A Partial Time Line With Lyrics For The Song "Cotton Eyed Joe" (from 1858 to 1994)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents a partial time line with lyrics and other online quotes for the old time American song "Cotton Eyed Joe" (also given as "Cotton Eye Joe".)

YouTube links are included for some of these entries.

This content is provided for historical and folkloric purposes.  

Thanks to the unknown original composers of "Cotton Eyed Joe" and thanks to the adapters of this song that are showcased in this post and elsewhere. Thanks also to the folklorists who are mentioned in this post and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these YouTube examples.
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This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the Black American originated song  "Cotton Eyed Joe" (also given as "Cotton Eye Joe")

One reason why these versions of "Cotton Eyed Joe" were selected for this pancocojams post was to demonstrate that this song has many different versions.

Click https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=13537 "Origins: Cotton-eyed Joe-true story/composite?" for a number of other text (word only) versions of "Cotton Eyed Joe".

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/10/are-some-cotton-eyed-joe-lyrics-racist.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Are Some "Cotton Eyed Joe" Lyrics Racist? No & Maybe". 

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PARTIAL TIME LINE FOR THE SONG "COTTON EYED JOE"

(including lyrics for certain versions of that song/additions and corrections are welcome) 

before 1858 -  "Cotton Eyed Joe" was composed by enslaved Black people in the United States South.

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1858- 1893:  "Cotton Eyed Joe" mentioned in American newspaper articles
"Edgefield (S. Carolina) Advertiser (Apr. 14, 1858):
"So I sez, Noel, let's have some music to make us feel better. Sez he, Ben, ...ef you'll git Abe Lard to play 'Cotton-eyed Joe,' I'll treat to half a pint."

Home Journal (Winchester, Tenn.) (July 28, 1870):
"The enlivening strains of 'Possum Up a Gum Stump' and 'Cotton-Eyed Joe.'"

The New North-West (Deer Lodge, Mont.) (Oct. 12, 1872):
"'Cotton-Eyed Joe' is a Kansas City local editor."

Home Journal (Winchester, Tenn.) (Jan. 10, 1878):
"Cotton-eyed Joe, he lost his toe,
Wasn't that good for cotton-eyed Joe."

Evening Bulletin (Maysville, Ky.) (July 7, 1882):
"In a little while Brother Rastus was moving down the street humbly singing -

"'Id'a bin married forty year ago,
Ef it hadn't but a bin fer Cotton-eyed Joe.' "

Fort Worth Daily Gazette (Nov. 13, 1887):
"Governor [Robert L. 'Bob'] Taylor of Tennessee should have known better than to make stump speeches in Ohio without his fiddle. ...[He could have played] 'Cotton-Eyed Joe' or 'Sally's Got a Bacon Rine' [sic]."

Lincoln County [N.M.] Leader (Jan. 7, 1888):
"We tripped the light fantastic toe to the inspiring strains of Cotton Eyed Joe and Five Miles From Home (and not a drop to drink)."

Newberry (S. Carolina) Herald and News (Apr. 20, 1892):
"His sable owner rolls his eyes up in gratitude for his mule's convalescence, leaving only the whites exposed; which reminds us of that good old song, 'Cotton-eyed Joe.'"

The [N.Y.] Sun (June 25, 1893) [in Missouri]:
"There was no cessation of 'Getting Up Stairs,' 'Cotton Eyed Joe,' 'Arkansas Traveller,' and all the melodies in Jimmie's repertory."
-Lighter, 29 Dec 18 - 12:33 PM, https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=18326 Cotton Eyed Joe History

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1882
The first known published version appeared in Alabama writer Louise Clarke Pyrnelle’s
1882 novel Diddie, Dumps, and Tot, or Plantation Child-Life, a nostalgic look at the antebellum South. Drawing heavily on her own childhood experiences on her father’s plantation, the novel gives credence to what most experts now hold as fact: "Cotton-Eyed Joe" originated with black slaves well before the Civil War. Pyrnelle’s version describes the titular character as an ugly man ("His eyes wuz crossed, an' his nose wuz flat / An' his teef wuz out, but wat uv dat?") who swoops into town and steals the narrator’s sweetheart." quoted in https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/82584/long-history-behind-song-cotton-eye-joe The Long History Behind the Song "Cotton Eye Joe" by Kenneth Partridge July 11, 2016 

**
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton-Eyed_Joe
"American publishing house Harper and Brothers published the first printed version of the song in 1882.[5] It was heard by author Louise Clarke Pyrnelle (born 1850) on the Alabama plantation of her father when she was a child.[6] That 1882 version was republished as follows in 1910:[7]

Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe,
What did make you sarve me so,
Fur ter take my gal erway fum me,
An' cyar her plum ter Tennessee?
Ef it hadn't ben fur Cotton-eyed Joe,
I'd er been married long ergo.

