The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

County Jail

I was standing on the corner,
Not doing any harm,
Along came the police man,
And took me by the arm.
He took me to a little box,
And rang a little bell,
Along came the police patrol,
And took me to a cell.
I woke up in the morning,
And looked upon the wall,
The bedbugs and the cockroaches,
Were having a game of ball.
The score was four and twenty,
The bedbugs were ahead,
I got so darned excited,
I fell right out of bed.
I went downstairs for breakfast,
The bread was hard and stale,
The coffee was like tobacco juice,
In the good old county jail.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 00001940S