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.