Orphan of the Road

From a carny show and a rodeo that shared a three-day stand
A cowboy met a fiery carny queen
In new spring nights amid the lights of the painted carny van
They laughed and loved and shared short-lived dreams

But the carny show and the rodeo went their separate ways
And the carny season bloomed and soon moved on
And I was born on a winter morn to the dark-eyed carny queen
The too-late son of something that was gone

The black-sheep child that grew up wild
From the seed the four winds sowed
Unwanted son of ice and fire
An orphan of the road

I was still a child when my mama died
Of a chill that closed her eyes
So I was left to grow up on my own
Without a name, too wild to tame. No one cared to try
So mostly I was mostly left alone

In dingy bars and cold boxcars, hobo jungle camps
I joined the men who drift from town to town
The surgin' flood of restless blood flowed inside my veins
I'd never find the time to settle down

The black-sheep child that grew up wild
From the seed the four winds sowed
Unwanted son of ice and fire
An orphan of the road

In the misty rain, I caught the train that slowed down through the town
And I pulled myself into the boxcar door
In a passing light in the deep grey night, I saw the still dark form
Of an old man lying sick upon the floor

And he said, "I tried to find her
But they told me that she's died
And that she'd left an only son behind
And I tried to find him, but I never did
But I know I could rest in peace
If I could just see him once before I die"

I found a match and I quickly scratched it into a flicker and flame
Then I held it close, and I gently raised his head
"My mother, sir," I said of her, "I have her same dark eyes"
He smiled a cowboy smile and then was dead

The black-sheep child that grew up wild
From the seed the four winds sowed
Unwanted son of ice and fire
An orphan of the road