Big Country Blues

by Townes Van Zandt

I been up the Mississipi to the Manitoba line
I've been downstream to the Gulf of Mexico
Followed the sun out west to Californ
And there just ain't no place left for me to go

Spent a lonesome month in Maine, and a year in Louisian
Packed my bags and hit the Western Trail
Rambled down through Texas 'til I came to El Paso
Spent a week in a stinkin' Juarez jail

I rambled through Nevada, gamblin' most my life away
I headed north when I heard Dakota call
I stayed until the Northerns came rollin' down the line
Headed south when summer turned to fall

I been north and east and south where the cotton grows
Out in the west where the sun forever shines
I've bent my back for a dollar a day in a Texas sugar field
Labored in a Minnesota mine

I've seen your hungry babies scream, I watched their mamas cry
Seen a worn out prostitute beg for a dime
I've seen men come out of gutters, ready to give their lives away
For a slug at a lousy bottle of rot gut wine

I been up the Mississippi to the Manitoba line
Downstream to the Gulf of Mexico
Followed the sun out west to Californ
There just ain't no place left for me to go