Songtext Hitchhiker Tom T. Hall

Hitchhiker

I don't know why it is every time I take a trip

It's always raining somewhere down the line

This particular night it was in Prestonsburg Kentucky

I stopped to give a country boy a ride

I saw him running toward the car he carried an old suitcase

A cigarette was dangling from his lips

He threw the suitcase in the back and as he got inside

He said I'm sorry but I'm awful wet

I said where are you headed kid and he said to Louisville

Said he had an uncle there who ran the store

Said his daddy died three weeks ago and they didn't own the place

And they said he couldn't live there anymore

He said his education was that he could read and write

He quit school the time his dad got hurt

Ain't much goes on in Prestonsburg and he was seventeen

And he had to go some place to find some work

He talked about a girl whose father had a lotta money

He said he'd send and get her if he could

His daddy taught him all there was about tobacco farming

And he said he played the banjo pretty good

We stopped to get a sandwich and the waitress brought the menu

And I noticed that he read the prices first

He ordered him a hot dog with a lots of table ketchup

And water seemed to satisfy his thirst

Well it took awhile but I insisted that I'll pay the ticket

Excused myself and went out to the car

He came out got in the car and he handed me a quarter

And he said you left this layin' on the bar

I dropped him off in Lexington and drove down to Bowling Green

And I thought boy you'll never make without help

And then I got to thinking about the days when I was younger

And I started out the same darn way myself

[ dobro ]

Well I don't know why it is every time I take a trip

It's always raining somewhere down the line