Dirt roads and dryland farming might be the death of me But I can't leave this world behind My debts are not like prisons where there's hope of getting free And I can't leave this world behind I've been from here to Lawrence, Kansas Trying to leave my state of mind Trying to leave this awful sadness But I can't leave this world behind South of Delia there's a patch out back by the willow trees And I can't leave this world behind It's a fenced-in piece of nothin' where I hear voices on my knees And I can't leave this world behind Some prophecies are self-fulfilling I've had to work for all of mine Better times will come to me, God-willing Cause I can't leave this world behind This world must be frightening, everybody's on the run And I can't leave this world behind My house is a wooden one and it's built on a wooden one Seems I can't leave this world behind Preacher says that when the master calls us He's gonna give us wings to fly My wings are made of hay and corn husks So I can't leave this world behind