1. Fiddling Blues

I started playing the fiddle when I was seventeen,
Yes, I started playing the fiddle when I was seventeen,
My boss's wife she taught me how to play it, and I was mighty green.

And then I met a housemaid, she played the fiddle all night,
I'd wait outside her bedroom till she turned out the light,
I brought my bow for company so she could do it right.

I've played on many a fiddle, and now I'm sixty-two,
When your fiddling days are over there's damn all else to do,
My bow's got a bend in the middle and I reckon that I'm through.

If you want to play the fiddle, you've got to pluck the string,
If you want to play the fiddle, you've got to pluck the string,
And when your bow is broken —

(in a sharp sour voice) I guess you've just about had it, boy!