"Nigger Will Be Nigger" (1864)
Sung by W. Arlington
of Arlington, Kelly & Leon's Minstrels
Written & Composed
by William Shakespeare Hays, 1837-1907

[Source: 024/079@Levy]

1.
Oh! If you'll lis-ten to my song, I'll sing a lit-tle sto-ry,
A-bout a Nig-ga size o' me, dat use to lib in glo-ry,
I run a-way from Mas-sa-- leff de lit-tle ones wid Din-ah,
When de bot-tom ub de Un-ion tub fell out in Norf Car'-li-na.

SPOKEN (Yes I did.)

I see'd de muss a bi-lin, an' I put de hoe a-way,
"Oh! we gwine to whip de Yank-ees," So I heard ole Mis-sus Say,
"An' dey gwine to free de Nig-ga's" but dey'll neb-ber Cum it quite,
Kase, a Nig-ga will be Nig-ga, dey kin neb-ber make him white.

2.
I got down to New Or-le-ans, Ole Mas-sa was for-got-ten,
A So-jer Man he cum a-long, an' sod me rol-lin' Cot-ton,
At night I axed him for de pay, he tale me take my lip in
He _ tuck me to de Cal-a-boose, an' dar I cotch a whip-pin.

SPOKEN ("Well, if dey didn't dey mus!")

I look ad him a lit-tle while, an' den he look at me,
An' tale me go to-- Wash-ing-ton, an' _ dar dey'd set me free,
I _ ax him for to gim me pass, he said he could-n't write,
Oh! a Nig-ga will be Nig-ga, dey kin neb-ber make him white.

3.
Dey run me to de Steam-boat, wid _ fin-ger on de trig-gers
You ought to see de Scat-ter-a-tion dem a-mong de Nig-ga's,
_ Some jump'd in de scut-tle hole-- an' some o' dem did shiv-er,
An' _ half a doz-en drown dey selves, by jum-pin' in de rib-ber.

SPOKEN ("Dey was fools fo' dat.")

I was 'mong de Cap-tur'd an' dey _ gib a gun to me,
An' tole me for to fol-low dem,-- an' _ dey would set me free,
Dey _ dress me up in So-jer close-- dey did-n't fit me right,
Kase a Nig-ga will be Nig-ga, you kin neb-ber make him white.

4.
Dey put me in de black bri-gade-- de Ker-nal he was dril-lin'
An' told de "fust A-mer-i-can" ob blood dey'd soon be Spil-lin;
De Nig-ga's eyes was bot-tom up-- dar teeth be-gin to rat-tle,
He _ tole 'em not to trod up-on each oth-ers heels in bat-tle.

SPOKEN ("You ought to see dem Nigga's heels.")

Dey sent us out u-pon a Scout-- an' we each had a gun,
De _ Re-bels made a dash-in' raid, you ought to see us run,
An' _ I'm sat-is-fied de Nig-ga's would rath-er run dan fight,
Kase a Nig-ga will be Nig-ga, you kin neb-er make him white.

5.
De Nig-ga's good fo' throw-in dirt-- an' pur-ty good at bit-in',
Dey'd bet-ter let de "Wes-tern boys," go in an' do de fight-in';
Dey neb-ber run in bat-tle yet but when de pull de trig-ger,
Dey _ go one eye up-on de reb-- de to-ders on a Nig-ga.

SPOKEN ("None o' dat for me.")

Dey may put us on de "bum-goats" or run us on de shore,
You may shut 'em up in bress works, dey'll all-ers, find de door,
You may _  rub an' scrub 'em all-ers, an' dey will be black as night
Kase it neb-er was in-tend-ed dat a Nig-ga should be white.