Oh, Amos is a poor man His woman died in '72 Got three sons, and a bottle Nothin' else, except the blues That ol' whipporwill song Filters in through his haze Near extinct in a roadway Life for Amos, is a maze It's a poor, poor county People don't complain Livin' what they know Some like Able, some like Cain Red clay in Ripley County As thick as it has ever been Some more drought keeps on rollin' Just like Amos, and his kin Only two roads he can walk down One is righteous, one is sin There's plenty of the Good Book In the church and radio Good news, ain't a mystery Ain't like Amos, doesn't know That ol' clay in Ripley County Thick as it has ever been On the back road by the neighbors Perhaps it's time that I stop in