the hitch-hiker

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

it's always raining somewhere down the line

this particular night 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 a 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 the girl whose father had a lot of money

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

his daddy taught him all there was about tobacco-farmin'

and he said he played the banjer pretty good

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

and i noticed that he read the prices first

he ordered him a hot dog with a lot of table ketchup

and water seemed to satisfy his thirst

well

it took awhile but i insisted that i pay the ticket

excused myself and went out to the car

he came out

got in the car and 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 it without help

and then i got to thinkin' about the days when i was younger

and i started out the same darn way myself

well

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

it's always raining somewhere down the line.