Bad news travels like wildfire
They all call me, "Ole Wildfire,"
'Cause everybody knows that I'm bad news
Always gettin' in trouble
And leaving little girls who hate to see me go
I've picked peaches down in Georgia
I've been hired and jailed
In every state you can name
From north to south, from east to west
From one state to the other
Now, they tried to hang me down in Oakland
And they did in San-Frisco
But I wouldn't choke and I broke their rope
And they had to let me go