Catfish John

Lyrics:

• Mama said, “Don’t go near that river,
• Don’t be hanging around old Catfish John.”
• Come in the morning I’d always be there,
• Walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta dawn.


• Take me back to another morning, to a time so long ago,
• When the sweet magnolia blossomed, cotton fields as white as snow.


• Catfish John was a river hobo who lived and died by the river’s bed,
• Looking back I still remember I was proud to be his friend.


• Mama said, “Don’t go near that river,
• Don’t be hanging around old Catfish John.”
• Come in the morning I’d always be there,
• Walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta dawn.


• Born a slave in the town of Vicksburg, traded for a chestnut mare,
• Lord her never spoke in anger though his load was hard to bear.


• Mama said, “Don’t go near that river,
• Come in the morning I’d always be there,
• Walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta dawn.
• Walking in his footsteps in the sweet Delta dawn.