t was on one bright march morning i bid new orleans adieu and i took the rode to jackson town me fortune to renew i cursed all foreign money no credit could i gain which filled me heart with longin for the lakes of pontchartain i stepped on board of a railroad car beneath the morning sun and i rode the roads til evening and i laid me down again all strangers here no friends to me til a dark girl towards me came and i fell in love with a creole girl from the lakes of pontchartrain i said my pretty creole girl me money here s no good if it weren t for the alligators i d sleep out in the wood you re welcome here kind stranger our house it s very plain but we never turn a stranger out at the lakes of pontchartrain she took me to her mummy s house and she treated me quite well the hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell to try and paint her beauty i m sure t would be in vain so handsome was my creole girl from the lakes of pontchartrain i asked her if she d marry me she d said it could never be for she had got another and he was far at sea she said that she would wait for him and true she would remain til he returned for his creole girl from the lakes of pontchartrain so fair thee well me bonny o girl i never see no more but i ll ne er forget your kindness and the cottage by the shore and at each social gathering a flowin glass i ll raise and drink a health to me creole girl from the lakes of pontchartrain 