Oh, I used to wish I was a hard line taker and they'd say,
"Six to one a half dozen'll break her",
'till I fell in love with a young man who sang the blues
Oh, bless my daddy, he warned me well
He'd whisper in my ear and say, "Now look out, gal
There's always a ne'er do well gonna call you the fool"

[Chorus:]

He said, "you'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line
You'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin'
And it's a pity that you're lover died young, but
You'll never get tired of livin' alone"

So, now I dream of the lover that I don't know
It's safer this way 'cuz I don't have to go oh, and he
Won't come so nobody goes away
Sometimes I wish for the warmth of his hand
Take a look in these eyes and understand
I'm just a little too old to be a-learnin' the rules of the game

[Chorus]

Oh, maybe I could take him to Mexico
We'd kick our heels in the warm cloudy gulf
He'd sing a song about the weather in the Poconos