When I get off of this mountain   You know where I want to go   Straight down the Mississippi river   To the Gulf of Mexico   To Lake Charles Louisiana   Little Bessie, girl that I once knew   She told me just to come on by   If there's anything that she could do      Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me   If I spring a leak, she mends me   I don't have to speak, as she defends me   A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one      Good luck had just stung me   To the race track I did go   She bet on one horse to win   And I bet on another to show   The odds were in my favor   I had 'em five to one   When that nag to win came around the track   Sure enough we had won      Up on Cripple Creek, as she sends me   If I spring a leak, as she mends me   I don't have to speak, as she defends me   A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one      I took up all of my winnings   And I gave my little Bessie half   And she tore it up and threw it in my face   Just for a laugh   Now there's one thing in the whole wide world   I sure would like to see   That's when that little love of mine   Dips her doughnut in my tea      Up on Cripple Creek, as she sends me   If I spring a leak, as she mends me   I don't have to speak, as she defends me   A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one      Now me and my mate were back at the shack   We had Spike Jones on the box   She said, "I can't take the way he sings   But I love to hear him talk"   Now that just gave my heart a throb   To the bottom of my feet   And I swore as I took another pull   My Bessie can't be beat      Up on Cripple Creek, as she sends me   If I spring a leak, as she mends me   I don't have to speak, as she defends me   A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one      As there's a flood out in California   And up North it's freezing cold   And this living on the road   Is getting pretty old   So I guess, I'll call up my big mama   Tell her I'll be rolling in   But you know, deep down   I'm kind of tempted   To go and see my Bessie again      Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me   If I spring a leak, she mends me   I don't have to speak, she defends me   A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one