Tumbleweed Town

He said, I'm going to West Texas
They said, Hell, you've gone crazy
Ain't nothing out there but coyotes and Comanches
But he headed out anyway as far as he could
Till the heat finally got to their mules

He sold whiskey and cigars to passing through would be settlers
But nobody wants to settle where there ain't no damn water
Then they figured out a windmill could pump it from the ground
And up sprang a tumbleweed town

Where the lonely wind blows like it's angry for being there
A flat piece of stone in the middle of nowhere
The town never grows 'cause nobody can keep their roots down
It's a tumbleweed town

They came in like gypsies to steal their black gold
And the towns population increased hundred fold
But they scattered like quail when all the oil wells ran out
Left no trace of the riches they'd found

Then some big shot from Dallas built a factory here
Gonna put us back on the map but hell, that was back a few years
Now the weeds have grown up and the building's falling down
And you'd think they'd figured it out by now
Hell, it's a tumbleweed town

Where the lonely wind blows like it's angry for being there
A flat piece of stone in the middle of nowhere
The town never grows 'cause nobody can keep their roots down
It's just a tumbleweed town

Now a few hay seeds and ranchers are still hanging in
Too old to start over and too damn stubborn to quit
And their kids all get restless waiting on that Greyhound
So that they can get the hell out of this tumbleweed town
But I love my tumbleweed town
It's a tumbleweed town