The Broken Down Tramp

The Broken Down Tramp - The Carter Family

Written by：Thomas Herrington

I'm a broken down tramp without money

My clothes are all tattered and torn

And I am so sad and so lonely

I wish I had never been born

All through this wide world I have wandered

Inquiring for something to do

But whenever I ask for a job of work

They say they have none for a tramp

Now drink was the 'cause of my downfall

And the money I had I've outrun

And the friends that were mine when I had it

Now pass by and call me a bum

Now don't be too hasty to judge me

As I drift along with the tide

My clothes may be ragged and dirty

But a clean heart is beating inside

One night on a dark lonely railroad

A hobo all hungry and cold

Saw an empty boxcar on the siding

He climbed in and closed up the door

Six months he had rode on the railway

When the brakeman came 'round with his light

He was shoved from the car

And was killed by the train

Because he was only a tramp

Now young men let this be a warning

For all you who long for the road

Better stick to the straight life and don't be like me

A poor bum to die in the cold

Now don't be too hasty to judge me

As I drift along with the tide

My clothes may be ragged and dirty

But a clean heart is beating inside