On the dark side of Chicago,
I heard an old lonesome hobo
To Mama's dear sweet angel smile
And the tune she sang me as a child
And how my daddy left us long ago
On a lonesome northbound track
Well he took a nip and I walked over
I laid my hand on a thin old shoulder
And in the moonlight tired old eyes
So I gave him a brand new twenty
And said friend this ought to be plenty
and a memory trip with you
I said I have a love for Dixie
Cause she's where I long to be
And I'll go home to her someday,
So if you're leaving in the morning
Well someday I'll be joining
So would you save a place for me
They say my old man rode the rails
So as this hobo spun his tails
in a dream with a mystery
We drank his wine till we
Slept in a boxcar side by side
Till the morning's light struck my face
And on the hobo's arm hanging limp,
gave me a glimpse of something
that took me by surprise.
Across a heart tattooed in his skin,
I saw the name Dixie written there.
And it brought a twinkle and
As I thought, we share a love for Dixie
And she's where we long to be
And I'll go home to her someday,
So if you're leaving in the morning
Well, someday I'll be joining
Lord, save a place for me
He said, well, it's about time for my run
I've got a ride to Montgomery, son
that's my old stomping ground
Yeah, he said he'd hung out
Before he left a girl named Dixie
his soul had been Alabama bound
Well, I told him I thought
but that she died way back in sixty.
And as I said that, he just slipped away,
but left me thinkin' to this very day
was the dad I'd never seen.
Lord, we shared a love for Dixie,
now he's where she went to be
And I'll go home to them someday,
He left me behind that morning,
Lord, save a place for me
Won't save a place for me