He said: "The storm is gettin' stronger,"
As he climbed inside my [bad word] 
"I'm headed back to Carolina,
"God's willin' an' he learned."
An' he told me how he'd left his family,
So many years ago.
An' he'd seen the whole world on the shoulders,
But now it's time to go back home.

An' he said: "This road goes on forever:
"I've been travellin' all my life.
"An' I've seen the rain, I've felt the thunder,
"But it never changed my mind:
"I'm goin' back to Caroline."

 [bad word] Break.

I dropped him off at the State line,
An' then I thought about my life.
An' everything I left behind me:
Two children an' my wife.
I left 'em waitin' for a 'phone call,
An' that was twenty days ago.
But now I'm in it for the long-haul,
An' it's time to go back home.

An' this [bad word] road keeps gettin' longer:
I've been travellin' it some time.
An' I've seen the rain, I've felt the thunder roll on,
But it never changed my mind:
I'm goin' back to Caroline."
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Whoa, Lord, I'm going back to Caroline.
Whoa oh.