AUBURN

Running through the fields of cotton in the West's late evening sun
California between I-5 and 101
Mister in his Chevy goes to the house up on the hill
Where Miss Auburn hair greets him, but then runs

For though they've running water she goes down to the well
As Mister is her father and when he comes home,  
He likes to drink his fill

Out in the barn, Auburn's mother is tending to the beasts
Doing all the dirty work so Auburn has the chance to meet that
Man from over yonder round the other side of life 
Who'll take her far away from here to make him a fine wife

And when he comes a'calling for her daughter, she'll send him down to the well
With a word of warning about Auburn's father who
Has a gun but doesn't shoot it well

In momma's mind Prince Charming will come along
In a brand new car with the headlights on
He'll be a man who has a house of his own
Looking for her girl to make it a home
But Auburn has another dream
She seems to like the men who are a little mean
With nothing to call their own
She makes her momma cry on the telephone

Auburn, Auburn, Auburn
When will you ever learn?

When daddy comes home momma tells him what's on her mind
Seems that Auburn's leaving for the city tonight
After dinner with Jack and we don't think he's very nice
And we haven't heard him promising to marry only promising to part ways 
With the cotton and the pickups and the Dairy Queens 
And the high school games of broken hearts

So if you want to talk to your daughter, you'll find her down at the well
But won't you please act like her father and
Not like a man who hasn't had his fill

So daddy goes down to the well; he's had a few drinks and he feels like hell
And he's carrying his gun
It catches the light of the setting sun
Auburn sees him from a long way off
She pulls Jack close and says, real soft,
"Won't you stand up to my old man, you know how he is when he's been drinking."

And that's how the whole thing happened
Two dead men down at the well
And a silouhette in the sunset 
Of a young woman newly freed from hell