There was a chill that night in the hobo jungle Over the train yard lay a smooth coat of frost And although nobody here really knows where they're goin' At the very same time nobody's lost In the fire went out and the night grew still This old man lay frozen on the cold, cold ground He was a stray bird and the road was his callin' Ridin' the rods, sleepin' under the stars Playin' the odds from a rollin' box car She attended the funeral in the hobo jungle
Long were they lovers though never could they wed Drifters and rounders and little distant friends Here I lie without anger or regret, I'm in no one's debt Man goes nowhere, everything comes like tomorrow But she took that last ride there by his side He spent his whole life pursuing the horizon Ridin' the rods, sleepin' under the stars Playin' the odds from a rollin' box car