Joe Diffie Almost Home
He had plastic bags wrapped around his shoes
He was covered with the evening news
Had a pair of old wool socks on his hands
The bank sign was flashin' five below
It was freezin' rain and spittin' snow
He was curled up behind some garbage cans
I was afraid that he was dead, I gave him a gentle shake
When he opened up his eyes, I said, ?Old man, are you okay??
He said
?I just crawled out of a cottonwood tree
I was runnin' from some honey bees
Drip dryin' in the summer breeze
After jumpin' into calico creek?
?I was walkin' down an old dirt road
Past a field of hay that had just been mowed
Man, I wish you'd just left me alone
'Cause I was almost home?
And he said, ?I was just comin' 'round the barn
'Bout the time you grabbed my arm
And I heard mama holler, ?Son, hurry up?
And I was close enough for my own nose
To smell fresh cobbler on the stove?
"And I saw daddy loadin' up the truck
Cane poles on the tailgate
Bobbers blowin' in the wind
Since July of 55, that's as close as I've been?
"Yeah, I just climbed out of a cottonwood tree
I was runnin' from some honey bees
Drip dryin' in the summer breeze
After jumpin' into calico tree"
"I was walkin' down a old dirt
Past a field of hay that had just been mowed
Man, I wish you'd just left me alone
I was almost home"
I said, ?Old man, you're gonna freeze to death
Let me drive you to the mission?
He said, ?Boy, if you'd left me alone right now I'd be fishin'?
"I just climbed out of a cottonwood tree
I was runnin' from some honey bees
Drip dryin' in the summer breeze
After jumpin' into calico creek"
"I was walkin' down an old dirt road
Past a field of hay that had just been mowed
Man, I wish you'd just left me alone
Man, I wish you'd just left me alone [unverified]
I was almost home, I was almost home"
