As a young man I went riding out on the western plain
In the state of North Dakota I met my Nellie Kane
I met my Nellie Kane

She was living in a lonely cabin with a son by another man
Five years she had waited for him as long as a woman can
As long as a woman can

I don't know what changed my mind
'Til then I was the rambling kind
The kind of love I can't explain
That I had for Nellie Kane

She hired me on to work that day to help her till the land
In the afternoon we planted seeds in the evening we held hands
In the evening we held hands

Her blue eyes told me everything a man could want to know
It was then I realized that I would never go
That I would never go

Now many years have gone by and her son has grown up tall
I became a father to him and she became my all
She became my all