Down in south carolina in the piny woods Where they make sweet turpentine; There I first saw the light of day Landing on my mind. Running in the sunshine laughing, Rolling in the red dirt crying. I said, hmmh, Good god have mercy. Canary warehouses, baby, I went to school; I even lunched from the cans of our store; Heating them up on a hot-bellied stove; I used to keep out in the cold. Sitting around, you know, just to tell em lies about, ah, What I'd be when I grew old. I said, hmmh, Good god have mercy. Trestling the track down, mama, where the bnn Used to haul; Freight train caught daddy one day; He took a long, long fall. I'd only been taught to think on life; Never thought on death at all. I said, hmmh, Good god have mercy. Now every sunday after church There' be a meeting on the ground. Some good soul, she would always say It's a shame about frieda brown! Mama and the ladies they formed a society; They'd run frieda out of town. I said, hmmh, Good god have mercy. Daddy's on the main line, mama wants him home, Daddy's on the main line, the kid don't need him home. Good god have mercy.