Well I remember when I was just little Mama used to cook on an old black kettle On an old wood stove she'd had since she was wed Well the oven door was sprung a little bit So we propped it up with a forked stick But that didn't matter cause Mama kept us fed My mama and daddy must have loved each other Cause I had eleven sisters and brothers And the girls worked just as hard as the boys did There was corn to hoe then we'd go hoe it We might have been poor but we didn't know it We'd heard that word but we didn't know what it meant Oh we used to have such a good life And the days that I knew then are the happiest I've known And oh didn't we have such a good time It's sad to think the old black kettle's gone
Well there was nothing that pleased us any better Than when we got an occasional letter From kin folks livin' up north in some big town We'd think of all the games we'd play And we just couldn't hardly wait When our city cousins said they'ze a comin' down Now Mama's done away with the old black kettle She used to cook in when I was just little And the door ain't sprung on her electric range That little farm and home we had It ain't there no more and that's too bad Folks are doin' away with the simple things
And oh we used to have such a good life And the days that I knew then are the happiest I've known And oh didn't we have such a good time It's sad to think the old black kettle's gone
Now, I just mean to say the simple things are gone The old black kettle's gone
