Arlo Guthrie St James Infirmary Lyrics

"I'll play you an old song. You know we were talking about Cisco Houston earlier and, uh, this is a song he used to sing..."

It was down in old Joe's bar room, at the corner by the square
You know the drinks were served as usual, and the usual crowd was there
Now on my left stood big Joe McKennedy, his eyes were bloodshot red
And as he looked at the gang around him, these were the very words he said:
I went down to the St. James Infirmary, I saw my baby there
Stretched out on a long white table, so young, so cold, so fair
Seventeen coal black horses, hitched to a rubber-tired hack
Seven girls goin' to the graveyard, only six of them are coming back
Well let her go, let her go, God bless her, wherever she may be
She may search this wide world over, and never find another man like me
Now when I die just bury me, in my high top stetson hat
Place a twenty dollar gold piece on my watch chain, to let the Lord know I died standing pat
I want six c___ shooters for my pallbearers, and a chorus girl to sing me a song
Place a jazz band on my hearse wagon, just to raise hell as we roll along
Well now that you've heard my story, I'll take another shot of booze
And if anyone here should ask you, I got the gamblers blues!