His eyes wuz crossed, an' his nose wuz flat,
An' his teef wuz out, but wat uv dat?
Fur he wuz tall, an' he wuz slim,
An' so my gal she follered him.
Ef it hadn't ben fur Cotton-eyed Joe,
I'd er been married long ergo.

No gal so hansum could be foun',
Not in all dis country roun',
Wid her kinky head, an' her eyes so bright,
Wid her lips so red an' her teef so white.
Ef it hadn't ben fur Cotton-eyed Joe,
I'd been married long ergo.

An' I loved dat gal wid all my heart,
An' she swo' fum me she'd never part;
But den wid Joe she runned away,
An' lef' me hyear fur ter weep all day.

O Cotton-eyed Joe, O Cotton-eyed Joe,
What did make you sarve me so?
O Joe, ef it hadn't er ben fur you,
I'd er married dat gal fur true."

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early 1880s
"A resident of Central Texas who learned the dance in Williamson County in the early 1880s described it as nothing but a heel and toe "poker" with fringes added. These fringes added to the heel and toe polka were clog steps which required skill and extraversion on the part of the dancer.[11]"

-Harris, Pittman, Waller, Dance a While. Handbook of Folk, Square, and Social Dancing. 1950, 1955, 1964, 1968. Burgess Publishing Company, Fourth Edition, p. 151. quoted in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton-Eyed_Joe

**
By 1884, the same year Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published, the fiddle based song was referred to as "an old, familiar air." 

http://bluegrassmessengers.com/cotton-eyed-joe--version-7-mountain-ramblers.aspx

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1922- a version of "Cotton Eyed Joe is included in African American university professor/folklorist Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Songs Wise & Otherwise

Hol' my fiddle an' hol' my bow,
Whilst I knocks ole Cotton Eyed Joe.

I'd a been dead some seben years ago,
If I hadn't a danced dat Cotton Eyed Joe.

Oh, it makes dem ladies love me so,
W'en I comes 'roun' pickin' ole Cotton Eyed Joe!

Yes, I'd a been married some forty years ago,
If I hadn't stay'd 'roun' wid Cotton Eyed Joe.

I hain't seed ole Joe, since was las' Fall;
Dey say he's been sol' down to Guinea Gall.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/27195/27195-h/27195-h.htm page. 32

**
..."the noted black cultural historian and longtime Fisk University chemistry professor Thomas W. Talley shared a slightly different rendition in his book Negro Folk Rhymes. The son of former Mississippi slaves, Talley came across a version wherein "Cotton-Eyed Joe" isn’t just a person, but also a dance: "I'd a been dead some seben years ago / If I hadn't a danced dat Cotton Eyed Joe." The song ends by saying Joe has "been sol' down to Guinea Gall," which again implies he was a slave." https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/82584/long-history-behind-song-cotton-eye-joe The Long History Behind the Song "Cotton Eye Joe" by Kenneth Patridge July 11, 2016 

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1925 - from Dorothy Scarborough's 1928 book On The Trail Of Negro Folk Songs:  
“A less comely person of a different sex is celebrated or anathematized in another song, which seems to be fairly well known in the South, as parts of it have been sent in by various persons. According to the testimony of several people who remember events before the war, this is an authentic slavery-time song. The air and some of the words were given by my sister, Mrs. George Scarborough, as learned from the Negroes on a plantation in Texas, and other parts by an old man in Louisiana, who sang it to the same tune. He said he had known it from his earliest childhood and had heard the slaves sing it on the plantation. A version was also sent by a writer whose pen name is Virginia Stait.

COTTON-EYED JOE (from Scarborough)

Don’t you remember, don’t you know,
Don’t you remember Cotton-eyed Joe?
Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe,
What did make you treat me so?
I’d ‘a’ been married forty year ago
Ef it had n’t a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!

Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe,
He was de nig dat sarved me so,-
Tuck my gal away fum me,
Carried her off to Tennessee.
I’d ‘a’ been married forty year ago
Ef it had n’t a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!

His teeth was out an’ his nose was flat,
His eyes was crossed, - but she did n’t mind dat.
Kase he was tall, and berry slim,
An’ so my gal she follered him.
I’d ‘a’ been married forty year ago
Ef it had n’t a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!

She was de prettiest gal to be found
Anywhar in de country round;
Her lips was red an’ her eyes was bright,
Her skin was black but her teeth was white.
I’d ‘a’ been married forty year ago
Ef it had n’t a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!

