By the Side of the Road

You pack up your dreams in a four-by-ten wagon,
It looks like a ship with a sail,
Your neighbors in old Pennsylvania are waving
Farewell& by the side of the trail.

You tell ev rybody There s land up in Oregon,
You ll find you a farm that don t fail,
You ll stop with your children each evening for supper,
And cook by the side of the trail.

But out in Nebraska there s late falling snow into April,
You wake up one morning& the frostbite took three of your toes;
Your children are sleeping so sweetly and so sadly so peaceful&
They ll sleep there together long after the wagon train goes.

You ll raise some new children when you re up in Oregon,
And you and your wife will prevail,
But some nights you ll dream of those little wood crosses
Back there& by the side of the road.
1987