Ol' Man River

(album: Sammy Davis, Jr. At Town Hall - 1959)

Here we all work 'long the Mississippi
Here we all work while the white folk play
Pulling them boats from the dawn till sunset
Getting no rest till the judgment day

Don't look up and don't look down
You don't das make the boss man frown
Bend your knees and bow your head
And pull that rope until your dead

Let me go 'way from the Mississippi
Let me go 'way from the white man boss
Show me that stream called the river Jordan
That's the old stream that I long to cross

Ol' man river, that ol' man river
He don't say nothing, but he must know something
He just keeps rolling, he keeps on rolling along

He don't plant tatters, and he don't plant cotton
And them what plants em, are soon forgotten
But ol' man river, just keeps rolling along

You and me, we sweat and strain
Body all aching and racked with pain
Tote that barge and lift that bail
You get a little drunk and you lands in jail

I gets weary, and sick of trying
I'm tired of living, but I'm scared of dying
But ol' man river, he just keeps rolling along