When the wagons leave the city
For the forest and further on
Painted wagon of the morning
Dusty roads where they have gone

Sometimes travelin' through the darkness
At the [bad word]  home
Foreign faces by the wayside
Look as if they hadn't known

All the sand was in their eyes
And the desert that's dry
In the country town
Where the life was found

Oh, the dancing and the singing
Oh, the music when they play
Oh, the fire that they saw there
On the grave of no return

Sometimes they found it
Sometimes they kept it
Often lost it on the way
Pawnee shadow to possess him
Sometimes ride inside of day

Oh, the sand was in their eyes
And the desert that's dry
In this country town
Where the map was found

Oh, the sand was in their eye
And the desert that's dry
In this country town
Where the wagons bound