As a young man I went riding out on the western plain
In the state of North Dokota I met my Nelie Kane, I met my Nellie Kane
She was living in a lonely cabin with a son by another man
Five years she had waited for him
As long as a woman can, as long as a woman can

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I don't know what changed my mind
'Til then I was the ramblin kind
The kind of love I can't explain
That I have for Nellie Kane

Well she took me on to work that day, to help her till the land
In the afternoon we planted seeds
In the evening we held hands, in the evening we held hands
Her blue eyes told me everything a man could want to know
And it was then I realized that I would never go, I would never go

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Now many years have gone by, her son has grown up tall
I became a father to him and she became my all, she became my all

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