I was born in a Tenamon in 1933
Mama sold her dentes for a dime
I never knew my daddy, he died when I was three
Still they say I was singing all the time
Lord I went to school with trouble, and my middle name was fight
Me and life we got along just well
Till someone broke the bubble in the middle of the night
They said "son you gotta work with reason so much well"
I picked up my hammer and I drove into the mountain
Picked up my shovel and I dug into the mine
Picked up a woman in an Old Saint Louis
She became a buddy of mine
Oh summer is a common I can feel it on the hills
Clowers grow and green up on a lawns
I've just about exhausted this city of it's thrills
And it's time I give up thought and to move on
I've heard a lot of promises I've heard a lot of lies
I've heard a lot of people rant and rave
But the only friend I trust in
When the trouble's on a rise
Is the face in a mirror when I shave
So I picked up my hammer and I drove into the mountain
Picked up my shovel and I dug into the mine
Picked up some trouble in old Kansas city
Turned around and did a stretch of time
I hitch in the army and a few years on the bum
Liquor 'round the ladies make the man
But when you cage a rabbit he is got to up and run
And take his life in loving where he can
So I'll pick up my hammer and I'll drive into the mountain
Pick up my shovel and I'll dig into the mine
Pick up a freight train on in some lonesome city
And start in a movin' down the line
Start in a movin' down the line
Start in a movin' down the line