Old Man's Song
Found in Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise, by Thomas W. Talley, 1922. Recorded on Bound to Go.
Old man, old man, and what's your sons' names?
Oh come now, old man, just tell me the same,
Won't you call them off whilst I whittle with my knife,
I haven't never seed such a fine gang in my life.
Well, there's my son Willie, my son Billie,
My son Jimmy, my son Timmy,
My son John, Jake and Jipton,
My son Henry and my son Tipton.
Old man, old man, is yo' sons hard to feed?
Old man, old man, does you ever get in need?
"Oh they feeds all day in the watermelon field,
And catchin' them possum, they's Charlie at de wheel.
Well, there's my son Willie, my son Billie,
My son Jimmy, my son Timmy,
My son John, Jake and Jipton,
My son Henry and my son Tipton.