I gave my woman half my money at the general store I said, "Now buy a little groceries and don´t spend no more" But she paid ten dollars for a ten-cent hat
And bought some store-bought cat food for that mean-eyed cat
When I give her ten more dollars for a one-way ticket She was mad as she could be Then I bet ten more that if she ever left She´d come a crawlin´ back to me
When I woke up this morning and I turned my head There wasn´t a cotton-picking thing on her side of the bed I found a little old note, where her head belonged It said, "Dear John, honey, baby, I´m long gone"
When I heard a whistle blowing and the big wheels a-turning
I was scared as I could be I put on my overalls and I headed for town I´m gonna bring her back with me
I asked the man down at the station if he´d seen her there I told him all about her pretty eyes and long blonde hair He spit his tobacco and said, "I´ll be dad blamed" "I believe I did see her leaving on the east-bound train"
I bought a round-trip ticket on the east-bound train I was broke as I could be But when I come back, I got to buy another ticket Gonna bring her back with me
Well, I got off the train somewhere in Arkansas And I worked up the guts to call my mother-in-law She said, "I´ll tell you where she is, if you act right She´s working four-to-twelve at Trucker´s World tonight."
Well, when I walked in she saw me and she took off her apron And she grabbed her going-home hat She bought a ticket with her tips. Now we´re curled up on the sofa Me and her and that mean-eyed cat