Sleepy Eyed John Song Lyrics and Chords by Johnny Horton
Sleepy Eyed John
Recorded by Johnny Horton
Written by Tex Atchinson
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Well away down yonder on the Candy Creek
I whittled out a fiddle from a
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wagon
seat
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tuned up my fiddle and I rosined my bow
I play a little tune
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wherever I
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go
Sleepy eyed John better get your britches on
Sleepy eyed John better
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tie your shoe
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Sleepy eyed John you better get your bitches on
Try to get to heaven fore the
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devil gets to
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you
Well sleepy eyed John he stole a goose
The goose it flopped but
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couldn't get loose
Said
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John to the goose if you don't be still
I'm gonna miss my supper down in
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Candy
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ville
Repeat #2
Well sleepy eyed John he had a wooden leg
Wadn't nothin' but a
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little wooden peg
With
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one shoe off and one shoe on
He'd do the double shuffle till the
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cows come
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home
Repeat #2
Well I got 20 dollars for to build a fence
I took my money and I
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ain't worked since
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sold my buggy and I sold my plow
I wouldn't take a dollar for my
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journey
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now
Repeat #2
Over the hickory and down in the pine
The raccoon left and the old
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hound
whined
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John said sic'em and the raccoon left
They crossed Green River in a
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minute and a
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half
Repeat #2
FAQ
Who sang the the song Sleepy Eyed John?
- The song Sleepy Eyed John was sang by Johnny Horton.
Who is Johnny Horton?
- John LaGale Horton (April 30, 1925 - November 5, 1960) was an American country music, honky tonk and rockabilly singer and musician, during the 1950s and early 1960s, best known for his saga songs that became international hits beginning with the 1959 single "The Battle of New Orleans", which was awarded the 1960 Grammy Award for Best Country & Western Recording. The song was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award and in 2001 ranked No. 333 of the Recording Industry Association of America's "Songs of the Century". His first No. 1 country song was in 1959, "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)".
Horton's music usually encompassed folk ballads based on American historic themes and legend. He had two successes in 1960 with both "Sink the Bismarck" and "North to Alaska," the latter utilized over the opening credits to the John Wayne film of the same name. Horton died in November 1960 at the peak of his fame in a traffic collision, less than two years after his breakthrough. Horton is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
