Tripper
By Jimmy Rankin
T’was a brisk autumn day
They remember it well
Tripper went strolling along
He was merely a boy
His Mom’s pride and joy
So sure he could do no wrong
Running down to the river and up by the tracks
Pretending he was Jesse James
With his fathers old hat a stick for a gun
Tripper walked home in the rain
Such a glorious sight
Fresh flowers in bloom
In the spring when the ice takes to thaw
But its rough wretched road a man has to go
Living outside of the law
For dark dirty cell was Tripper’s own hell
Survival was his battle cry
If drinking don’t kill me or a villainous gun
He said I’ll live ‘til I die
Mother dear, I’m in trouble here
Far in the distant West
I lay down on stony ground
I’m not feeling all the best
Cold wind on the river and rain on the road
Every light in the house burning strong
Somebody saying a sad rosary
Wondering where Tripper went wrong
‘Cause he met his own maker a grim undertaker
Took a knife too deep in the lungs
In a dim parking lot his very last thoughts
Were the days he went strolling along
Mother dear, I’m in trouble here
Far in the distant West
I lay down on stony ground
I’m not feeling all the best
T’was a brisk autumn day
They remember it well
Tripper went strolling along
