Tom: E
Introdução:
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From Maine to San Francisco, for years, I rode the rails
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Coast to coast, and border to border, I've been in about every jail
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One night around the Golden Gate, I caught a freight, and layin' in the bottom of the boxcar was a man
E
Named Billy Jack Washburn
Through the rain and the wind the train was flyin', I knew the man was layin' there dyin'
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I had to try and save a man, with nothin' but my two bare hands and I did
He was just a kid
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Now me and Billy Jack, we laid around a few hobo camps for awhile
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'Til Billy Jack got his strength back, and the sunshine gave him back his smile
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We decided we would leave, and head on down to New Orleans, and we did
Me and the kid
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I treated him like I was his dad, and gave him everything I had, which was nothin'
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Just the love for a friend, and a friend he was, 'til I lost him
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Billy Jack Washburn was his name
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I lost him down around Jacksonville, when he fell from the train
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I rolled off, and I hit the ground
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I picked his body up and carried him all the way back to town
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He was a friend of mine
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Now here I am, in Macon, Georgia, to help lay Billy Jack in the ground
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And by the way, Macon, Georgia, is my hometown
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When I picked his billfold up, I saw a picture of his mama and her name
And I cried like a baby
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'Cuz his mama, and my mama were the same
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Well I haven't been home in twenty-six years, and when I do come home, it has to be like this
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Sometimes old lady fate, she deals a terrible kiss
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Billy Jack Washburn was his so-called name
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I lost him down around Jacksonville, when he fell from the train
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But I lost more than a friend
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I'll never see my brother again