Poor Jud Is Dead

Pore Jud is daid
Pore Jud Fry is daid
All gather 'round his coffin now and cry
He had a heart of gold
And he wasn’t very old—
Oh why did such a feller hive to die?
Pore Jud is daid
Pore Jud Fry is daid
He’s lookin' oh so peaceful and serene—
And serene!
He’s all laid out to rest
With his hands acrost his chest
His fingernails have never been so clean!
(spoken)
Then the preacher’d get up and he’d say
«Folks, we are gathered here to moan and groan over our brother Jud Fry,
who hung hisself up by a rope in his smokehouse»
Then there’d be weepin' and wailin' from some of those women
Then he’d say
«Jud was the most misunderstood man in this here territory
People used to think he was a mean ugly feller
And they called him a dirty skunk and an ornery pig stealer
But the folks 'at really knowed him
Knowed that beneath them two dirty shirts he always wore
There beat a heart as big as all outdoors»
As big as all outdoors
Jud Fry loved his feller man
He loved his feller man
He loved the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. He loved the mice
and the vermin in the barns, and he treated the rats like equals,
which was right. And he loved little children. He loved everybody and
everything in the world! Only, only he never let on, so nobody ever knowed it
(sung)
Pore Jud is daid
Pore Jud Fry is daid
His friends’ll weep and wail fer miles around
Miles around
The daisies in the dell
Will give out a diff’rent smell
Because Pore Jud is underneath the ground
Pore Jud is daid
A candle lights his haid
He’s layin' in a coffin made of wood
Wood
And folks are feelin' sad
Cause they use to treat him bad
And now they know their friend is gone fer good
Good
Pore Jud is daid
A candle lights his haid
He’s lookin' oh so purty and so nice
He looks like he’s asleep
It’s a shame that he won’t keep
But it’s summer and we’re running out of ice
Pore Jud, Pore Jud