I've been up the Mississippi to the Manitoba line
I've been downstream to the Gulf of Mexico
Followed the sun west to Californ'
And there just ain't no place for me left to go
Spent a lonesome month in Maine, and a year in Louisian'
Packed my bags and hit the Western Trail
Rambled down through Texas till I came to El Paso
Spent a week in a stinkin' Juarez jail
I rambled through Nevada, gamblin' most of my life away
I headed north when I heard Dakota call
Well, I stayed until the Northers came rollin' down the line
Headed south when summer turned to fall
I've been north and east and south where the cotton grows
Out in the west where the sun forever shines
I've bent my back for a dollar a day in a Texas sugar field
Labored in a Minnesota mine
I've seen your hungry babies scream, I watched their mamas cry
Seen a worn-out prostitute beg for a dime
I've seen men come out of gutters, ready to give their lives away
For a slug at a lousy bottle of rot gut wine
[Repeat first verse]