Name: The Lakes of Pontchartrain
Duration: P00H05M43S
Description: Traditional Creole Folk Song, mid eighteenth century. Read more at www.folkswitch.com/journal/lakes-of-pontchartrain/

The Lakes of Pontchartrain

from Love Was The Cause Of My Ruin: Traditional Folk Songs From The American River Valleys by The Friday Night Drifters

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$1 USD or more
Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Traditional Creole Folk Song, mid eighteenth century. Read more at www.folkswitch.com/journal/lakes-of-pontchartrain/

lyrics

Lakes of Pontchartrain

It was one fine March morning, I bid New Orleans Adieu
And I took the road to Jackson Town, my fortune to renew
I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain
Which filled my heart with a longing for, the Lakes of Ponchartrain

I stepped on board of a railroad car beneath the morning sun
I rode the rods till evening and I laid me down again
All strangers there no friends to me ’til a dark girl towards me came
And I fell in love with the Creole Girl, by the Lakes of Ponchartrain

I said “Me pretty Creole Girl, me money here’s no good,
If it weren’t for the alligators, I’d sleep out there in the wood”
“You’re welcome here kind stranger, Our house is very plain”
“But we never turned a stranger out, by the Lakes of Ponchartrain”

She took me into her mammy’s house and treated me right well
The hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell
To try and paint her beauty, I’m sure ‘twould be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl by the Lakes of Ponchartrain

I asked her if she’d marry me, she said that ne’er could be
For she had got a lover and he was far at sea
She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain
Till he’d return to his Creole girl, on the Lakes of Ponchartrain

It’s fare thee well, me Creole girl, I’ll never see you more
I’ll never forget your kindness in the cottage by the shore
And at each social gathering, a flowing bowl I’ll drain
And I’ll drink a health to my Creole girl, by the Lakes of Ponchartrain

credits

from Love Was The Cause Of My Ruin: Traditional Folk Songs From The American River Valleys, released May 8, 2019
Todd Atteberry, vocals and guitar
Todd Lane, bass

license

about

Folkswitch

Folk songs, the words of the romantic poets, traditional music, acid rock, garage prog, front porch folk ...

folkswitch.com

contact / help

Contact Folkswitch

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Folkswitch, you may also like:

Gilding The Lily - A Retrospective 1996-2021
by WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW

This retrospective compilation covers the last 25 years of dramatic darkwave from Austrian goth band Whispers in Shadow. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 21, 2021
go to album
Genesis
by XIXA

XIXA cull from various strains of Latin music, from Chicha (psychedelic cumbia from Peru) to Tejano, infusing their "mystic desert rock" with a distinct sense of brooding. Bandcamp Album of the Day Feb 17, 2021
go to album
Radiant Remains
by Radar Eyes

On ”Radiant Remains,” Chicago's Radar Eyes drape themselves in shadow to stunning effect. Bandcamp Album of the Day Sep 13, 2016
go to album
Forgive Yourself
by Publicist UK

Blood Relative is Publicist's latest post-punk salvo from the Forgive Yourself LP, steered by Zachary Lipez's unnerving baritone. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 17, 2015
go to album
Aux Folies
by Great Pagans

The breezy, hooky, and highly literate songs on the latest from Great Pagans recalls ’80s Britpop at its finest. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 27, 2021
go to album
Certified Organic EP
by Sunfruits

Celebratory and sweet psychedelic pop from Melbourne's Sunfruits looks forward to sunnier days. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 16, 2020
go to album
Every Other Day
by The Dandelion

Mystical new single from Australian psych project the Dandelion features twisting Farfisa lines, ghostly vocals, and spaced out atmosphere. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 16, 2018
go to album