Indian Head Penny Lyrics - Guy Clark

I rolled off the San Francisco mint in 1909 

The last one they ever made, you should've seen me shine 

When I landed on the counter they gave me to a kid 

Making change for a jaw breaker was the first thing that I did 

I got traded for a pocket knife, two marbles and some string 

Wound up on a railroad track waiting for a train 

Snatched up by a hobo and turned right into wine 

Pitched up against the wall at least a thousand times 

[Chorus] 

'Round and 'round a penny goes 

'Round and back again 

Listen and I'll tell you 

The places that I've been 

I got stolen from a banker by Pretty Boy Floyd and then 

He gave me to a farmer who was trying to save his land 

I was good luck to a soldier back in W.W.II 

He lost me in a poker game the day the war was through 

I got stuck behind the back seat of a '51 Chevrolet 

Spare change in the sixties, getting worth less every day 

Now it's piggy banks and gum machines and occasional wishing wells 

Or laying on a barroom floor, Indian heads or tails 

[Chorus] 

I'm a pretty lucky penny, Lord it happens every time 

Just when I start feeling lost and left behind 

Some kid will pick me up and wonder where I've been 

Put me in his pocket, and here I go again 

[Chorus]