Six and a half hours into the west virginia night Half a mile from home and i was makin' pretty good time Thought that i'd gone far enough i couldn't lose the trail And i stepped through the door i still found the way to fail
I can't start to count the things i said i'd never be But i became them all the night you quit countin' on me And all the harder things that you said to my heart Everyone of them things was true but
That one look at the end That one look at the end Was what ran it through
The big gray owl above me starts again to wail Says that moon has got so low tonight that it's polishin' the rail Now that mountain engine's runnin' about thirty years too late Once you hear it comin' boy it will not let you wait
I used to think that tomorrow was just out there waitin' for me Now i wonder where tomorrow I wonder where tomorrow I wonder where tomorrow's going to be Tonight when i am rolling over the earth's most lonesome ground
I will think of all the ways next time i will try not to let you down I thought that i'd live long enough That the light would come shining through