He drinks orange juice and vodka
In the basement while she's talking
To someone long distance for hours and hours on end
And as he's slowly sippin'
He thinks about his children
And the heart attacks that youngest daughter's always giving him

He ain't smoked no marijuana
Since he got on with the railroad
And he's been on with the railroad for a long and lonesome while
But the day that he retires
He will smoke himself to China
He will leave behind his worries as he's racing through the sky

She sells Avon to her buddies
And saves a little money
For all the makeup she's been using to hide away the years
And she sits and watches Tv
Usually every evening
If there ain't some kind of ball game her daughter has to cheer

She sneaks menthols every morning
While her family's still snoring
As she burns the Eggos she looks back at her life
That heart she broke in highschool
He's singing on the Opry
She wonders what the hell that she was thinking at the time

Oh the days are dark down in the holler
Waiting for the sun to shine
On the back you've been breaking
Trying to earn peace of mind

Their youngest daughter Stella
She's been running with this fella
That he cannot stand the thought of, that he surely does despise
He's told her he best never
See the two of them together
But it's hard to keep an eye on her when you're working all the time

There are things he needs to tend to
And the bills the bank keeps sendin'
Lord, the zeros on the end keep pushing further to the right
Like a freight train hauling sorrow
And moving ever onward
Through the tunnel of forever towards the never ending light

Oh the days are dark down in the holler
Waiting for the sun to shine
On the back you've been breaking
Trying to earn peace of mind
Trying to earn peace of mind