Shade Of The Old Apple Tree
Ramblin' Jack Elliott Lyrics

It was only yesterday I thought I'd take a bath in some water
Just the other day, the singer wanted to take a bath but didn't have any water available.

And for that bath I didn't want to pay a quarter
The singer didn't want to pay for the privilege of taking a bath.

So I run down to the creek and jumped right in
To save money, the singer went to a nearby creek and took a quick dip in the water.

I had to lay down while she was around
The artist had to stay in the water and hide because an old maid sat near his clothes on the shore.

Mosquitoes was biting my nose
While hiding in the water, the artist was bothered by mosquitoes biting his nose.

And there she sat from one o'clock to six
The old maid stayed near the singer's clothes for hours, making it impossible for him to leave the water and retrieve them.

You could see only my nose
The singer was hidden in the water up to his neck, with only his nose visible.

It was only yesterday that Jane and I got hitched
The artist just recently married a woman named Jane.

Was parts of her were scattered all over the room
Unfortunately, Jane had several prosthetic body parts that she had to detach and remove at night, leaving them scattered around the room.

And on the bed she hung her lock of hair
One of Jane's real body parts was a lock of hair, which she hung on the bed when she went to sleep.

Yes, I carved out my name and there it was plain
The singer carved his name into the limb of the apple tree where he hid from the old maid, and it was still visible when he visited years later.

I hung my clothes upon an apple tree limb
To keep them dry, the artist hung his clothes on the branch of an apple tree while he bathed in the water below.

'Twas there I got into an awful fix
Unfortunately, the old maid chose to sit near the clothesline where the singer's clothes were hanging, trapping him in the water.

Her glass eye and false teeth was on the mantle
One of Jane's prosthetic body parts was a glass eye, which she placed on the mantle when she removed it at night.

And there was only one thing that filled my heart with sadness
Even though the singer was happy to be married to Jane, the fact that she had to remove several prosthetic body parts every night made him sad.

Was she pitched her wooden leg upon a chair
Jane had a prosthetic wooden leg that she removed every night and placed on a nearby chair.

In the shade of the old apple tree
The artist was hiding in the water under the shade of an old apple tree.

I's in water right up to my knee
The singer was standing in the creek water just deep enough so that it covered his knees.

I lay there all day 'til she went away
The singer had to wait in the water until the old maid finally left and he could retrieve his clothes from the tree.

And the crawdads was nibbling my toes
While hiding in the water, the artist also had to deal with small crustaceans called crawdads nibbling on his toes.