Six o'clock silence of a new day beginning Is heard in a small Texas town Like a signal from nowhere the people who live there They're up and they're moving around 'Cause there's bacon to fry and there's biscuits to bake On the stove that the salvation army won't take You open the windows and you turn on the fan 'Cause it's hotter than hell when the sun hits the land Now Walter and fanny well they own the grocery That sells most all that you need They've been up and working since early this morning They've got the whole village to feed Well they put out fresh eggs, they throw bad ones away That rotted because of the heat yesterday The store's all dark so you can't see the flies That settle on 'round steak and last Monday's pies And sleepy hill's d**tore and the cafe they're open The coffee is bubbling hot And all the folks that ain't working gonna sit there 'til sundown And talk about what they ain't got Someone just threw a clutch in the old pickup truck It seems like they've been riding on a streak of bad luck The doctor bills came and the well has gone dry Seems their grown kids don't care whether they live or die