Tripper
Jimmy Rankin


'Twas a brisk autumn day they remember it well
Tripper went strolling along
He was merely a boy his mom's pride and joy
So sure he could do no wrong
Running down to the river then up by the tracks
Pretending he was Jesse James
With his father's old hat, a stick for a gun
Tripper walked home in the rain

Such a glorious sight
Fresh flowers in bloom
In the spring when the ice takes to thaw
But it's a rough wretched road a man has to go
Living outside of the law
For a dark dirty cell was Tripper's own hell
Survival was his battle cry
If drinking don't kill me or a villainous gun
He said I'll live 'til I die

Chorus:
Mother dear I'm in trouble here
Far in the distant West
I've laid down on stony ground
I'm not feeling all the best

Cold wind on the river and rain on the road
Every light in the house burning strong
Somebody's saying a sad rosary
Wondering where Tripper went wrong
'Cause he met his own maker to a grim undertaker
Took a knife too deep in the lung
In a dim parking lot his very last thoughts
Were the days he went strolling along

Chorus:
Mother dear I'm in trouble here
Far in the distant West
I've laid down on stony ground
I'm not feeling all the best

'Twas a brisk autumn day they remember it well
Tripper went strolling along