Dat gal, she sho’ had all my love,
An’ swore fum me she’d never move,
But Joe hoodooed her, don’t you see,
An’ she run off wid him to Tennessee.
I’d ‘a’ been married forty year ago
Ef it had n’t a-been for Cotton-eyed Joe!"

quoted in 
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/cotton_eyed_joe_cotton_eye_joe

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1927- "Dykes Magic City Trio got in ahead of Fiddlin' John Carson by 6 days. The Dykes Magic City recording, but it was reissued on Old Homestead LP 191. The other four above are fiddle dominated dance tunes. The Fiddlin' John rendition is basically a series of dance calls. In his notes to County 544 (Georgia Fiddle Bands Vol 2) Gene Wiggins writes that John's 'Cotton-eyed Joe' with its 'mixolydian cast' is said 'by old-timers to be older than other tunes with the same name'. The other renditions are mostly lengthy instrumental breaks interspersed with the usual couplets - 'had it not been for ...' 'went to the window, went to the door ...' etc - the Skillet Lickers' has the most lyrics but even these are repeated. The early recording artists focused on using it for dance purposes. The Carter Brothers and Son recording is great - wild, exuberant twin fiddling:

Virginian stringband - Dykes Magic City Trio 9 March 1927 in New York; Old Homestead OHCS191, "Dykes Magic City Trio" (Eastern Tenn.) {originally recorded in 1927 on a Brunswick 78}.
http://bluegrassmessengers.com/cotton-eyed-joe--version-7-mountain-ramblers.aspx

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I'd-a been married forty years ago,
If it hadn't a-been for Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Cotten-eyed Joe is a fine old man,
Washed his face with a fryin' pan.
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel,
Died with a toothache in his heel.

[dance calls]

Let's have a dance now

Partners to your places

First couple forward

Right hands across and circle to your left

Left and back

Whew!

Circle to the left

Swing grandma and then grandpa

And beat that girl from Arkansas.

Catch the bird,

Crow fly out and crow fly in,

Hold your horses, gone again.

Promenade."

http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/cotton-eyed-joe--version-1-john-dykes.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsVvJxHZKtg

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March 17, 1927
"Georgian stringband - Fiddlin' John Carson and Virginia Reelers 17 March 1927 in Atlanta; County 544, Fiddlin' John Carson- "Georgia Fiddle Bands, Vol. 2."

 http://bluegrassmessengers.com/cotton-eyed-joe--version-7-mountain-ramblers.aspx

**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAbGLW6MayA
. 

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1928 - "Georgian stringband - Skillet Lickers 10 April 1928 in Atlanta; Skillet Lickers, Vol. 1, County 506, LP (196?), cut# 12."

http://bluegrassmessengers.com/cotton-eyed-joe--version-7-mountain-ramblers.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFG9eVbkq70

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August 1941 - Burl Ives recording "Cotton Eyed Joe"

Do you remember a long time ago,
There was a man called cotton-eyed Joe
There was a man called cotton-eyed Joe

I could have been married a long time ago
If it hadn't been for cotton-eyed Joe
If it hadn't been for cotton-eyed Joe

Old bull fiddle and a shoe-string bow
Wouldn't play nothin' but a cotton-eyed Joe
Wouldn't play nothin' but a cotton-eyed Joe

Play it fast or play it slow
Didn't play nothin' but cotton-eyed Joe
Didn't play nothin' but cotton-eyed Joe

Don't you remember a long time ago
Daddy worked a man called cotton-eyed Joe
Daddy worked a man called cotton-eyed Joe

Where do you come? Where do you go?
Where do you come from, cotton-eyed Joe?
Where do you come from, cotton-eyed Joe?

Come for to see you, come for to sing,
Come for to show you my diamond ring
Come for to show you my diamond ring

https://www.streetdirectory.com/lyricadvisor/song/uleec/cotton_eyed_joe/

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September 4, 1946 (Album); January 1947 (Single) - Cotton Eyed Joe by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys - Vocal by Tommy Duncan
 https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/1049280

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COTTON-EYED JOE- Bob Wills

Don't you remember, don't you know?
Daddy worked a man called Cotton-Eyed Joe,
Daddy worked a man called Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Chorus (repeated after each verse):

Had not a-been for Cotton-Eyed Joe,
I'd 'a' been married a long time ago,
I'd 'a' been married a long time ago.

Down in the cotton-patch, down below,
Everybody's singing the Cotton-Eyed Joe,
Everybody's singing the Cotton-Eyed Joe.

I know a gal lives down below,
I used to go to see her but I don't no more,
I used to go to see her but I don't no more.

