Stranger, you call an early day You came as I rose from bed Sit a while I'll let you stay The cold outside is bitter Though you can't tell now, my hair used to be Yellow like the stocks of hay in our field My palms are rough from years sowing seed My skin was browned by the sun And I wish I had something for you to eat The cow is long gone, the eggs they have froze I wish I had something for you to eat Stay for a while with me We built this house with wood from our land We had enough from an acre and ten Each joint and beam cut by hand They kept us from the cold My husband and I grew weary and old No children to keep us in care I came in one morning and he had grown cold Now I wait to be with him And I wish I had whiskey for you to drink I drank the last drop the night before I wish I had whiskey for you to drink Stay for a while with me Now life has not done me too good or too wrong I haven't had much of what you could buy What I had a price you couldn't put on I lived and I loved and I paid not a dime And I'll sift out my stories and look at the sky My feet on the floor boards cut long ago As the flicker of candles ... to die I smile to see you come morning