"The Battle of New Orleans"

Lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood
tune: Eighth of January, traditional fiddle tune

Click here or on the picture below to hear Jimmy Driftwood sing
the Battle of New Orleans!

Well, in 18 and 14, we took a little trip

Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Missisip

We took a little bacon and we took a little beans

And we met the bloody British in the town of New Orleans

 

Chorus:

We fired our guns and the British kept a comin'

There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago

We fired once more and they began a running

Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

 

Well, I seed Mars Jackson come a-walkin' down the street

And a-talkin' to a pirate by the name of Jean Lafitte;

He gave Jean a drink that he brung from Tennessee,

And the pirate said he'd help us drive the British to the sea.

 

Chorus

Well the French told Andrew, "You had better run

For Packenham's a=comin' with a bullet in his gun."

Old Hickory said he didn't give a damn

He's a-gonna whup the britches off of Colonel Packenham.

 

Chorus

Well, we looked down the river and we seed the British come

And there must have been a hundred of them beating on the drum

They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring

While we stood behind our cotton bales and didn't say a thing

 

Chorus

 

Old Hickory said we could take em by surprise

If we didn't fire a musket till we looked em in the eyes

We held our fire till we seed their face well

Then we opened up our squirrel guns and really gave em well..

 

Chorus

 

Well they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles

And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go

They ran so fast the hounds couldn't catch em

Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

 

 

Chorus

 

Well we fired our cannons till the barrels melted down

So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round

We filled his head with minie balls and powdered his behind

And when we touched the powder off, the 'gator lost his mind

 

Chorus

 

They lost their pants and their pretty shiny coats

And their tails was all a-showin' like a bunch of billy goats.

They ran down the river with their tongues a-hanging out

And they said they got a lickin', which there wasn't any doubt.

 

Chorus

 

Well we marched back to town in our dirty ragged pants

And we danced all night with the pretty girls from France;

We couldn't understand 'em, but they had the sweetest charms

And we understood 'em better when we got 'em in our arms.

 

Chorus

 

Well, the guide who brung the British from the sea

Come a-limping into camp just as sick as he could be,

He said the dying words of Colonel Packenham

Was, "You better quit your foolin' with your cousin Uncle Sam."

 

Chorus

 

Well, we'll march back home, but we'll never be content

Till we make Old Hick'ry the people's president.

And every time we think about the bacon and the beans

We'll think about the fun we had way down in New Orleans.

 

Chorus

 

Copyright Warden Music Co., Inc.

Note:  Jimmy Driftwood's famous comment about the royalties he made from the various recordings of this song: "Well, Colonel Jackson will be keeping my wife Cleda in snuff long after I am dead and gone."

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