St. James Infirmary Blues alternate lyrics

=St. James Infirmary
(alternate lyrics by Arlo Guthrie / Cisco Houston)=

Lyrics from Arlo Guthrie's rendition of St. James Infirmary, performed on NPR's "Talk Of The Nation" radio show on Nov. 14, 2001. Arlo introduces the song like this:

"I'll play you an old song. You know we were talking about Cisco Houston earlier and, uh, this is a song he used to sing..."

:It was down in old Joe's bar room, at the corner by the square:You know the drinks were served as usual, and the usual crowd was there

:Now on my left stood big Joe McKennedy, his eyes were bloodshot red:And as he looked at the gang around him, these were the very words he said:

:I went down to the St. James Infirmary, I saw my baby there:Stretched out on a long white table, so young, so cold, so fair

:Seventeen coal black horses, hitched to a rubber-tired hack:Seven girls goin' to the graveyard, only six of them are coming back

:Well let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be:She may search this wide world over, and never find another man like me

:Now when I die just bury me, in my high top stetson hat:Place a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain, to let the Lord know I died standing pat

:I want six crap shooters for my pallbearers, and a chorus girl to sing me a song:Place a jazz band on my hearse wagon, just to raise hell as we roll along

:Well now that you've heard my story, I'll take another shot of booze:And if anyone here should ask you, I got the gamblers blues!