Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal
By Thomas S. Allen with additional oral tradition elements,
arranged and adapted by Andrew Calhoun, recorded on Grapevine.
I've got a big-foot mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
She's a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
We've hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
And every inch of the way we know
From Albany to Buffalo
Chorus:
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, we must be gettin' near a town
& you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If they ever navigated on the Erie Canal
I don't have to call when I want my Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
Cause she trots from her stall like a good old gal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
I eat my meals with Sal each day
I eat beef and she eats hay
That's a bale of hay for dinner if you want to know
She put the "Buff" in Buffalo
Chorus
If you're looking for trouble, I'm tellin' ya pal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
You better think twice before you mess with Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
A friend of mine once got her sore
Now he's got a broken jaw
Cause she let fly with an iron toe
And kicked him in to Buffalo
Chorus
We'd better look around for a job, old gal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
'Cause you bet your life I'd never part with Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
Git up there mule, we've passed that lock
We'll make Rome 'fore six o'clock
So one more trip and then we'll go
Right back home to Buffalo
Chorus