You Just Can't Ride the Boxcars Anymore

I was in Atlanta when the news came on TV
I was washing dishes just to get my meals for free
Remember grandpa talking and this he said to me
As long as I live it'll never happen again
When the poets hopped a ride out west
Grandpa got us by just sweeping floors
Now everybody's leaving town
Sell the house and sell the farm
But you just can't ride the boxcars anymore

Now everybody's feeling all confused
They went to get their money and they got refused
Somebody burned 1st National down last night
Smashed and looted daddy's shop downtown
And grandpa said it'd never happen again
The lesson it was learned real good before
Now everybody's leaving town
Sell the house and sell the farm
But you just can't ride the boxcars anymore

Looking for the few friends I have left
To see if we can hitch a ride with someone else
The headin' east a thousand miles or so
But some one puts a knife into my back
When the poets hopped a ride out west
Grandpa got us by just sweeping floors
Now everybody's leaving town
Sell the house and sell the farm
But you just can't ride the boxcars anymore
Now everybody's leaving town
Sell the house and sell the farm
But you just can't ride the boxcars anymore