He was standing by the highway with a sign that just said 'Mother'
When he heard a driver coming about a half a mile away
So he held the sign up higher where no decent soul could miss it
It was ten degrees or colder down by Boulder Dam that day

He was raised up in Milwaukee though he never was that famous
He was just a road musician to the taverns he would go
Singing songs about the rambling, the loving girls and gambling
How the world fell on his shoulders back in Boulder, I don't know

And she told him she would take him
For a ride in the morning sun
Back in Boulder he had told her
I don't know when, I've had a better friend

It was out in Arizona that he heard the lady listening
To each word that he was saying to each line that he would write
So he sat down at her table and they talked about the weather
98.6 and rising down by Boulder Dam that night

And she told him she would take him
For a ride in the morning sun
Back in Boulder he had told her
I don't know when, I've had a better friend

Now he's traded off his Martin though his troubles are not over
His feet are almost frozen and the sun is sinking low
Won't you listen to me brother, if you ever loved your mother
Won't you pull off on the shoulder, if you're going Milwaukee way
It's ten degrees and getting colder down by Boulder Dam today