
Lyrics
(Folk song)
1. Old Joe Clark, he built a house,
Took him ’bout a week;
He built the floors above his head,
The ceil-ings under his feet.
Refrain
Rock-a-rock, Old Joe Clark,
Rock-a-rock, I’m gone;
Rock-a-rock, Old Joe Clark,
Good-by Lucy Long.
2. Old Joe Clark, he had a dog,
Like none you’ve ever seen,
With floppy ears and a curly tail
And six feet in between. Refrain
3. I went down to Old Joe’s house,
Never been there before.
He slept on the feather bed,
And I slept on the floor. Refrain
4. Joe Clark had a violin.
He fiddled all the day.
Anybody start to dance,
And Joe would start to play. Refrain
Other Lyrics
Fly around, Old Joe Clark,
Fly around, I’m gone;
Fly around, Old Joe Clark,
With the golden slippers on.
Roll, roll, Old Joe Clark,
Roll, roll, I say;
Roll, roll, Old Joe Clark,
You’d better be getting’ away.
Old Joe Clark he had a dog
As blind as he could be;
Chased a bedbug ’round a stump
And a coon up a hollow tree.
When I was a little boy
I used to play in ashes
Now I am a great big boy
Wearing Dad’s mustaches.
See also
- Subject: silly / dogs / fiddles
- Type: ballad
- Form: AB
- Melody: mi, re, do
- Meter: 4
- Rhythm:
/
/
- Scale: Mixolydian
- Source: American Folk Songs for Children,Ruth Crawford Seeger, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1948
YouTube
- PDF of song with chords
- MIDI file
- Listen to the melody

