Up Jumped The Devil

Oh my, oh my
What a wretched life
I was born on the day
That my poor mother died

I was cut from her belly
With a Stanley knife
My daddy did a jig
With the drunk midwife

Who's that yonder all in flames
Draggin' behind him a sack of chains
Who's that yonder all in flames
Up jumped the devil and he staked his claim

Oh poor heart
I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play
The villain's part

I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the cheapest of a dead nun's heart

Who's that millin' on the courthouse steps
Nailin' my face to the hitchin' fence
Who's that millin' on the courthouse steps
Up jumped the devil and off we crept

Oh no, oh no
Where could I go
With my hump of trouble
And my sack of woe

To the digs
And the deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safe
From the lynchin' rope

Who's that yonder laughin' at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who's that yonder laughin' at me?
Well up jumped the devil 1, 2, 3

Ha ha ha ha ha
How lucky we were
We hit the cat house
And sampled their whares

We got as drunk
As a couple of Czars
One night I spat out
My lucky stars

Who's that dancin' on the jail house roof?
Stampin' on the rampin' with a cloven hoof
Who's that dancin' on the jail house roof?
Up jumped the devil and said
"Here is your man and I got a proof"

Oh no, oh no, don't go
Oh slow down Joe
The righteous part
I straight as an arrow

Take a walk
And you'll find it too narrow
Too narrow
For the likes of me

Who's that hangin' from the gallow tree
His eyes are hollow but he looks like me
Now who's that swingin' from the gallow tree
Up jumped the devil and took my soul from me

Down we go, down we go, down we go
Down we go, down we go, down we go
Down we go, down we go, down we go
...