 
For she had got a lover 
     G      D     C 
And he was far at sea.   
     G         D         Em      C 
She said that she would wait for him 
    G         D        C 
And true she would remain, 
     G       D          Em      C 
'Til he returned to his Creole girl 
        G         D     G 
On the lakes of Pontchartrain 


    G        D        Em      C 
So fare thee well, my Creole girl 
   G         D       G 
I never may see you more 
         G         D       Em   C 
But I'll never forget your kindness 
       G       D       C 
In the cottage by the shore 
        G   D      Em   C 
And at each social gathering 
   G      D          C 
A flowing glass I'll drain 
         G       D            Em      C 
And I'll drink a health to my Creole girl 
        G        D       G 
By the lakes of Pontchartrain