Two Possum Songs

Sling along, sling along, sling along,
De moon done riz,
Dem eyes o' his,
Done sighted you,
Where you stopped to woo.
Sling along, sling along,
It ain't no use fu' to try to hide,
De moonbeam allus at yo' side,
He hang f'om de fence, he drap f'om de limb,
Dey ain't no use bein' skeered o' him.
Sling along, sling along.

Sling along, sling along, sling along,
De brook hit flow,
Fu' to let you know,
Dat he saw dat kiss,
An' he know yo' bliss.
Sling along, sling along.
He run by yo' side,
An' he say howdydo,
He ain't gwine to tell but his eye's on you,
You can lay all yo' troubles on de very highest she'f,
Fu' de little ol' brook's jes' a talkin' to his se'f,
Sling along, sling along.

Sling along, sling along, sling along.
De 'possum grin,
But he run lak sin,
He know love's sweet,
But he prize his meat.
Sling along, sling along.
He know you'd stop fu' to hunt his hide,
If you los' a kiss and a hug beside,
But de feas' will come and de folks will eat,
When she tek yo' han' at de altah seat.
So sling along, sling along.

Ef dey's anyt'ing dat riles me
An' jes' gits me out o' hitch,
Twell I want to tek my coat off,
So's to r'ar an' t'ar an' pitch,
Hit's to see some ign'ant white man
'Mittin' dat owdacious sin--
W'en he want to cook a possum
Tekin' off de possum's skin.

W'y, dey ain't no use in talkin',
Hit jes' hu'ts me to de haht
Fu' to see dem foolish people
Th'owin' 'way de fines' paht.
W'y, dat skin is jes' ez tendah
An' ez juicy ez kin be;
I knows all erbout de critter--
Hide an' haih--don't talk to me!

Possum skin is jes' lak shoat skin;
Jes' you swinge an' scrope it down,
Tek a good sha'p knife an' sco' it,
Den you bake it good an' brown.
Huh-uh! honey, you's so happy
Dat yo' thoughts is 'mos' a sin
When you's settin' dah a-chawin'
On dat possum's cracklin' skin.

White folks t'nk dey know 'bout eatin',
An' I reckon dat dey do
Sometimes git a little idee
Of a miedlin' dish er two;
But dey ain't a t'ing dey knows of
Dat I rekon cain't be beat
W'en we set down at de table
To a unskun possum's meat!