I nearly froze in a motel in a Cincinnati slum
When they kicked me out I had no where to go
Felt the dry heat of the devil neath a Bandera sun
With a wind so hot I was begging for the snow
I've been singing these old songs anywhere I can
Half the time for no one in the room
But I've seen the sunrise on the rockies from a window of a van
And I'm just fine with paying these dues
Caught a right hook in the temple on 5 hour show
Those Tulsa boys sure got a wild side
Played every song I knew with still two hours go
Barely made it outta there alive
We broke down just south of Houston still had to pay the band
We got robbed behind a Fort Worth saloon
But stars in Amarillo keep filling up my soul
And I'm just fine with paying these dues
O my body's felt the rumbling of every mile drove
My heart has felt a lonesome wind howl through
And I may scape the bottom but I ain't taking out no loan
No, I'm just fine with paying these dues
Hundred dollars in my pocket, a cowgirl on my arm
I'll stay with her for a week or two
Where the moonlight in Montana sets the meadows all a glow
And I'm just fine with paying these dues
O, from New York to Savannah, down every winding road
You'll fine me out here singing this for you
