My mamma said to me
"Beware of the devil my chld
in the dark rocky places he'll keep
Beware of the devil my child
Beware of his charming ways
You'll fall under an evil spell
just looking at his beautiful face
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside"

"Don't go walking by the riverside
alone in the pale moonlight
He'll come upon you girl
With no earthy body in sight
Come up upon you girl
and he'll whisper something sweet
then take you
where the waters rise so high and run so deep"

"You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl
When the waters run high"

Now when I was just a little girl
My mamma said to me
"Beware of the devil my child
but if by chance you should meet
Beware of his cold dark eyes
Full of bold and unholy deceit
He'll tempt you with a whirling pool of lies
and promises he'll deny
or that he'll never keep"

"You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee deep inside
You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside
Build yourself a levee girl
when the waters run high"