This shack is fallin' in
And your wrists are gettin' thin
Sweetheart you don't deserve the kind of life
I've put you in
But it's hard to a draw a pay
When my papers always say
That I took a loaf of bread
From the grocery store one day
For my time behind bars
You have to wear the scars
When people down the road can drive
Ten thousand dollar cars
Oh it's a long long hard way
To the East Colorado Dam
If I make it to St Louis
I'll send you a telegram
If I don't make it at all
You'll know why I didn't call
Just kiss the baby for me
And come see my grave next fall
The weathers gettin' warmer
And the babys coming soon
I'll try to find some work
That might carry us through to June
But everywhere's the same
When you're a man without a name
They'll make you feel so useless
And then wonder why you came
If a soul searching beggar
Is what I's meant to be
I'd rather rot behind the walls
Of your penintentiary
So it's a long long hard way
To the East Colorado Dam
If I make it to St Louis
I'll send you a telegram
If I don't make it at all
You'll know why I didn't call
Just kiss the baby for me
And come see my grave next fall
You say you love me now
Like you always did before
And I love you just as well
But I just can't keep you down no more
So I'll be leaving in the morning
If the weathers bad or good
And let you find a man who'll give you
All the things I never could
But I'll never understand
As long as I live
How we can talk of love thy neighbour
But we can never forgive
So it's a long long hard way
To the East Colorado Dam
If I make it to St Louis
I'll send you a telegram
If I don't make it at all
You'll know why I didn't call
Just kiss the baby for me
And come see my grave next fall