The Hobo

I went down to the depot and as I walked along

I could hear a hobo singing a little song

I stopped to listen for a while and before I moved ahead

I heard his little story and I'll tell you what he said

Standing on a platform, smoking a cheap cigar

I's a-waitin' for a freight train, gonna catch me an empty car

My pocketbook was empty and my heart was full of pain

A thousand miles away from home, waitin' for a train

I pulled my cap down over my eyes and I walked off down the street

At a back door, I says, "Kind miss, would you give me a bite to eat?"

She smiled at me so gently and with a little grin

She said, "Sir, if I feed you now, you'll only bum again"

"Oh, kind miss, I'm hungry, don't talk to me so rough

You think I was a hobo just because I look so tough"

She fed me in her kitchen then on bread and meat so fine

She put me in the notion, boys, of bummin' all the time

She put her arms around me then said, "I love you as a friend

I hope you'll soon be home, sir, that your bad luck will end"

I didn't know just what to say, she treated me so kind

So I just turned and walked away with ramblin' on my mind

Alright, son

I caught a freight to Danville, got stuck on a Danville girl

I'll tell you, boys, she's outta sight, she wore that Danville curl

Her hair up on the back of her head like high-toned ladies do

She told me that she loved me so and I know that it was true

For a little while, I stayed around, I thought I'd settle down

Till one day the high-ball of a freight made me leave that town

I didn't even say goodbye, just walked off down the track

I jumped aboard an eastbound freight and I never did look back

Standing on this platform, smoking a cheap cigar

Waiting for a freight train, gonna catch me an empty car

My pocketbook is empty and my heart is full of pain

I'm a thousand miles away from home, waiting for a train