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Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads

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JACK O' DIAMONDS (p. 292) O Mollie, O Mollie, it is for your sake alone That I leave my old parents, my house and my home, That I leave my old parents, you caused me to roam,— I am a rabble soldier and Dixie is my home. Jack o' diamonds, Jack o' diamonds, I know you of old, You've robbed my poor pockets Of silver and gold. Whiskey, you villain, You've been my downfall, You've kicked me, you've cuffed me, But I love you for all. My foot's in my stirrup, my bridle's in my hand, I'm going to leave sweet Mollie, the fairest in the land. Her parents don't like me, they say I'm too poor, They say I'm unworthy to enter her door. They say I drink whiskey; my money is my own, And them that don't like me can leave me alone. I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry, And when I get thirsty I'll lay down and cry. It's (p. 293) beefsteak when I'm hungry, And whiskey when I'm dry, Greenbacks when I'm hard up, And heaven when I die. Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, Rye whiskey I cry, If I don't get rye whiskey, I surely will die. O Baby, O Baby, I've told you before, Do make me a pallet, I'll lie on the floor. I will build me a big castle on yonder mountain high, Where my true love can see me when she comes riding by, Where my true love can see me and help me to mourn,— I am a rabble soldier and Dixie is my home. I'll get up in my saddle, my quirt I'll take in hand, I'll think of you, Mollie, when in some far distant land, I'll think of you, Mollie, you caused me to roam,— I am a rabble soldier and Dixie is my home. If the ocean was whiskey, And I was a duck, I'd dive to the bottom To get one sweet sup; But the ocean ain't whiskey, And I ain't a duck, So (p. 294) I'll play Jack o' diamonds And then we'll get drunk. O Baby, O Baby, I've told you before, Do make me a pallet, I'll lie on the floor. I've rambled and trambled this wide world around, But it's for the rabble army, dear Mollie, I'm bound, It is to the rabble army, dear Mollie, I roam,— I am a rabble soldier and Dixie is my home. I have rambled and gambled all my money away, But it's with the rabble army, O Mollie, I must stay, It is with the rabble army, O Mollie I must roam,— I am a rabble soldier and Dixie is my home. Jack o' diamonds, Jack o' diamonds, I know you of old, You've robbed my poor pockets Of silver and gold. Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, Rye whiskey I cry, If you don't give me rye whiskey I'll lie down and die. O Baby, O Baby, I've told you before, Do make me a pallet, I'll lie on the floor. <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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