Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch

He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick

Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on Highway 31

Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run

It struck me kinda funny, seemed kinda funny sir to me

Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe



Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true

She said "Baby I'll work for you every day, bring my money home to you"

One day he up and left her and ever since that

She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back

Struck me kinda funny, funny yeah to me*

How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe



Take a baby to the river, Kyle William they called him

Wash the baby in the water, take away little Kyle's sin

In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away

Take his body to the graveyard, over him they pray

Lord won't you tell us, tell us what does it mean

At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe



Congregation gathers down by the riverside

Preacher stands with a Bible, groom stands waitin' for his bride

Congregation gone and the sun sets behind a weepin' willow tree

Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly

Wonderin' where can his baby be

Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe