Acres of Clams
Spider John Koerner
Nobody Knows Trouble I've Been 1986
Banjo tuned E, Capo 3, Key E



"Lay of the Old Settler" version

       E                            A
    I've traveled all over this country
                                 E
    Prospecting and digging for gold;
                                    B7
    I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled,
                                E
    And I have been frequently sold —
         
                                     A  
        And I have been frequently so-o-old,
                                    E
        And I have been frequently sold:
                                        B7
        I've tunneled, hydraulicked and cradled,
                                   E
        And I have been frequently sold!

    For one who gained riches by mining,
    Perceiving that hundreds grew poor,
    I made up my mind to try farming,
    The only pursuit that was sure —

        The only pursuit that was su-u-ure,
        The only pursuit that was sure,
        I made up my mind to try farming,
        The only pursuit that was sure!

    So, rolling my grub in my blanket,
    I left all my tools on the ground
    And started one morning to shank it
    For the country they call Puget Sound —

        For the country they call Puget Sou-ou-ound,
        For the country they call Puget Sound,
        I started one morning to shank it
        For the country they call Puget Sound.

    Arriving flat broke in midwinter,
    I found the land shrouded in fog
    And covered all over with timber
    Thick as hairs on the back of a dog —

        Thick as hairs on the back of a do-o-og,
        Thick as hairs on the back of a dog —
        And covered all over with timber
        Thick as hairs on the back of a dog!

    When I looked on the prospects so gloomy,
    The tears trickled over my face
    And I thought that my travels had brought me
    To the end of the jumping-off place!

        To the end of the jumping-off pla-a-ace,
        To the end of the jumping-off place:
        I thought that my travels had brought me
        To the end of the jumping-off place.

    I staked me a claim in the forest,
    And sat myself down to hard toil:
    For six years I chopped and I labored,
    But I never got down to the soil —

        But I never got down to the soi-oi-oil,
        I never got down to the soil:
        For six years I chopped and I labored,
        But I never got down to the soil!

    I tried to get out of the country,
    But poverty forced me to stay —
    Until I became an old settler,
    Then nothing could drive me away!

        Then nothing could drive me away-ay-ay,
        Then nothing could drive me away!
        Until I became an old settler —
        Then nothing could drive me away!

    And now that I'm used to the climate,
    I think that if a man ever found
    A place to live easy and happy,
    That Eden is on Puget Sound —

        That Eden is on Puget Sou-ou-ound,
        That Eden is on Puget Sound —
        A place to live easy and happy?
        That Eden is on Puget Sound!

    No longer the slave of ambition,
    I laugh at the world and its shams
    As I think of my pleasant condition,
    Surrounded by acres of clams —

        Surrounded by acres of cla-a-ams,
        Surrounded by acres of clams,
        As I think of my happy condition,
        Surrounded by acres of clams!