X: 1
T:Rye Whisky
S:Digital Tradition, ryewhisk
N:One of the more exhaustive texts.
B:From American Ballads and Folk Songs, Lomax
Z:dt:ryewhisk
M:6/8
L:1/8
Q:3/8=80
W:I'll eat when I'm hungry,
W:I'll drink when l'm dry,
W:If the hard times don't kill me,
W:I'll lay down and die.
W:
W:  Chorus:
W:  Rye whisky, rye whisky,
W:  Rye whisky, l cry,
W:  If you don't give me rye whisky,
W:  I surely will die.
W:
W:I'll tune up my fiddle,
W:And I 'll rosin my bow,
W:I'll make myself welcome,
W:Wherever I go.
W:
W:Beefsteak when I'm hungry,
W:Red liquor when I'm dry,
W:Greenbacks when I'm hard up,
W:And religion when I die.
W:
W:They say l drink whisky,
W:My money's my own;
W:All them that don't like me,
W:Can leave me alone.
W:
W:Sometimes I drink whisky,
W:Sometimes I drink rum,
W:Sometimes I drink brandy,
W:At other times none.
W:
W:But if I get boozy,
W:My whisky's my own,
W:And them that don't like me,
W:Can leave me alone.
W:
W:Jack o' diamonds, jack o' diamonds,
W:I know you of old,
W:You've robbed my poor pockets
W:Of silver and gold.
W:
W:Oh, whisky, you villain,
W:You've been my downfall,
W:You've kicked me, you've cuffed me,
W:But I love you for all.
W:
W:If the ocean was whisky,
W:And I was a duck,
W:I'd dive to the bottom
W:To get one sweet suck.
W:
W:But the ocean ain't whisky
W:And I ain't a duck,
W:So we'll round up the cattle
W:And then we'll get drunk.
W:
W:My foot's in my stirrup,
W:My bridle's in my hand,
W:I'm leaving sweet Lillie,
W:The fairest in the land.
W:
W:Her parents don't like me,
W:They say I'm too poor;
W:They say I'm unworthy
W:To enter her door.
W:
W:Sweet milk when l'm hungry,
W:Rye whisky when I'm dry,
W:If a tree don't fall on me,
W:I'll live till I die.
W:
W:I'll buy my own whisky,
W:I'll make my own stew,
W:If I get drunk, madam,
W:It's nothing to you.
W:
W:I'll drink my own whisky,
W:I'll drink my own wine,
W:Some ten thousand bottles
W:I've killed in my time.
W:
W:I've no wife to quarrel
W:No babies to bawl;
W:The best way of living
W:Is no wife at all.
W:
W:Way up on Clinch Mountain
W:I wander alone,
W:I'm as drunk as the devil,
W:Oh, let me alone.
W:
W:You may boast of your knowledge
W:An' brag of your sense,
W:'Twill all be forgotten
W:A hundred years hence.
W:
W:(Negro Variant)
W:In my little log cabin,
W:Ever since I been born,
W:Dere ain't been no nothin'
W:'Cept dat hard salt, parched corn.
W:
W:But l know whar's a henhouse,
W:De turkey he charve;
W:An, if ol' Massa don' kill me
W:I cain't never starve.
W:
W:(Variant chorus)
W:Rye whisky, rye whisky,
W:You're no friend to me;
W:You killed my poor daddy,
W:Goddamn you, try me.
K:G
B|BGG DDD|GGG B2B/A/|BGE DDD|GGA G2B,|
CEE B,DD|GGA B2B/A/|BG/G/E DB,D|GGA G2||