I remember when I was just little mama used to cook in an old black kettle

On an old wood stove she'd had since she was wed

Now the oven door was sprung a little bit

So we propped it up with a forkhead stick

That didn't matter cause mama kept us fed

My mama and daddy must've loved each other

Cause I had a bunch of sisters and brothers

The girls worked just as hard as us boys did

There was corn to hoe we'd go hoe it we might've been poor but we didn't know it

We'd heard that word but we didn't know what it meant

Oh didn't we have such a good life

And the days that I knew then are the happiest I've known

Oh didn't we have such a good time

You know it's sad to think the old black kettle's gone

The old black kettle's gone the old black kettle's gone

[ guitar ]

Now there wasn't nothin' that pleased us any better

Than when we'd get an occasional letter

From kinfolks livin' up north in some big town

We'd think of all the games we'd play and we just couldn't hardly wait

When our city cousins said they was a comin' down

Now mama's done away with the old black kettle

She used to cook in when I was just little

And the door ain't sprung on her new electric range

And that little old farm and home we had it ain't there no more and that's too bad

Folks're doin' away with the simple things

Oh didn't we have...

Folks're doin' away with most of the simple things