Maggie Walker Blues

I was raised with loving care
On a farm in Tennessee.
My parents raised me tenderly
They had no child but me
My mind was set on ramblin'
With them I couldn't agree
So I left my aging parents
And them no more to see

There was a wealthy gentleman
Lived on a farm nearby
Had a beautiful daughter
On her I cast my eye
She was so tall and slender
So pretty and so fair
There never was another
To her I could compare

Started out in this wide world
Strange faces for to see
Met Miss Maggie Walker
And she fell in love with me
Pockets all lined with greenbacks
And on the book I swore
If she'd be mine and only mine
That I would roam no more

I asked if it mattered
If I crossed over the plains
Said it makes no difference
If you never return again
I knew by the way she said it
She'd never change her mind
So we shook hands and parted
That girl I left behind

Started out on leaving
To the salt works I was bound
When I reached the salt works
I viewed the city 'round
Money and work were plentiful
And the girls were kind to me
But the only object in my mind
Was a girl in Tennessee

Started out one morning
Down on the the market square
The mail train was arriving
And I met the carrier there
He handed me a letter
So I could understand
That the girl I left in Tennessee
Had married another man.

I turned my horse all around and 'round
Not knowing what to do
I handed back the letter
I'd read it through and through
Turned all around and backed up
From the company I resigned
I drove all around from town to town
For the girl I left behind