Woody Guthrie: Talking Fish Blues

I went down to the fishing hole
And I set down with my fishing pole
Something grabbed my hook and it got my bait
And it jerked me out in the middle of the lake
Some jump, I got sunk
Baptized on credit

Fishing down on the muddy bank
Felt a pull and give a big yank
I hauled out three old rubber boots
And a Ford radiator and a Chevrolet coupe
Handed it in for National Defence

Settin' in a boat with a bucket of beer
And I hadn't caught nothin' but I didn't much care
I guess I was pretty well satisfied
I had my little lady right by my side
Takin' it easy. just a-waitin'
Worm been gone off that hook for couple hours

When you go fishin', I'll tell you what to do
You go set down by the grassy slough
Take a piece of string and tie it on your pole
And throw it way out in the middle of the hole
Find you a good shade tree and then just set down
Go to sleep, forget all about it

Jumped in the river and went down deep
There was a hundred pound catfish lying there asleep
Jumped on his back and rode him into town
Saddled him up and I come to town
People came runnin', lookin'
Dogs a-barkin', kids a-squallin'

Stagnate water's a stinkin' thing
Slick on top and all turned green
When the water goes bad, the fish all run
Sit all day and not catch a-one
'Cept ???, ???
Few little suckers

I waded out to a sandy bar
And I caught myself a big alligator gar
Brung him home across my back
Tail was dragging a mile and a half
Flippin' and floppin'
Sold him for a quarter
Shot craps, got in jail

Early one mornin', I took me a notion
To go out a-fishin' in the middle of the ocean
Throwed out my line, I caught me a shark
I didn't get him home 'til way past dark
He a man-eater, tough customer
Just wasn't quite tough enough

Late last night I had me a dream
I was out fishin' in a whiskey stream
Baited my hook with apple-jack
Threw out a drink and bring a gallon back
Done pretty good 'til the creek run dry
So I gave my fish back to the finance company