Rye Whiskey Joe

Lyrics

In an old hobo jungle on the south side of town All my friends settled down for a meal With two cans of bacon and an old loaf of bread Anything anybody could steal And a bottle of burgundy found its way around For tonight everybody was low From the passing of Joseph McSweeney Everyone called him rye whiskey joe Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, there's happiness somewhere for you Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, somewhere out there in the blue Now he hopped off a freight train eleven months back With a sort of a look in his eye With a smile on his face and an old canvas pack That was half full of Table Talk pies And he asked us if he could just stay for a time To rest before he traveled on But, he brought us much more than expected And that's why we're singing this song Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, there's happiness somewhere for you Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, somewhere out there in the blue After eating in the evening we all settled down And listened while he sang his songs With a bottle of whiskey there close by his side That he shared when the time came around And the light in his eyes was as warm as the fire And his hair was black as the coal We listened while he told his lonely old tales And we all called him Rye Whiskey Joe Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, there's happiness somewhere for you Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, somewhere out there in the blue Now he closed his eyes early one morning They never would open again And we buried his gear along with him Said a prayer, filled the grave in, and then I found a letter in the tall grass nearby From a camp where he'd been long ago Saying, "Thank you Mr. Joseph, for all that you've done" And "Good luck to you Rye Whiskey Joe." Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, there's happiness somewhere for you Oh, Rye Whiskey Joe, somewhere out there in the blue Somewhere out there in the blue Somewhere out there in the blue