'Twas on one bright March morning
I bid New Orleans adieu
And I took the road to Jackson town
Me fortune to renew
I cursed all foreign money
No credit could I gain
Which filled me heart with longing
For the lakes of Pontchartrain

I stepped on board a rail car
Beneath the morning sun
And I rode the rods 'til evening
And I laid me down again
All strangers there, no friends to me
'Til a pretty girl towards me came
And I fell in love with a Creole girl
By the lakes of Pontchartrain

I said, "My pretty Creole girl
My money here's no good
And if it weren't for the alligators
I'd sleep out in the wood."
"You're welcome here, kind stranger
Our house is very plain
But we never turn a stranger out
On the banks of Pontchartrain."

I asked her if she'd marry me
She said this could never be
For she had got a lover
And he was far at sea
She said that she would wait for him
And true she would remain
'Til he'd return to his Creole girl
By the lakes of Pontchartrain

So fare thee well, my bonny own girl
I never may see you more
But I'll ne'er forget your kindness
In the cottage by the shore
And in each social gathering
A flowing glass I'll drain
And I'll drink a health to my Creole girl
By the lakes of Pontchartrain