Me and Virgil

[Verse 1]

Ma would never say what happened

And we knew better than push too hard

We knew we had all the chores to tend to

Like fixing fences and helping her

Washing dishes and making coffee

Me and Virgil chopped some wood

But we'd stop our swinging just to listen to her crying

It didn't sound too good

I can remember, too well

[Verse 2]

But we never thought to pay much heed

We learned to live life the best we could

But then one day pa upped and left us

High and dry without a word

Seemed a pity, my ma was pretty

But I soon learned life ain't that way

And I can remember hearing her weeping

While we were sleeping next to her

I can remember

[Chorus]

I'll never forgive and I'll never forget

'Cause pa, you broke her heart

Ooh, pa, you broke her heart

You broke her heart

Ooh, pa, you broke her heart

[Verse 3]

Well the years rolled by, and 'fore we knew it

Our sister got married and moved out West

I stayed with ma 'cause I couldn't desert her

I knew it would hurt her to be alone

So we pulled tighter, we said we'd try to make things easy

And raise a smile

But as the night came, we'd hear her crying

Praying for pa to come back again

I can remember

[Chorus]

I'll never forgive him and I'll never forget

'Cause pa, you broke her heart

Oh, pa, you broke her heart

[Post-Chorus]

And then the winter came

I'd never known it colder

Ooh, it seemed the worst for years

And the night she died, I swear I saw her smiling

Saying I was a big boy now, no tears

[Verse 4]

So I packed up all we had

And Virgil got the horses

And we paid our last respects

And gave the whip a crack

Ooh, seemed a big bad world

We were riding into

Me and Virgil both agreed

We best head off and don't look back

[Bridge]

Nothing but desert all around

Oh, it made me wonder

Lord, it's hard to carry on

When you're sick with hunger

Weeks and months of sleeping rough

Keeping clear of danger

Seems we were miles from anywhere

And too far gone to change it

We'd best keep going, don't look back

[Verse 5]

Well me and Virgil we beat the desert

Riding fast and riding hard

We hit the city, the past behind us

So we raised some hell, we had some fun

But real soon I met a lady

Oh, so pretty, and, oh, so fine

Before too long I found myself married

With a home of my own and a blue eyed son

[Outro]

And 'til this day

I can hear ma saying to me

"You're a big boy now"