Away down yonder in the state of Arkansas
where my great-grandpa met my great-grandma
they drink apple cider and they get on a jag
and they dance all night to the Salty Dog Rag
They play an old fiddle like you never heard before
They play the only tune that they ever did know
It's a ragtime ditty and the rhythm don't drag
now here's the way you dance to the Salty Dog Rag
Chorus:
One foot front, drag it back,
then you start to ball the jack.
You shake and you break and then you sag,
if your partner zigs you're supposed to zag.
Your heart is light, you tap your feet
in rhythm with that ragtime beat.
(Just) pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
and dance all night to the Salty Dog Rag.
Away down South 'neath the old Southern moon
the possum's up a tree and the hounds treed a coon
They'll hitch up the buggy to a broken down nag
and go out dancing to the Salty Dog Rag
They tune up the fiddle and they rosin up the bow
They strike a C chord on the old banjo
and holler hang on 'cause we ain't gonna drag
'cause here's the way you dance to the Salty Dog Rag.
