I'm tired [bad word]  around,
think I will marry and settle down
This ole sportin' life,
it is a mean life, and it's killin' me

I got a letter from my home,
all of my schoolmates, they're dead an'gone
It'll make you worry,
it'll make you wonder 'bout days [bad word] 
My mother used to talk to me,
I was young and foolish, Brownie could not see
Now, I have no mother, my sisters
and my brothers, they don't care for me

Mama used to fall on her knees an' pray,
these are the words, mother,she used to say
She would say: "Brownie, wha-oh,
my son, please change your way"

Now, I'm goin' to change my way,
I'm growin' older each and every day
When I was young and foolish,
I was so easy, easy to let ...

I was a gambler and a cheater, too, now, [bad word] my turn to lose
This ole sportin' life,
got the best hand, what can I do?

There ain't but one thing Brownie done wrong,
I liv'd that ole sportin' life too long
Friends, it's no good, please believe me,
please leave it alone

Sonny Terry