I'm a man of constant sorrow,
I've seen trouble all my days.
I'll say goodbye to Colorado
Where I was born and partly raised.

Your mother says I'm a stranger;
My face you'll never see no more.
But there's one promise, darling,
I'll see you on Gods golden shore.

Through this open world I'm a-bound to ramble,
Through ice and snows, sleet and rain,
I'm a-bound to ride that mornin' railroad,
Perhaps I'll die on that train.

I'm going back to Colorado,
The place that I've started from.
If I'd knowed how bad you'd treat me,
Honey I never would have come.