BLACK THEM BOOTS
Sung by: W.P. Detherow
Recorded in Batesville, AR, 6/25/52

Click here to listen to the original recording
(Mr. Detherow: "This is 'Black Them Boots.' This is a familiar song that's played over the radio considerable, and people familiar with the music but they don't know that it's a play song, a ring play song.")

Black them boots and make them shine;
Goodbye and a goodbye.
Black them boots and make them shine;
Go see, Liza Jane.

Chorus: Oh, how I love her.
Ain't that a shame?
Oh, how I love her;
Swing ol' Liza Jane.
Oh, how I love her.
Ain't that a shame?
Oh, how I love her;
Swing ol' Liza Jane.

River's wide and the channel's deep;
Goodbye and a goodbye.
The girls are pretty and I know they're sweet;
Goodbye, Liza Jane.

(Chorus)

Hawk got a chicken and it flew upstairs;
Goodbye and a goodbye.
Hawk got a chicken and it flew upstairs;
Goodbye, Liza Jane.

(Chorus)

(Mr. Detherow: "In this they ring up and they pass right and left through, square-dance style, and when they meet they swing once and a half, and then they commence to singing, 'Oh, how I love her. Ain't that a shame; Oh, how I love her; swing ol' Liza Jane,' and this is repeated with different couples."

Also found in Randolph, Vol. III, #550, "Black Them Boots."

All Songs Recorded by John Quincy Wolf, Jr., unless otherwise noted

The John Quincy Wolf Folklore Collection
Lyon College, Batesville, Arkansas
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