John Cherokee was an Indian man
Ch: Alabama, John Cherokee!
He runs away every time he can
Ch: Alabama, John Cherokee!
Way-aye-yah! Ugh
Ch: Alabama, John Cherokee!
Way-aye-yah! Ugh
Ch: Alabama, John Cherokee!
They put him aboard a Yankee ship,
Again he gave the boss the slip.
They catch him again and chain him tight,
And starve him many days and nights.
He have nothing to drink and nothing to eat,
So he just gone dead at the boss's feet.
So they bury him by the old gate post,
And the day he died, you can see his ghost.
"Songs of the Chanty-man," by Capt. John Robinson, The Bellman