The real lyrics.

Here is the real lyrics. Recorded on "Man In Black" LP from 1971.

ORPHAN OF THE ROAD
(Dick Feller)
« © '71 Cyberphonic Publishing, BMI »

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

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

The blacksheep 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 blacksheep child that grew up wild...

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 lyin' sick upon the floor

And he said I tried to find her but they told me that she'd 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 flickerin' 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 then was dead

The blacksheep child that grew up wild...
**********


This is one of those ballad songs that made Johnny Cash such a great artist. I think that Man In Black was my dad's favorite album for awhile, at least. I must have heard it a lot.