Lyrics Up On Cripple Creek (Live) - Bob Dylan & The Band

When I get off of this mountain
You know where I want to go
Straight down the Mississippi river
To the Gulf of Mexico

To Lake Charles, Louisiana
Little Bessie, a girl that I once knew
And she told me just to come on by
If there's anything she could do

Up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Good luck had just strung me
So to the race track I did go
I bet on one horse to win
And Bessie bet on another to show

The odds were in my favor
You know I had him five to one
When that nag to win came around the track
Me and little Bessie had won

Going up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

So picked up all of my winnings
And I gave my little Bessie half
She tore it up and threw it in my face
Just for a laugh

Now that just've made my heart drop
To the bottom of my feet
And I swore as I took another pull
My Bessie can't be beat

Up on cripple creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Well now me and my mate were back at the shack
We had Spike Jones on the box
She said, "I can't take the way he sings
But I love to hear him talk"

Now there's one thing in the whole wide world
I sure do love to see
That's how that little sweet thing of mine
Puts her doughnut in my tea

I'm going up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Well, it's hot out in California
And up north it's freezing cold
And this living off the road
Is getting pretty old

So I guess I'll call up my big mama
And tell her I'll be rolling in
Bet you know deep down, I'm soughta tempted
To go and see my Bessie again

I'm going up on Cripple Creek, she sends me
If I spring a leak, she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

I won't go if I could