Tom: C C Em Am G F C G It was one fine March morning I bid New Orleans adieu, C Em Am G Am C F and I took the road to Jackson town, my fortune to renew. C Em Am G Am C F I cursed all foreign mo..ney, no credit could I gain, C Em Am G F C G till I fell in love with the Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain. C Em Am G F C G She took me into her Mamma's house, and treated me right well, C Em Am G Am C F the hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell. C Em Am G Am C F To try and paint her beauty, I knew, it would be in vain, C Em Am G F C G so handsome was my Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain. C Em Am G F C I asked her if she'd marry me, she said that ne'er could be, C Em Am/G C F for she had got a lover and he was far at sea. C Em Am G C F She said that she would wait for him and true she would remain, C Em Am G F C G till he'd return to his Creole girl on the lakes of Pontchartrain. C Em Am G F C G It's fare thee well, my Creole girl, I never will see you more, C Em Am G Am C F I won't forget your kindness in the cottage by the shore. C Em Am G Am C F And at each social gathering, a flowing bowl I'll drain, C Em Am G F C and I'll drink a health to my Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain.