| lyric | 1. As I went down to the river, poor boy,
To see the ships go by,
My sweetheart stood on the deck of one,
And she waved to me goodbye.
Refrain
Bow down your head and cry, poor boy,
Bow down your head and cry;
stop thinking about that woman you love,
Bow down your head and cry.
2. I followed her for months and months,
She offered me her hand;
We were just about to be married, when
She ran off with a gamblin’ man.
3. He came at me with a bigjack-knife,
I went for him with lead,
And when the fight was over, poor boy,
He lay down beside me dead.
4. They took me to the big jail-house,
The months and 'months rolled by;
The jury found me guilty, poor boy,
And the judge said, ,,You must die.“
5. “0h, do you bring me pardon, poor boy,
To turn me a-loose?“
“I bring you nothing,“ said the man,
“Except a hangman’s noose.“
6. And yet they call this justice, poor boy,
Then justice let it be!
I only killed a man that was
A-fixin’ to kill me. |