To the plough, to the plough,
Where are the green grazing grounds?
I've got my shovel and my fork,
But watch me haul away now

To the sea I have travelled
with the rooks and the crows
Now watch me sink in my sadness
In my skin and my bones

Oh Betsy, haul away
Pick a bale of cotton
Pick a bale a day
I'll be home to you
I'll be homeward bound
As soon as I get
my own two feet on the ground

To the land, to the land
That I left to be here
Take good care of my
mother and my father dear

To the road, may you rise
To the sea, may you part
It's a long shot indeed
But it's all that I got

To all that I knew
And to all that has changed
I know things fall apart
But it hurts just the same

I remember I said
That I won't be long
But time sure does fly
And I've been five years gone

Oh Betsy, haul away
But I'll be home to you someday
Oh Betsy, haul away
But I'll be home to you someday