There is a house in this old town,
And that's where my true love lays around.
And he takes other women right down on his knee
And he tells them a little tale he won't tell me.

It's a-hard and it's hard, ain't it hard
To love one that never did love you?
It's a-hard, and it's hard, ain't it hard, great God,
To love one that never will be true?

First time I seen my true love
He was walkin' by my door.
The next time I saw his false hearted smile
He was layin' dead and cold on floor.

Well, who's goin' to kiss your ruby lips,
And who's goin' to hold you to his breast?
And who will talk your future over
While I'm out ramblin' in the West?

Don't go to drinkin' or to gamblin',
Don't go there your sorrows to drown.
That hard-liquor place is a low-down disgrace,
It's the meanest old place in this town