I was young when I left home,
And I been out a'ramblin' 'round,
And I never wrote a letter to my home.
To my home, Lord, to my home,
And I never wrote a letter to my home.

It was just the other day
I was drinkin' on my pay
When I met an old friend I used to know.
He said your mother's dead and gone,
Your baby sister's all gone wrong,
And your daddy needs you home right away.

Not a shirt on my back,
Not a penny on my name.
Well I can't go home this a'way.
This a'way, Lord Lord Lord,
I can't go home this a'way.

If you miss the train I'm on,
Count the days I'm gone,
And you'll hear that whistle blow a hundred miles.
A hundred miles, a hundred, baby,
Lord Lord Lord,
And you'll hear that whistle blow a hundred miles.

When I's playin' on the track,
Maw would come and whip me back,
On them tressles down by ol' Jim McKay's.

When I pay the debt I owe
To the commissary store,
I will pawn my watch and chain and go home.
Oh home, Lord Lord Lord,
I will pawn my watch and chain and go home.

I used to tell my Maw sometimes,
When I see them ridin' blinds,
Gonna make me a home out in the wind.
In the wind, Lord, in the wind,
Make me a home out in the wind.

I don't like it in the wind,
I want to go back home again,
But I can't go home this a'way.
This a'way, Lord Lord Lord,
And I can't go home this a'way.

I was young when I left home,
And I been all a' ramblin' 'round,
And I never wrote a letter to my home.
To my home, Lord Lord Lord,
And I never wrote a letter to my home.