Arkansas Traveler

Oh, once upon a time in Arkansas An old man sat in his little cabin door And fiddled at a tune that he liked to hear A jolly old tune that he played by ear. It was raining hard but the fiddler didn't care He sawed away at the popular air Though his rooftop leaked like a waterfall That didn't seem to bother the old man at all. A traveler was riding by that day And stopped to hear him a-fiddling away The cabin was afloat and his feet were wet But the old man still didn't seem to fret. So the stranger said Now the way it seems to me You'd better mend your roof said he But the old man said as he played away I couldn't mend it now it's a rainy day. The traveler replied that's all quite true But this I think is the thing for you to do Get busy on a day that is fair and bright Then patch the old roof till it's good and tight. But the old man kept on a-playing at his reel And tapped the ground with his leathery heel Get along said he for you give me a pain My cabin never leaks when it doesn't rain --- Arkansas Traveler - Jerry Rivers and Hank Williams, Jr.