Verse 1:
       G      D          Em
It was on one fine March morning
C      G         D       G
When I bid New Orleans adieu.
          G      D       Em      C
And I was on the road to Jackson Town,
   G             C
My fortunes to renew.
  G          D         Em     C
I cursed all foreign money,
   G              C
No credit could I gain,
      G         D          Em
Which filled my heart with longing
C       G        D       G
For the lakes of Pontchartrain.

Verse 2:
 G      D          Em       C
I sat on board a railway car
     G         D       G
Beneath the morning sun,
          G      D       Em
And I rode the rails 'til evening
  C       G             C
When I lay me down again.
          G      D        Em     C
All strangers there no friends to me,
         G                    C
'Til a dark girl towards me came,
     G         D          Em        C
And I fell in love with a Creole girl
      G        D       G
On the lakes of Pontchartrain.

Verse 3:
 G      D          Em       C
I said, 'My pretty Creole girl,
     G         D       G
My money here's no good.
         G      D     Em       C
If it weren't for the alligators
         G             C
I would sleep out in the woods.'
         G      D             Em     C
'You're welcome here, kind stranger.
   G              C
Our house is very plain,
    G         D          Em        C
But we never turn a stranger out
     G        D       G
On the lakes of Pontchartrain.'

Verse 4:
 G             D       Em       C
She took me up to her mama's house,
     G         D       G
And treated me right well.
  G      D       Em
Her hair upon her shoulders
  C       G             C
In jet-black ringlets fell.
    G      D        Em     C
To try to paint her beauty
   G              C
I'm sure 'twould be in vain,
    G         D     Em      C
So handsome was my Creole girl
     G        D       G
On the lakes of Pontchartrain.

Verse 5:
    G        D          Em    C
I asked her would she marry me,
     G         D       G
But she said it never would be,
      G      D       Em   C
For she had got a lover and
  G             C
He was off at sea.
       G      D        Em     C
She said that she would wait for him,
   G              C
And faithful she'd remain,
    G    D      Em
Waiting for her sailor
C        G        D       G
On the lakes of Pontchartrain.

Verse 6:
G           D          Em       C
So fare you well, my bonny ol' girl.
     G           D       G
I may never see you no more,
      G          D       Em
But I won't forget your kindness
  C       G             C
In that cottage by the shore.
       G   D     Em    C
At every social gathering
   G              C
A golden glass I'll drain,
           G         D          Em      C
And I'll drink a health to the Creole girl
          G        D       G
On the lakes of Pontchartrain.
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