They travel the long miles, those women and men
Who only want a chance to start over again
So easy to give up, so hard to get by
They leave all their families and homes far behind
[refrain]
North by north they travelled, south by south
For money in their pockets and food in their mouths
Counting the pennies and biding their time
West to the ocean, the end of the line
Away from the north-west, its factory towns
For to find a warm place to lay a body down
So far from when they started, so little in hand
Oh where did we go in this fruitful land
They all used to work in the auto and steel
Till the rug was pulled out, tell me how do they feel
Towards the men who had held all their dreams in their hand
They ran with the money and left them with sand
I talked about change to a man yesterday
We stood on the corner and this he did say
I followed the rules and I never asked why
Now the system's not working and neither am I