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 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 everybody's dancing to the Salty Dog Rag.
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.
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
And dance all night to the Salty Dog Rag.
Verse: 2
Away down South 'neath the old Southern moon,
The possum's up a tree and the hounds've treed a coon
They hitch up a buggy to the broken-down nag
And go out dancing to the Salty Dog Rag.
They tune up the fiddle and they rosin up the bow.
Then holler hang on 'cause we ain't gonna drag.
Now here's the way you dance to the Salty Dog Rag.
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.
Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag
And dance all night to the Salty Dog Rag.