I was young when I left home an' I've been out a-ramblin' 'round An' I never wrote a letter to my home To my home, Lord, to my home An' I never wrote a letter to my home It was just the other day, I was bringin' home my pay When I met an' old friend I used to know Said, "Your mother is dead an' gone an' your sisters all gone wrong An' your daddy needs you home right away" Not a shirt on my back, not a penny on my name But I can't go home this a-way This a-way, Lord, Lord, Lord An' I can't go home this a-way If you miss the train I'm on, count the days I'm gone You will hear that whistle blow hundred miles Hundred miles, honey baby, Lord, Lord, Lord An' you'll hear that whistle blow hundred miles An' I'm playin' on a track, ma'd come an' woop me back On them trusses down by ol' Jim McKay's When I pay the debt I own to the commissary store I will pawn my watch an' chain an' go home Go home, Lord, Lord, Lord I will pawn my watch an' chain an' go home Used to tell my ma sometimes when I see them ridin' blind Gonna make me a home out in the wind In the wind, Lord in the wind Make me a home out in the wind I don't like it in the wind, wanna go back home again But I can't go home this a-way This a-way, Lord, Lord, Lord An' I can't go home this a-way I was young when I left home an' I've been out a-ramblin' 'round An' I never wrote a letter to my home To my home, Lord, Lord, Lord An' I never wrote a letter to my home