"Old Joe Clark" is a US folk song, a mountain ballad that was popular among soldiers from eastern Kentucky during World War I and afterwards. Its lyrics refer to a real person named Joseph Clark, a Kentucky mountaineer who was born in 1839 and murdered in 1885. The "playful and sometimes outlandish verses" have led to the conjecture that it first spread as a children's song and via play parties. There are about 90 stanzas in various versions of the song. The tune is based on an A major scale in the Mixolydian mode, but moreover has definite hints of a complete blues scale, namely, the flatted 3rd and 5th. Although "Old Joe Clark" may have originated in the 19th century, no printed records are known from before 1900. An early version was printed in 1918, as sung in Virginia at that time. "Old Joe Clark" has been described as "one of the most widely known of all Southern fiddle tunes [as of the late 20th century. ... It] has, to a degree, become part of the [United States] national repertory. One may hear it in bluegrass jam sessions, old-time fiddle sessions, and country dances throughout the United States." Gary Cooper sang several verses of this song in the 1945 western, “Along Came Jones”.

Score

Lyrics

Fare-the-well Old Joe Clark, goodbye Mitsy Brow-owww-owwwn Fare-the-well Old Joe Clark, I'm gonna leave this town Old Joe Clark he had a house 16 stories high and every story in that house was filled with chicken pie I went down to Old Joe's house – never been there before He slept on a feather bed, and I slept on the floor. Refrain: Round and around old Joe Clark Round and around I say Round and around Old Joe Clark. I hav'n't long to stay.

Recordings

The song has been recorded by many artists, including:

Modern adaptations