Tune my fiddle and I rosin my bow,
Gonna make music everywhere I go,
Gonna play a tune they call "Cotton-Eyed Joe".

http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/cotton-eyed-joe--version-18-bob-wills-.aspx

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December 1959 - Nina Simone "Cotton Eyed Joe" recording   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv9717YTmsQ
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Here's my transcription of the lyrics that Nina Simone sings in that sound file:

Where do you come from
And where do you go
Where do you come from 
My cotton eyed Joe

Well, I come for to see you
And I come for to say
And I come for to show you
My diamond ring

Where do you come from
And where do you go
Where do you come from 
My cotton eyed Joe

If it hadn't ah been for
If it hadn't been for 
Ole cotton-eyed Joe
Well, I'd been married
A long time ago. 

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1960 - Ella Jenkins and The Goodwill Spiritual Choir Of Monumental Baptist Church
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veglfk89sjU

**
Lyrics:
Where did you come from?
Where did you go?
Where did you come from?
Ol' Cotton Eyed Joe,
Ol' Cotton Eyed Joe.

I come for to see you
I come for to sing
I come for to show you
My little diamond ring. 

My ring shines like silver.
My ring shines like gold.
I'm gonna give it to my little Cindy-Jane
Hers for to hold,
Hers for to hold.

Where did you come from?
Where did you go?
Where did you come from?
Ol' Cotton Eyed Joe,
Ol' Cotton Eyed Joe.

I come for to see you
I come for to sing
I come for to show you
My little diamond ring.

Lyric Source:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3n444gbzf8 History & Drama behind Cotton-Eyed Joe , published by Emagination Productions, Feb. 14, 2022 

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1960 - Mountain Ramblers recording of "Cotton Eyed Joe"
*Oh Joe (Joe) (Joe)

Come here to me, Joe.

[Banjo and fiddle break]

I fell down an' stubbed my toe,
Play a little song called Cotton-Eyed Joe.
Where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Oh Joe (Joe) (Joe)
Come here to me, Joe.

[Banjo break]

Cornstalk fiddle shoestring bow
Play a little tune called Cotton-Eyed Joe
 Where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from Cotten-Eyed Joe.

Oh Joe (Joe) (Joe)
Come here to me, Joe.

[Fiddle break]

Rosin that fiddle an' rosin the bow
Play a little tune called Cotton-Eyed Joe
Where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from Cotten-Eyed Joe.

Oh Joe (Joe) (Joe)
Come here to me, Joe.

[Banjo break]

Oh Joe (Joe) (Joe) [vocals slow]
Come here to me, Joe. [music stops]

[Fiddle break- faster tempo]

------------------

* The word "Joe" is sung and held by the lead, then followed by a second then third vocal echo."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c0vsV_EXOY

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1980- "The 1980 film Urban Cowboy sparked a renewed interest in the dance.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton-Eyed_Joe

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1980 (early 1980s?) - Isaac Payton Sweat recording "Cotton Eyed Joe (also known as "The BullSh-t Song)* 

Sweat Isaac Payton1945–1990).Isaac Payton Sweat, singer and instrumentalist, was born in Port Arthur, Texas, on July 19, 1945. Ike was born into a musical family.

He had his first major success in the early 1980s with a vocal cover of Al Dean's instrumental standard, "Cotton-Eyed Joe." The song was popular, especially where people performed the eponymous dance. It was so popular, in fact, that Sweat became known as "Mr. Cotton-Eyed Joe." He performed regularly until his death"...

 https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/sweat-isaac-payton
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*This word is fully spelled out in a lot of comments about that song. 

**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ozoJw6fnqQ
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Warning- This record cover is a photograph that includes a man who appears to be wearing blackface makeup.

Lyrics:

I'd been married long time ago

had not been for cotton-eyed Joe

Where did you come from..where did he go

Where did you come from cotton-eyed Joe?

Got a ball-peen hammer and a two by four

Gonna whip the hell out of Cotton-eyed Joe

Where did you come from...where did he go

Where did you come from...Cotton-eyed Joe

Now what you say...(Bull -s***!)

Y'all say what...(Bull-s***!)

Still can't hear you..(Bull-s***!)

...Cotton-eyed Joe

Made himself a fiddle,...Made himself a bow

Made a little tune...called the Cotton-Eyed Joe

Where did you come from...Where did you go

Where did you come from...Cotton-eyed Joe

Your woman goes out with her best friend

for a shoppin' spree ,she's back at 10

asked If she used my credit card

she said, "I don't remember cause I'm awful tired".

