Bayou Broken Strings

Streets of the Quarter are paved in gray stone Where a man

with a banjo is never alone From Decatur to Bourbon the humidity

clings And the damp river air

plays hell on my strings

I met an old fiddler who played for his bread With a

patch on his coat

and a cap on his head He told me the stories of

cold hungry nights Underneath the pale glow

of the old iron lights

Oh the hard streets will test you,

they'll wear down your heels No matter how honest or steady it

feels But we raise up our voices and sing through the strain

Like a bluegrass train running fast in the rain (sing it now)

Now the tourists have gone and the quiet sets in And the

morning mist rises like some dusty sin We count up the quarters

we made in the dirt And we bandaged the fingers that calloused

and hurt

Oh the hard streets will test you,

they'll wear down your heels No matter how honest or steady it

feels But we raise up our voices and sing through the strain

Like a bluegrass train running fast in the rain (sing it loud)

Running fast in the rain (fast in the rain)

Yeah we keep on rollin'