I've got an old mule and her name is Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
She's a good old worker and a good old pal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
We've hauled some barges in our day
Filled with lumber, coal, and hay
And we know every inch of the way
From Albany to Buffalo
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge for we're coming to a town
And you'll always know your neighbor
And you'll always know your pal
If you've ever navigated on
The Erie Canal
We'd better look around for a job, old gal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
You bet your life I wouldn't part with Sal
Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal
Giddap there gal, we've passed that lock
We'll make Rome 'bout six o'clock
One more trip and then we'll go
Right back home to Buffalo
Low bridge, everybody down
Low bridge, I've the finest mule in town
Once a man named Mike McGinty
Tried to put it over Sal
Now he's way down on the bottom of
The Erie Canal
Oh, where would I be if I lost my pal?
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
Oh, I'd like to see a mule as good as Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
A friend of mine once made her sore
Now, he's got a broken jaw
'Cause she let fly with her iron toe
And kicked him into Buffalo
I fought champion Jack Thompson in a field full of mud
Rain poured through the tent to the canvas and mixed with our blood
In the twelfth I slipped my tongue over my broken jaw
I stood over him and pounded his bloody body into the floor
Well the bell rang and rang and still I kept on
'Till I felt my glove leather slip 'tween his skin and bone
The Hitter
Low bridge, everybody down,
Low bridge, I've the finest mule in town.
If yo're looking for trouble
Better stay away from Sal
She's the only fightin' donkey on the Erie Canal
In town I passed Sal's grocery
The barbershop on South Street
I looked into their faces
They were all rank strangers to me
The veterans' hall high up on the hill
Stood silent and alone
The diner was shuttered and boarded
With a sign that just said "gone"
I don't want to call when I want my Sal
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
She trots from her stall like a good old gal,
Fifteen years on the Erie Canal
I eat my meals with Sal each day,
I eat beef and she eats hay
She ain't so slow if you want to know
She put the "Buff" in Buddalo
Low bridge, everybody down,
Low bridge, I've the finest mule in town
Eats a bale of hay for dinner
And on top of that, my Sal
Tries to drink up all the water in the Erie Canal