> Folk Music > Songs > I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground

I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground

[ Roud 4957 ; Ballad Index BAF900 ; DT WISHMOLE ; Mudcat 18014 ; trad.]

Bob Neuwirth with Eliza Carthy sang I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground, recorded at Meltdown Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London, on 2 July 1999, wich was included in 2006 on the anthology of American folk music revisited album, The Harry Smith Project.

Matt Gordon and Leonard Podolak with Bill Shanley sang Mole in the Ground in 2012 on their Rootbeat album Three Thins Dimes.

Alden Patterson and Dashwood sang Mole in the Ground in 2016 on their first trio album Call Me Home.

Lyrics

I Wish I Was a Mole in the Ground

Wish I was a mole in the ground
Wish I was a mole in the ground
Mole in the ground, I’d root that mountain down
Wish I was a mole in the ground
Wish I was a lizard in the spring
Wish I was a lizard in the spring
A lizard in the spring, I’d hear my true love sing
If I was a mole in the ground

Don’t marry a railroad man
Don’t marry a railroad man
A railroad man gonna kill you if he can
And drink up your blood like wine

Baby wants a nine dollar shawl
Baby wants a nine dollar shawl
When I come around the hill with my twenty dollar bill
She says honey where you been so long
Now, baby where you been so long
Honey where you been so long
Said I been to Caroline to see that gal of mine
That’s where I been so long
I said, honey where’d you stay last night
Baby where’d you stay last night
Said I stayed around the bend
With some rough and rowdy men
And now I’m goin back again

I wish I was a mole in the ground
Yes I wish I was a mole in the ground
If I’s a mole in the ground I’d root that mountain down
And I wish I was a mole in the ground

Oh Tippy wants a nine dollar shawl
Yes Tippy wants a nine dollar shawl
I come o’er the hill with a forty dollar bill
Baby where you been so long

I been in the bend so long
Yes I been in the bend so long
I been in the bend with the rough and rowdy men
Baby where you been so long

Oh I don’t like a railroad man
No I don’t like a railroad man
If I’s a railroad man they’ll kill you when he can
Drink up your blood like wine

Oh I wish I was a lizard in the spring
Yes I wish I was a lizard in the spring
If I’s a lizard in the spring I’d hear my darlin’ sing
And I wish I was a lizard in the spring

Oh Capie let your hair roll down
Capie let your hair roll down
Let your hair roll down and your bangs curl round
Oh Capie let your hair roll down

I wish I was a mole in the ground
Yes I wish I was a mole in the ground
If I’s a mole in the ground I’d root that mountain down
And I wish I was a mole in the ground