False hearts have been my downfall
Pretty women have been my craze
I'm sure my false hearted lover
Will drive me to my lonesome grave

They'll bite the hand that feeds them
Spend all the money you can save
From your heart strings weave silk garters
Build a dog house on your grave

When my earthly stay is over
Sink my dead body in the sea
Just tell my false hearted lover
That the whales will watch over me

Ragged clothes dropping from my body
The wolf howls around my door
The man who won my darling girl
Will feel the bite of my forty four

Corn whiskey has wrecked my body
A false hearted lover is a bearing on my mind
I've roamed the whole world over
Pleasure on earth I cannot find

When my earthly stay is over
Sink my dead body in the sea
Just tell my false hearted lover
That the whales will watch over me

If I meet my darling girl again
I'll tell her all about my troubles
Give her these false hearted lover's blues
And leave her stranded in the shallows

All men take this timely warning
It is both for young and old
Don't try to buy a woman's love
With the last dollar of your gold

Take warning you fair young ladies
If your love and honor you have sold
The men will have no use for you
When your dark hair turns to gold

When my earthly stay is over
Sink my dead body in the sea
Just tell my false hearted lover
That the whales will watch over me