BALLAD OF BARBARA, THE
(Johnny Cash)

Johnny Cash - 1973




In a southern town where I was born
That's where I got my education
I worked in the fields and I walked in the woods
And I wondered at creation

I recall the sun in a sky of blue
And the smell of green things growin'
And the seasons changed and I lived each day
By the way the wind was blowin'

Then I heard of a cultured city life
Breathtakin' lofty steeples
And the day I called myself a man
I left my land and my people

And I rambled north and I rambled east
And I tested and I tasted
And a girl or two took me round and round
But they always left me wasted

In a world that's all concrete and steel
With nothin' green ever growin'
Where the buildings hide the risin' sun
And they block the free wind from blowin'

Where you sleep all day and you wake all night
To a world of drink and laughter
I met that girl that I was sure would be
The one that I was after

In a soft blue gown and a formal tux
Beneath that lofty steeple
He said, "Do you, Barbara, take this man
Will you be one of his people?"

And she said, "I will" and she said, "I do"
And the world looked mighty pretty
And we lived in a fancy downtown flat
'Cause she loved the noisy city

But the days grew cold beneath a yellow sky
And I longed for green things growin'
And the thoughts of home and the people there
But she'd not agree to goin'

Then her hazel eyes turned away from me
With a look that wasn't pretty
And she turned into concrete and steel
And she said, "I'll take the city"

Now the cars go by on the interstate
And my pack is on my shoulder
But I'm goin' home, where I belong
Much wiser now and older



(Transcribed by Mel Priddle - January 2011)