Mean Eyed Cat

I gave my woman half my money at the general store
I said, “Now buy a little groceries and don’t spend no more”
But she paid ten dollars for a ten-cent hat
And bought some store-bought cat food for that mean-eyed cat

When I give her ten more dollars for a one-way ticket
She was mad as she could be
Then I bet ten more that if she ever left
She’d come a crawlin’ back to me

When I woke up this morning and I turned my head
There wasn’t a cotton-picking thing on her side of the bed
I found a little old note, where her head belonged
It said, “Dear John, honey, baby, I’m long gone”

When I heard a whistle blowing and the big wheels a-turning
I was scared as I could be
I put on my overalls and I headed for town
I’m gonna bring her back with me

I asked the man down at the station if he’d seen her there
I told him all about her pretty eyes and long blonde hair
He spit his tobacco and said, “I’ll be dad blamed”
“I believe I did see her leaving on the east-bound train”

I bought a round-trip ticket on the east-bound train
I was broke as I could be
But when I come back, I got to buy another ticket
Gonna bring her back with me

Well, I got off the train somewhere in Arkansas
And I worked up the guts to call my mother-in-law
She said, “I’ll tell you where she is, if you act right
She’s working four-to-twelve at Trucker’s World tonight.”

Well, when I walked in she saw me and she took off her apron
And she grabbed her going-home hat
She bought a ticket with her tips. Now we’re curled up on the sofa
Me and her and that mean-eyed cat