| I gave my woman half my money at the general store,
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| I said, «Now buy a little groceries and don’t spend no more.»
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| But she paid ten dollars for a ten cent hat,
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| And bought some store-bought cat food for that mean-eyed cat.
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| When I woke up this mornin' and I turned my head,
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| There wasn’t a cotton pickin' thing on her side of the bed.
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| I found a little ol' note, where her head belonged.
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| It said, «Dear John, honey, baby, I’m long gone.»
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| When I heard a whistle blowin' and the big wheels a-turnin',
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| I was scared as I could be.
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| I put on my overalls and I headed to town.
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| Gonna bring her back with me.
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| I asked the man down at the station if he’d seen her there.
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| I told him all about her pretty eyes and long, blonde hair.
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| He spit his tobacco, said, «I'll be dad blamed,
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| I believe I did see her leavin' on the east-bound train.»
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| I bought a round-trip ticket on the east bound train,
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| I was broke as I could be,
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| But when I come back, I gotta buy another ticket,
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| Gonna bring her back with me.
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| Well, I got off the train somewhere in Arkansas,
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| And I worked up the guts to call my mother-in-law,
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| She said, «I'll tell you where she is, if you act right.
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| She’s workin' four-to-twelve at Trucker’s World tonight.»
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| Well, when I walked in she saw me and she took off her apron,
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| And she grabbed her goin'-home hat
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| She bought a ticket with her tips. |
| Now we’re curled up on the sofa,
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| Me and her and that mean-eyed cat. |