Desperadoes Waiting for a Train

I played the Red River Valley
He'd sit out in the kitchen and cry
Run his fingers through 70 years of living
And wonder Lord, as ever, will that drill run dry?
We were friends, me an this old man

Desperados waiting for a train
Like desperados waiting for a train

He's a drifter, and a driller of oil wells
And old school man of the world
Taught me how to drive his car when he's too drunk to
And he'd wink, and give me money for the girls
And our lives was like some old western movie

Desperados waiting for a train
Like desperados waiting for a train

From the time that I could walk, he'd take me with him
To a bar, called the Green Frog Cafe
And there were old men, with beer guts and dominoes
Lying about their lives while they play
I was just a kid, they called his sidekick

Desperados waiting for a train
Like desperados waiting for a train

One day I looked up, and he's pushing eighty
Brown tobacco stains all down his chin
To me he's one of the heroes of this country
Why is he all dressed up like them old men?
Drinking beer and playing moon in forty-two

Desperados waiting for a train
Like desperados waiting for a train

The day before he died, I went to see him
I was grown, and he was almost gone
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed of supper kitchens
And sang another verse to that old song
Come on Jack, that son of a gun's a coming

Desperados waiting for the train
Desperados waiting for the train
Desperados waiting for the train
Desperados waiting for the train