Now boys,.. Whatcha say....B-S )

Your man leaves out with his best friend

to the local bar ..for a taste of gin

back at four with his new best friend

He said,"I like you to meet Sarah Lynn"

Now ladies,..Whatcha say....B-S )

https://www.flashlyrics.com/lyrics/isaac-payton-sweat/cotton-eyed-joe-54
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This is the way that curse word is given in those lyrics.

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1985-  The Moody Brothers' version of the song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton-Eyed_Joe

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1992 - Irish group The Chieftains received a Grammy nomination for Best Country Vocal Collaboration for their version of the song with lead vocals by Ricky Skaggs on their 1992 album Another Country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton-Eyed_Joe

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1992 - Red Clay Ramblers recording - "Cotton Eyed Joe"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZyzeD3fwd0

Lyrics:

Way back yonder a long time ago
Daddy had a man called cotton-eyed joe
Blew into town on a travelin' show
Nobody danced like the Cotton eyed Joe.

CHORUS:

Cotton-eyed Joe, Cotton-eyed Joe
where did you come from?
Where did you go?
Where did you come from?
Where did you go?

Where did you come from Cotton-eyed Joe?
Mama's at the window
Mama's at the door
She can't see nothin' but the Cotton-eyed Joe

Daddy held the fiddle,
held the bow
He beat the hell out of Cotton-eyed Joe

Made himself a fiddle,
Made himself a bow
Made a little tune called the Cotton-Eyed Joe

Hadn't oughta been
For Cotton-eyed Joe
I'da been married some forty years ago.

Whenever there's a dance
All the women want to go
And they all want to dance with Cotton-Eyed Joe

Daddy won't say
But I think he know
Whatever happened to Cotton-eyed Joe !

 https://mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=1353

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September 1993 - Bill Monroe And The Blue Grass Boys recording "Cotton Eyed Joe"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK2sbpzF0w0

[Fiddle]

I'd a-been married forty years ago
If I hadn't been (for) knock-kneed Cotton-eyed
Where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Say my grandmammy didn't you know?
Chicken's in the bread pan scratchin' out dough.
Where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Cornstalk fiddle and a shoestring bow,
Play a little tune called Cotton-Eyed Joe
Where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Don't you remember, don't you know?
Daddy worked a man called Cotton-eyed Joe.
Where did you come from, where will you go?
Where did you come from Cotton-Eyed Joe.

http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/cotton-eyed-joe--version-4-bill-monroe.aspx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK2sbpzF0w0
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That YouTube sound file includes lyrics for this song which aren't the ones that are sung in that sound file.

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1994 - Swedish band Renex's version of "Cotton Eye Joe"
..."a version of the song recorded by the Swedish band Rednex as "Cotton Eye Joe" became popular worldwide." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton-Eyed_Joe

**
From https://historydaily.org/cotton-eye-joe-facts-stories-trivia Cotton Eye Joe: The History Of The Rednex Classic Based On A Pre-Civil War Folk Song
"Everyone hits the dance floor when the D.J. plays "Cotton Eye Joe," the 1995 hit from the confusingly Swedish techno punk band Rednex, but the catchy melody actually goes back much further than the days of Toy Story. In fact, historians have traced the original folk song back to pre–Civil War days.

Where Did He Come From?

"Cotton Eye Joe," sometimes known as "Cotton Eyed Joe" or "Cotton-Eyed Joe," was a mainstay among slaves on Southern plantations. The lyrics varied from place to place and year to year, but the root of the story remained the same: A handsome fellow named Joe caught the eye of the narrator's girlfriend and swept her away, leaving the narrator tragically single. (This differs significantly from the Rednex incarnation, in which Joe leaves an entire town womanless after charming all the women and forcing them to flee in shame.)"...

**
"Lyrics

[Intro]

If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?

[Chorus]
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?


[Verse 1]

He came to town like a midwinter storm
He rode through the fields, so handsome and strong
His eyes was his tools and his smile was his gun
But all he had come for was havin' some fun

[Chorus]
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?

[Verse 2]
He brought disaster wherever he went
The hearts of the girls was to hell broken sent
They all ran away so nobody would know
And left only men 'cause of Cotton-Eyed Joe

[Chorus]
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago
Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago

Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago

Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago

Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?
If it hadn't been for Cotton-Eyed Joe
I'd been married long time ago

Where did you come from? Where did you go?
Where did you come from, Cotton-Eyed Joe?

https://genius.com/Rednex-cotton-eye-joe-lyrics
-snip-
Click https://americansongwriter.com/the-meaning-behind-cotton-eye-joe/ to read information about the Swedish band Rednex 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOYZaiDZ7BM

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