New Cut Road (G. Clark)
A
Coalman Bonner was a fiddle playin’ fool.
E
He was a backwoods rounder and a breaker of mules.
Coalman Bonner’s got a wor’ out bow,
A
He been playin’ two days down a new cut road.
A
Now Coalman’s little sister said ‘you better act right,
E
Your Daddy’s going to Louisville, He’ll be back tonight.
He gonna get another wagon and a good pair of mules.
A
Oh, we gonna move to Texas, We just waitin’ on mules.’
A
Now Coalman’s Daddy, he pulled up in the yard
E
He said ‘back up your lives kids, it’s getting’ too hard.
Kentucky’s alright but there’s too many people
A
Well, just the other day, I thought I saw a church steeple.
A
Now Coalman said ‘Daddy don’t you worry ‘bout me,
E
I’m gonna stay here in Kentucky till the day I dee
I’m wanna drink that sour mash, I’m gonna raise that mare
A
Ya, I got me a woman with a foxy red hair
A
We all been movin’ west since the day he got married
E
I’m getting’ off the wagon, I’m too old to be carried’
I’m gonna stay in Kentucky where the blue grass grows
A
I’m gonna play it all night down a new cut road
(violin solo)
A
Now Coalman’s Daddy said, "What’s it all comin’ to,
E
Young people these days are just stubborn as mules."
He can’t make um go, he’s too old for that.
A
It’s that damned ol’ fiddle and that bowler hat
A
Now Coalman’s Momma said, "Let the boy stay,
E
Cuz he’s raised up solid, he can find his own way
But as for me, Honey, I’m with you
A
Well I always thought Kentucky was just passin’ through
A
Coalman’s little sister, she started in a cry
E
And her Daddy shook his head for the very last time
Coalman’s Momma said, "Somebody gotta do it,
A
Wouldn’t be no Kentucky, less you didn’t stick to it, Coalman.
A
Coalman Bonner stood on the porch of that cabin
E
Watched um all go to Texas in a covered wagon
A
He pulled out his fiddle and he rosined up his bow
And he played a little tune down a new cut road.