With a stuffed
bandana on a stick
He travels late so he can get lost quick
It's all he needs and it's all he owns
Ain't got no family, ain't got no home
They call the troll and the tramp
A beggar and a bum
A gypsy and a clown
But he's not a single one
He's a lonesome hobo
with a hole in his shoe
Just a lonesome hobo and
he's got the blues
With that bindle sack, he's on the fly
Probably live that way until the day he dies
Call him what you want,
he'll keep chugging ahead
The only home he knows is
that old ton of lead
He's a vagabond, a wayfaring soul
Only time he feels at home
is when he's on a roll
He's a lonesome hobo with
so much to see and do
Just a lonesome hobo and
he's got the blues
Brown paper bag, bottle of liquid heat
And a cheap cigar stuck between his teeth
Got a gravelly voice, got scraggly hair
He's got a big beer belly,
but he just don't care
When he's high on spirits,
he keeps his profile low
Never cries when he's dry,
hungry, or cold
He's a lonesome hobo,
never means to be rude
Just a lonesome hobo,
and he's got the blues
Hasn't held a steady job since
he got back from the war
He's too proud to beg,
so he's always too poor
He's bound to ramble,
he was born to roam.
He can tell funny stories till
the cows come home.
Sometimes he works,
but most of the time he plays.
Somehow he gets by without
a penny to his name.
He's a lonesome hobo on
his way to somewhere new.
Just a lonesome hobo and he's
got the blues.
Once he had a woman but
she flew the coop
Now it's newspaper
blankets and mulligan
stew
Through
Rocky
Mountains and
Midwest farms
Rolling on the tracks until
he's back in her arms
He gets cold cause he's old but
the soup bowl's free
sleeps under stars or when it rains a pine
tree he's a lonesome hobo finding
ways to make do just a lonesome hobo and
he's got the blues with a sideways view
his destination's unknown trees fly by but
his bird has flown on track on
schedule going nowhere fast as he crosses
the ties on the rails of his past
had his share of hard luck his share of handouts
he may be down but never down
and now he's a lonesome hobo who always
pulls through just a lonesome hobo and
he's got the blues pops a train at night
jumps a ride all day across the
great divide, prairies and plains.
The boxcar gets him where
he wants to go,
and deep down inside he's
got a heart of gold.
Never believed in the devil,
never believed in
God, but he's too scared to steal,
borrow, cheat, or rob.
He's a lonesome hobo, never graced a
He's just a lonesome hobo
and he's got the blues
He's had a ragged life,
all ripped and torn
He's been that way since
the day he was born
He never stops unless
it runs out of steam
The whistle wakes him up from
crazy hobo dreams
He's been no stranger to trouble
or telling white lies
Someday he's gonna catch the
West, bound to die.
He's a lonesome hobo,
a little like me and you.
Just a lonesome hobo, and he's got the blues.