Hobo's Prayer Lyrics - Stuart Marty

Written by Marty Stuart 

Under bridges, beneath trestles in the boxcars of dead trains 

Livin' to beat the cold of the pouring driving rain 

A silent society moves out in the night 

Ragged rebels, homeless hobos and those like me 

Who've lost the light 

St. Peter is a prophet to all the hobo world 

An expert on everything From caviar to girls 

I met him west of Memphis on the 8th of July 

He handed me a can of beans and a rusty knife 

And he said "everything out here ain't what it seems 

And when you're down to nothing 

Just go ahead and dream 

Face the fact that you're circle in a world full of squares 

Trading sorrows for tomorrows, now that's the hobo's prayer" 

Mother Mary is a lady from down in New Orleans 

She's seen a lot of living since she was 17 

She said, "I'm bona fide and worldly wise, with original parts 

'cept for what set me to traveling, I'm talking about my heart" 

She said, "I can spot a broken heart from 20 miles away 

So are you passing through or have you come to stay 

You're running from a woman," she said with a grin 

"So what've you got to say" and I said 

I am a pilgrim 

Where everything out here ain't what it seems 

When I'm down to nothing, I just go ahead and dream 

And face the fact that I'm a circle in a world full of squares 

Trading sorrows for tomorrows, that's the hobo's prayer 

Trading sorrows for tomorrows, that's the hobo's prayer