The Hitch-Hiker

[Verse:] 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