A riff (x2)
                    A                                                D
          When I get off of this mountain, you know where I want to go?
       A                               D                                    E
          Straight down the Mississippi river to the Gulf of Mexico
               A                                                  D
          To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie, girl that I once knew
       A                                 D                                 E
          She told me just to come on by, if there's anything she could do

                             A
                             Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
                             D
                             If I spring a leak she mends me
                             E
                             I don't have to speak, she defends me
                                F#m                             G
                             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 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

          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 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

          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 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
                                         *Interlude*   A D (x4)

          Now there's a flood out in California and up north it's freezing cold
          And this living off 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...
                                         *Interlude*   A D (repeat & fade)