verse 1
He drinks orange juice and vodka in the basement while she?s talkin?
To someone, long distance, for hours and hours on end
And as he slowly sipping he thinks about his children
And the heart attacks that youngest daughters always giving him
He ain?t smoke no marijuana since he got on with the railroad
And he?s been on with the railroad for a long and loathsome while
But the day that he retires he will smoke himself to China
He will leave behind his worries as he?s racing through the sky
Isntrumental
verse 2
She sells Avon to her buddies and saves a little money
On the makeup she?s been using to hide away the years
And she sits and watches TV usually every evening
If there aint some kind of ball game her daughter has to cheer
She sneaks menthols in the morning while her family?s still a-snoring
And as she burns the echoes she looks back at her life
That heart she broke in high school he?s singin? on the Opry
She wonders what the hell that she was thinking at the time
Oh the days are dark down in the holler
Waitin? for the sun to shine
On the back you?ve been breaking
Trying to earn peace of mind
Isntrumental
verse 3
Their youngest daughter Stella she?s been running with this fella
That he can not stand the thought of that he surely does despise
He?s told her he?d best never see the two of them together
But its hard to keep an eye on her when you?re working all the time
There are things he needs to tend to and the bills the bank keeps sendin?
Lord the zeros on the end keep pushing further to the right
Like a freight train haulin? sorrow and moving ever onward
Through the tunnel of forever towards the never ending light
Oh the days are dark down in the holler
Waitin? for the sun to shine
On the back you?ve been breaking
Trying to earn peace of mind
Trying to earn peace of mind