The wages of an unsk**ed working man never paid enough From time to time the nickel race keeps him from giving up The blue collared man in Seattle never lives on white collared street But there was food on the table for my Washington woman and me The work slowed down and then one day the foreman laid me off That night in a tavern down to my last dime I met a girl from Arkansas Her daddy was a banker in Little Rock, she had a mansion on white collared street The next morning my Washington woman woke up without me From city to city and state to state I grew heavier with shame My Washington woman had six months left before our child would bring her pain
My Arkansas woman hurt me as we crossed the Arkansas line But the arms of Seattle were the arms that kept huggin' my mind For years I've basked in expensive wines, taste cheaper every day I gave up all the things I loved for all these things I hate And locked up all of her forgiveness the day I set myself free And the heart of my Washington woman stopped beating for me My Washington woman sends me a letter every once in a while Inside a folded wordless page is a picture of my child All at once the room grows cold with a feeling of jealousy And there's a silence between my Arkansas woman and me