Ol' Joe Bryson lived down a dirt road in the holler
No use for no license and that automobile
He got to town on his own two feet
Tough stained hands from raisin' his cattle and t'bacca
And soft -hearted for the shiny clean Cherokee hair
Rosalee could sit on in her rockin' chair
A dollar a day he made at the sawmill by the river
And lost outta work like everyone and taxes comin' due
He heard the news and you know it's the truth
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
He cried, Rosalee I'm leavin' at sunrise
I heard 'em talkin' down at the stockyard
There's jobs up north and I know it
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
Ol' Joe Bryson sent money from Kentucky to the holler
Soft-hearted for the shiny clean Cherokee hair
Rosalee could sit on in her rockin' chair'
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
He cried, Rosalee I'm leavin' at sunrise
I heard 'em talkin' down at the stockyard
There's jobs up north and I know it
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
The years rolled on past the wheels on his chair in the city
No use for no license and that automobile
He's gone to heaven with his own two feet
He cried, Rosalee I'm leavin' at sunrise
I heard 'em talkin' down at the stockyard
There's jobs up north and I know it
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
He cried, Rosalee I'm leavin' at sunrise
I heard 'em talkin' down at the stockyard
There's jobs up north and I know it
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine