When I was just a little girl   My mama said to me   Beware of the devil my child      In the dark rocky places he'll keep   Beware of the devil my child   Beware of his charming ways      You'll fall under an evil spell   Just looking at his beautiful face   You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside      Don't go walking by the riverside   Alone in the pale moonlight   He'll come upon you girl   With no earthy body in sight      Come up upon you girl   And he'll whisper something sweet, then take you   Where the waters rise so high and run so deep      You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside   Gotta build yourself a levee deep inside   Build yourself a levee girl   When the waters run high      Now when I was just a little girl   My mama said to me   Beware of the devil my child      But if by chance you should meet   Beware of his cold dark eyes   Full of bold and unholy deceit      He'll tempt you with a whirling pool of lies   And promises he'll deny   Or that he'll never keep      You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside   Build yourself a levee deep inside   You gotta build yourself a levee deep inside   Build yourself a levee girl when the waters run high