song lyrics
The Arkansas Traveler lyrics
Oh, once upon a time in Arkansas,
An old man sat in his little cabin door
And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear,
A jolly old tune that he played by ear.
It was raining hard, but the fiddler didn t care,
He sawed away at the popular air,
Tho his rooftree leaked like a waterfall,
That didn t seem to bother the man at all.

A traveler was riding by that day,
And stopped to hear him a-practicing away;
The cabin was a-float and his feet were wet,
But still the old man didn t seem to fret.
So the stranger said "Now the way it seems to me,"
You d better mend your roof," said he.
But the old man said as he played away,
"I couldn t mend it now, it s a rainy day."

The traveler replied, "That s all quite true,
But this, I think, is the thing to do;
Get busy on a day that is fair and bright,
Then patch the old roof till it s good and tight."
But the old man kept on a-playing at his reel,
And tapped the ground with his leathery heel.
"Get along," said he, "for you give me a pain;
My cabin never leaks when it doesn t rain."
song lyrics