I've been traveling all these years,
Just barely getting by
The road can be your friend
Or the devil in disguise

When the tough get going,
The muses visit me
Yet in soft, low tones,
They always say to me,
Say to me,

"It ain't no groove thing,
It ain't no country twang,
It's a simple refrain;
It's a soul thang" [2x]

Where the city street meets the county road,
Where the sun is nice and warm,
No matter how long I may roam,
This song still takes us home,
Takes us home

Now we'll tell you about these times,
When the blues come out to play,
And jazz leaves her number
It's funny, she always says:

"It ain't no groove thing,
It ain't no country twang,
It's a simple refrain;
It's a soul thang" [2x]

Now I'll tell you about these times,
When the blues come out to play,
And jazz leaves her number
It's funny, she always says:

"Well, the city lights fly by me,
As their eyes are getting heavy
We're sending our love over telephone wire
These days getting lonelier by the mileby the mile"

It ain't no groove thing,
It ain't no country twang,
It's a simple refrain;
It's a soul thang [2x]

It ain't no groove thing,
Yeah, ain't no country twang,
It's a simple refrain;
It's a soul thang [2x]