Seen a man standin' over a dead dog
Lyin' by the highway in a ditch
He's lookin' down kinda puzzled
Pokin' that dog with a stickGot his car door flung open
He's standin' out on Highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough
That dog'd get up and runStruck me kinda funny
Seem kinda funny sir to me
At the end of every hard day
People find some reason to believeNow Mary Lou loved Johnny
With a love mean and true
She said, "Baby I'll work for you every day
And bring my money home to you"One day he up and left her
And ever since that
She waits down at the end of that dirt road
For young Johnny to come backStruck me kinda funny
Funny yeah to me
How at the end of every hard earned day
People find some reason to believeTake a baby to the river
Kyle William they called him
Wash the baby in the water
Take away little Kyle's sinIn a whitewash shotgun shack
An old man passes away
Take his body to the graveyard
And over him they prayLord won't You tell us
Tell us what does it mean
At the end of every hard earned day
People find some reason to believeCongregation gathers
Down by the riverside
Preacher stands with his Bible
Groom stands waitin' for his brideCongregation gone and the sun sets
Behind a weepin' willow tree
Groom stands alone and watches
The river rush on so effortlesslyLord and he's wonderin'
Where can his baby be?
Still at the end of every hard earned day
People find some reason to believe