'Twas on one bright March morning I bid New Orleans adieu
And I took the rode 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 of a railroad car beneath the morning sun
I rode the road 'til evening and I laid me down again
All strangers there, no friends to me, 'til a dark girl towards me came
And I fell in love with a Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain

I said, "My pretty Creole girl, me money here's no good
If it weren't for the alligators, I'd sleep out in the wood"
"You're welcome here, kind stranger, our house, it's very plain
But we never turn a stranger out from the lakes of Pontchartrain"

She took me to her mammy's house and treated me right well
The hair upon her shoulders in jet-black ringlets fell
To try and paint her beauty, I'm sure 'twould be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain

And I asked her if she'd marry me, she'd said it could never be
For she had got another, and he was far at sea
She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain
'Til he returned for his Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain

So fare thee well, me bonny own girl, I never will see no more
But I'll ne'er forget your kindness in the cottage by the shore
And at each social gathering a flowing glass I'll raise
And I'll drink a health to me Creole girl and the lakes of Pontchartrain