Back in '29 (feat. Steve Gulley)

Ol' Joe Bryson lived down a dirt road in the holler

No use for no license and that automobile

He got to town on his own two feet

Tough, stained hands from raisin' his cattle and tobacco

Soft-hearted for the shiny, clean Cherokee hair

Rosalee could sit on in her rockin' chair

Back in '29, back in 1929

Dollar a day he made at the sawmill by the river

Lost outta work like everyone, taxes comin' due

He heard the news, and you know it's the truth

Back in '29, back in 1929

He cried, "Rosalee, I'm leavin' at sunrise

Heard 'em talkin' down at the stockyard

There's jobs up North and I know it

Rosalee, I'm walkin' to Detroit

Rosalee, I'm walkin' to Detroit"

Back in '29, back in 1929

Ol' Joe Bryson sent money from Kentucky to the holler

Soft-hearted for that shiny, clean Cherokee hair

Rosalee could sit on in her rockin' chair

Back in '29, hey, back in 1929

Years rolled on like the wheels on his chair in the city

No use for no license and that automobile

He's gone to Heaven on his own two feet

He cried, "Rosalee, I'm leavin' at sunrise

I heard 'em talkin' down at the stockyard

There's jobs up North and I know it

Rosalee, I'm walkin' to Detroit

Rosalee, I'm walkin' to Detroit"

Back in '29