Pontchartrain Lyrics - Jane Siberry

O it was one fine morning 

I bid New Orleans adieu 

And took the road to Jackson Town 

My fortune to renew 

I cursed all foreign money 

No credit could I gain 

Which had my heart a-longing 

For the lakes of Pontchartrain 

I stowed aboard a railroad car 

Beneath the morning sun 

And I rode the rails 'til eventide 

'Til I finally lay me down 

No stranger would befriend me 

'Til a dark girl toward me came 

And I fell in love with a Creole girl 

On the Lakes of Pontchartrain 

I said, my bonnie Creole lass 

My money 'tis no good 

And if it weren't for the alligators 

I'd sleep here in the wood 

You're welcome here kind stranger 

Our house is very plain 

But we never turn a stranger out 

On the Lakes of Pontchartrain 

She took me into her mama's house 

And she treated me right well 

The hair upon her shoulders 

In jet black ringlets fell 

To try to paint her beauty 

That would surely be in vain 

So handsome was my Creole lass 

On the lakes of Pontchartrain 

I asked her if she'd marry me 

She said that ne'er could be 

For she had a lover 

Who was far away at sea 

She said that she would wait for him 

And true she would remain 

'Til he returned to his Creole lass 

On the lakes of Pontchartrain 

So fare thee well, my Creole lass 

I'll ne'er see you no more 

And I'll ne'er forget your kindness 

In the cottage by the shore 

And at each social gathering 

A flowing bowl I'll drain 

I'll raise a glass to my Creole lass 

On the lakes of Pontchartrain 

I'll raise a glass to my bonnie lass 

On the lakes of Pontchartrain