The Ballad of Barbara

In a southern town where I was born
 That's where I got my education
 I worked in the fields and I walked in the woods
 And I wondered at creation
 I recall the sun in a sky of blue
 And the smell of green things growin'
 And the seasons chang'd and I lived each day
 Just the way the wind was blowin'
 Then I heard of a cultured city life
 Breath takin' lofty steeples
 And the day I called myself a man
 I left my land and my people
 And I rambled north and I rambled east
 And I tested and I tasted
 And a girl or two, took me 'round and 'round
 But they always left me wasted
 In a world that's all concrete and steel
 With nothin' green ever growin'
 Where the buildings hide the risin' sun
 And they blocked the free winds from blowin
 Where you sleep all day and you wake all night
 To a world of drink and laughter
 I met that girl that I was sure would be
 The one that I was after
 In a soft blue gown and formal tux
 Beneath that lofty steeple
 He said, "Do you Barbara, take this man
 Will you be one of his people?"
 And she said, "I will." and she said, "I do"
 And the world looked mighty pretty
 And we lived in a fancy downtown flat
 'Cause she loved the noisy city
 But the days grew cold beneath a yellow sky
 And I longed for green things growin'
 And the thoughts of home and the people there
 But she'd not agreed to goin'
 Then her hazel eyes turned away from me
 With a look that wasn't pretty
 And she turned into concrete and steel
 And she said, "I'll take the city"
 Now the cars go by on the interstate
 And my pack is on my shoulder
 But I'm goin' home, where I belong
 Much wiser now and older