Welfare Line

Written by: Paul Kennerley
Performed by: Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash & Kris Kristofferson
Appears on: Highwayman-1985, The Highwayman Collection-2000, et al.

[Nelson:]
Well, now boys, I've been to Bethlehem.
Rode there on a big steam train.
Lost two fingers in the steel mills.
And I ain't goin' back again.

[Cash:]
I fought for my country,
Lord knows, I did my best.
Crawlin' 'cross some foreign field,
They pinned a ribbon to my chest.

[All 4:]
So, pass around the bottle, boys,
Let's talk about old times.
Night's rollin' in, it's cold as sin,
Here on the welfare line.

[Nelson:]
Served on the Georgia Road Gang.
Couldn't pay the debts I owed.
'Cause I'm ain't made of silver,
And I ain't never seen no gold.

[Cash:]
I still remember Rachael,
Soft as a velvet gown.
They layed her in the pauper's grave,
On the other side of town.

[All 4:]
So, pass around the bottle, boys,
Let's talk about old times.
Night's rollin' in, it's cold as sin,
Here on the welfare line.

[Instrumental break, with some hooting.]

[Jennings:]
Now some folks are born to money,
You know I wish them well.
If the devil should ever want my soul,
I swear I'd never sell.

[All 4:]
So, pass around the bottle, boys,
Let's talk about old times.
Night's rollin' in, it's cold as sin,
Here on the welfare line.

Pass around the bottle, boys,
Let's talk about old times.
Night's rollin' in, it's cold as sin,
Here on the welfare line.