Roosevelt & Ira Lee

Tony Joe White

(Spoken word:)
This is about two cats
They’re sitting down by a river in the swamps
They’re sitting on a log
One of them is kind of a big fellow
And the other one is a little bit smaller and he’s got a long-billed cap
And they’re sitting there pondering on what they’re gonna do for the night
And anything the big guy decides on the little guy’s for
’Cause he digs him he’s cool
So it’s called Roosevelt and Ira Lee

(Blues riff in E)

[E]The river was dark and muddy
And the moon was on the rise
And all of the creatures in the swampland
Had woke up to feed for the night
Roosevelt and Ira Lee were sitting there on a log
Ira Lee turned to Roosevelt and said
I’d sure like to have a mess of bullfrog
He said [E]yeah y[G]eah la
[A]would sure would taste [E]good

[E]So they slipped on their rubber boots
And walked down to the water’s edge
And right away they knew that the night would be a bummer
’Cause Ira Lee stepped on a water moccasin he said
[E]ugh [G]ugh [A]lawd
Somebody [E]help me

[E]Ira Lee turned to Roosevelt when he quit his screaming and kicking
And he said let’s forget about those bullfrog legs
And go out and steal us some chickens
And Old Roosevelt said like this now
[E]Yeah y[G]eah o[A]oh it sure would taste [E]good
Yes it would, I love my chicken
The river was dark and muddy