TextImageVideoSoundInteractive ResourcesAll
Twain's Life and WorksThemes Interactive Maps Cultural TourismAbout this Site
Back to the Songs List

Way Down in Cairo

Song performed by: Dean Potter (vocals) and Tara Dirst (piano). Recording engineer: Matt Dotson.

*NOTICE ABOUT LANGUAGE* — Some songs of this period contain language that is considered offensive today. Please note that these recordings are not intended to insult or offend anyone.

Stephen C. Foster

1. Oh, ladies don't you blush, when I come out to play,
I only mean to please you all and den I'se gwine away.

Refrain
I hear my true lub weep, I hear by true lub sigh;
Way down in Cairo dis nigga's gwine to die

2. Sometimes de niggah's life is sad, some times his life his gay,
When de work don't come too hard, he's singing all de day.

Refrain

3. Now we lib on de fat land, now we lib on de lean,
When we hab no cake to bake, we sweep the kitchen clean.

Refrain

© 2005 Mark Twain's Mississippi River