Up Jumped The Devil

O My O 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 younder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who’s that younder all in flames
Up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim
O poor heart
I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play
The villians part
I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the of a dead nun’s heart
Who’s that milling on the courthouse steps
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Who’s that milling on the courthouse steps
Up jumped the Devil and off he crept
O no O no Where could I go With my hump of trouble
And my sack of woe
To the digs and deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safe from the lynching rope
Who’s that younder laughing at me Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who’s that younder laughing at me Up jumped the Devil 1, 2, 3
Ha-Ha Ha Ha How lucky we were
We hit the cathouse
And sampled their whares
We got as drunk
As a couple of Czars
One night I spat out
My lucky stars
Who’s that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Who’s that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Up jumped the Devil and said «Here is your man and I got a proof»
O no don’t go O no
O slow down Joe
The righteous part