Give My Love to Rose

                                                                               by Johnny Cash

 

I found him by the railroad track this mornin',
I could see that he was nearly dead.
I knelt down beside him and I listened
Just to hear the words the dyin' fellow said.
He said, "They let me out of prison out in 'Frisco,
For ten long years I paid for what I'd done.
I was tryin' to get back to Louisiana
To see my Rose and get to know my son.

Give my love to rose, please, won't you, Mister?
Take her all my money, tell her buy some pretty
clothes.
Tell my boy that daddy's so proud of him,
And don't forget to give my love to Rose.
Won'tcha tell them I said thanks for waiting for me.
Tell my boy to help his mom at home.
Tell my Rose to try to find another.
'Cause it ain't right that she should live alone.
Mister, here's the bag with all my money,
It won't last them long the way it goes.
God bless you for findin' me this mornin'.
Now don't forget to give my love to Rose.


I Never Picked Cotton

I never picked cotton
But my mother did
And my brother did
And my sister did
And my daddy died young
Workin' in the coal mine

When I was just a baby
Too little for a cotton sack
I played in the dirt
While the others worked '
Til they couldn't straighten up their backs
I made myself a promise
When I was big enough to run
That I'd never stay a single day
In that Oklahoma sun

Folks said I grew up early
And that the farm couldn't hold me then so
I stole ten bucks and a pickup truck
And I never went back again
Then it was fast cars and whiskey
Long haired girls and fun
I had everything that money could bring
And I took it all with a gun

It was Saturday night in Memphis
When a redneck grabbed my shirt
When he said go back to your cotton sack
I left him dying in the dirt
They'll take me in the morning
To the gallows just outside
And in the time I got
There ain't a hell of a lot
That I can look back on with pride

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© Johnny Cash