Up Jumped the Devil

Oh my, oh my
What a wretched life
I was born on the day
That my poor mama died
I was cut from her belly
With a Stanley knife
My daddy did a jig
With the drunk midwife

Who's that yonder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who's that yonder all in flames
Well, up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim on me

Oh, poor heart
I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play
The villain's part
I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the chambers of a dead nun's heart

Oh, who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Who's that milling 'round the courthouse steps
Up jumped the Devil and off he crept

Oh no, oh no
Where could I go
With my hump of trouble
And my sack of woe
To the digs and the deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safer from the lynching rope

Who's that yonder laughing at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who's that yonder laughing at me
Well up jumped the Devil, one, two, three

H-h-h-h-h-how lucky we were
We hit the cathouses
And we sampled their wares
We got as drunk
As a couple of Czars
That night I swallowed
My lucky stars

Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Up jumped the Devil and said "Here is your man and I got a proof"

Oh no, oh no, don't go
Oh, slow down Joe
The righteous path is straight as an arrow
Take a walk and you'll find it's too narrow
Too narrow for the likes of me

Who's that hanging from the gallows tree
His eyes are plucked but he looks like me
Now who's that swinging from the gallows tree
Up jumped the Devil and he took my soul from me

Down, down, down
Down we go
Down we go
Down we go
Down we go
The Devil and me
Down we go
Down we go
Down, down, down
The Devil and me
Down we go
Down we go
For eternity
Yeah, the Devil and me
Down we go
Down we go
Down we go
Down, down, down
Hell fire and flames
Down we go
Down we go the Devil and me to Eternity
Down we go
Down we go