The wind is warm as mother's milk and steady as a siren
Though my whiskers smell of soap, my pistol smells of iron
This front porch is higher than the rest of this poor town
I piss every day away and watch the sun go down
If I was a gambling man the way I used to be
Those downtown gals would gather 'round just to watch the likes of me
Those lazy bones would tumble, yeah those lazy bones would roll
And I'd pick out my downtown gal and give her all my gold
Hey, hey whippoorwill sings
All kinds of foolish things
All I know is if I had wings
I'd be gone by now
Once a year this old hotel fills up at harvest time
Mexicans and gypsy kids, they're mostly friends of mine
They all come in at sundown, fill my whiskey glass
Sit and sing a song with me and let the evening pass
In the old days I'd work with them, I worked till the work was done
The crew we had back in those days, we were always number one
Northward with the season, southward in the fall
Till I got hurt in the oil patch, boys I had it all
Hey, hey whippoorwill sings
All kinds of crazy things
All I know is if I had wings
I'd be gone by now
But this year we had no rain at all, not a single crop came in
And nothing moves on Main street now but an Oklahoma wind
I am just a shadow of the man I used to be
I wish I had someone to sing the Long Black Veil with me
Hey, hey whippoorwill sings
All kinds of crazy things
All I know is if I had wings
I'd be gone by now
Hey, hey whippoorwill sings
All kinds of foolish things
All I know is if I had wings
I'd be gone by now