It was one fine March morning
I bid New Orleans adieu
I was on my way to Jackson
My fortune to renew
I cursed all foreign money
No credit could I gain
Which filled my heart with longin'
For the banks of Ponchartrain

I stepped on board a railroad car
Beneath the morning sun
And I rode the rails 'til evenin'
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 a Creole girl
By the banks of Pontchartrain

I said, "Oh my pretty Creole girl
My money here's no good
But if it weren't for the alligators
I'd sleep out in the wood"
She said "You're welcome here kind stranger
Our home it's very plain
But we've never turned a stranger out
By the banks of Pontchartrain"
She took me to her mama's house
And she treated me right well
The hair across her shoulders
In jet black ringlets fell
To try and paint her beauty
I know would be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl
By the banks of Pontchartrain

I asked would she marry me
She'd said no, it never could be
For she has got a lover
And he's off far at sea
She said that she would wait for him
And true she would remain
'Til he returned for his Creole girl
By the banks of the Pontchartrain

So fare thee well my Creole girl
I'll never see you more
But I won't forget your kindness
And the cottage by the shore
And at each social gathering
A flowin' glass I'll trane
And drink a health to my Creole girl
From the banks of Pontchartrain