Down in the Lonesome Draw

The fire, it stands a blazing wick

The smoke, it pours out, honey-thick

Down in the lonesome draw

The moon's all snared in midnight's jaws

The kingdom of the great prairie

Is home to you and home to me

Born in waiting, hem and haw

Shattered like Ol' Dempsey's jaw

The railroad men go pushing west

A scar laid out on mother's breast

And what brings liquor, and what brings gold

Bears the young, and saves the old?

It's a short time here and a long time gone

The workmen sing the people's song

Down in the lonesome draw

The sun it bakes the rawhide raw

If you don't like Dodge

You can always go to Abilene

I hear the gettin's plenty and the grass is always green

You can always head to Kansas City

Where they pave all of their roads

But the vices flow like the O-hi-o

And the guv'nor's on parole

My heart lies on a high plateau

The Texas bull stands lowing low

The river's meant to separate

But it just unites the border state

And no one still can understand

What life is like in the borderland

Here's to the great expanse

Where every day's a poisonous dance

If you don't like Dodge

You can always go to Abilene

I hear the gettin's plenty and the grass is always green

You can always head to Kansas City

Where they pave all of their roads

But the vices flow like the O-hi-o

And the guv'nor's on parole