[Verse 1]
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About a maid, I'll sing a song Sing rickety tickety tin
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About a maid, I'll sing a song Who didn't have her family long
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Not only did she do them wrong She did every one of them in,
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Them in, She did every one of them in
[Verse 2]
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One morning in a fit of pique, Sing rickety tickety tin
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One morning in a fit of pique, she drowned her father in the creek
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The water tasted bad for a week So we had to make do with gin
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With gin, we had to make do with gin
[Verse 3]
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Her mother she could never stand, Sing rickety tickety tin
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Her mother she could never stand, and so a cyanide soup she planned
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The mother died with a spoon in her hand, and her face in a hideous grin
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A grin, her face in a hideous grin
[Verse 4]
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She weighted her brother down with stones, Sing rickety tickety tin
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She weighted her brother down with stones, and sent him off to Davey Jones
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And all that they ever found were some bones, and occasional pieces of skin
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Of skin, occasional pieces of skin
[Verse 5]
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She set her sister's hair on fire, Sing rickety tickety tin
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She set her sister's hair on fire, and as the smoke and flames rose higher
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Danced around the funeral pyre, playing the vi-o-lin
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o-lin, playing the violin
[Verse 6]
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One day when she had nothing to do, Sing rickety tickety tin
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One day when she had nothing to do, she cut her baby brother in two
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And served him up as an Irish stew, and invited the neighbors in,
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Bors in, Invited the neighbors in
[Verse 7]
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And when at last the police came by, Sing rickety tickety tin
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And when at last the police came by, her foolish pranks she did not deny
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For to do so she would have had to lie, and lying she knew was a sin
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A sin, lying she knew was a sin
[Verse 8]
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My tragic tale I won't prolong, Sing rickety tickety tin
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My tragic tale I won't prolong, and if you did not enjoy my song
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You've yourselves to blame if it was too long, you should never have let me
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begin, Begin, you should never have let me begin