Since I've inserted Art's corrections in my private version, I may as well copy it in here to make the collecting easier for anyone passing by by this thread.

Wolfgang

WAY DOWN THE ROAD
(Craig Johnson)

Back in the year of '33
We were still down in Tennessee,
Gettin' by took all your time,
Way down the road.

The word went out in '41
Uncle Sam's gonna get the big job done,
We hired out at Willow Run,
Way down the road.

x: Blow your whistle, up through the pines,
Out across the mountains in the Clinchfield Line,
Blow for better times,
Way down the road.

Well we come from the mountains and the damp coal mines,
Started in to working on Henry's lines,
Eight hours steady and overtime,
Way down the road.

The city folks didn't want us around,
Moved us out to the edge of town,
Salt box houses on the bulldozed ground,
Way down the road.

x

We were strong backs bending in the welder's light,
Rivet guns pounding on a windy night,
A rich man's war, a poor man's fight,
Way down the road.

Punch in, punch out, make your time,
Hurry with the turret boys, you're getting behind,
The bombers roared low in the blacked out skies,
Way down the road.

x

You try to pay the rent money, you try to save a buck,
Patching up the tires on a wore-out truck,
City folks pass and holler "Hey Kentuck",
Way down the road.

You say you'll move back south when the war gears down,
Your dreams die easy when your check comes round,
Caught between the country and the factory town,
Way down the road.

x

Now the plant's closing down and the gates are closed,
New cars rust in the rain and snow,
Let me sleep where the gun-stick laurel grows,
Way down the road.

Bury me down in Tennessee,
"He lived for a dollar" -- let my tombstone read,
And he died unknown in a strange country,
Way down the road.

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