Hard Traveling

I've been doin' some hard travelin'

I thought you knowed

I've been doin' some hard ramblin'

way down the road

Hard travelin' hard ramblin'

hard drinkin' hard gamblin'

I've been doin' some hard travelin' Lord

I've been doin' some hard rock minin'

I thought you knowed

I've been leanin' on a pressure drill

way down the road

Well the hammer flying

and the air hose suckin'

And six feet of mud,

I sure been muckin'

I've been doin' some hard travelin' Lord

I've been workin' that Pittsburgh steel

I thought you knowed

I've been pourin' that red-hot slag

way down the road

I been blastin'

I've been firin'

I've been pourin'

red-hot iron

I've been doin' some hard travelin' Lord

I've been layin' in a hard rock jail

I thought you knowed

I've been layin' out ninety days

way down the road

The darned old judge he said to me

it's ninety days for vagrancy

And I've been doin' some hard travelin' Lord

I've been walkin' that Lincoln highway

I thought you knowed

And I've been hittin' that sixty six

way down the road

Got a heavy load

got a worried mind

I'm a' lookin' for a woman

that's hard to find

And I've been doin' some hard travelin' Lord

I've been doin' some hard travelin'

I've been havin' some hard ramblin'

I've been doin' some hard traveling

I've been doin' some hard travelin' Lord

(The following two verses are not included in the performance on the CD Best of Vanguard Years. But are on Folkways)

I've been ridin' them fast passengers

I thought you knowed

I've been hittin' them flat wheelers

way down the road

I've been ridin' them

dead enders

kickin' up cinders

I've been doin' some hard travelin' Lord

I've been doin' some hard harvestin'

I thought you knowed

From North Dakota to Kansas City

way down the road

Cuttin' that wheat and

stackin' that hay

just tryin' to make 'bout a dollar a day

And I've been doin' some hard harvestin' Lord

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Of note:

If any song could be a signature tune, this would certainly be Cisco's. One of Woody's best songs, and a performance that Cisco certainly was pleased with, as he named one of his LPs after it. Captures the flavor and the sweat without glamorizing or fantasizing. It is THE song of the Open Road.