Once I loved a girl, and I loved her as my life
Truly would I have given her my hand and my heart
To make her my wife
But she took me by the hand, and she led me to the door
And the answer that she gave me was, Don't come here no more
O don't come here no more
So I stayed away six months which caused her to complain
And she wrote to me a letter saying, Please come back again
O, please come back again
So I wrote to her another, and it was to let her know
That a young man often ventures where he ought not to go
Ought not to go
For the leaves they will wither, and the roots they will decay
And the beauty of a fair young maid will soon fade away
O-oh will soon fade away