Got in a little trouble at the county seat
Lord they put me in the jailhouse for loafing on the street
Well a judge said guilty he made his point
He said forty-five dollars or thirty days in the joint

And that’ll be cash on the barrelhead hon
You can take your choice you’re twentyone
No money down no credit plan
No time to chase you ’cause I’m a busy man

I found a telephone number on a laundry slip
I had a good-hearted jailer with a six-gun hip
He let me call long-distance she said number please
And just as soon as I told her she shouted back at me

Sayin’ that’ll be cash on the barrelhead hon
Not part not half but the entire sum
No money down no credit line
‘Cause a little bird tells me that you’re a traveling kind

Thirty days in the jailhouse four days on the road
I was feeling mighty hungry my feet a heavy load
Saw a Greyhound coming stuck up my thumb
As soon as I was seated the driver caught my arm

Said that’ll be cash on the barrelhead son
This old gray dog gets paid to run
When engine starts and the wheels do’t roll
You’ll be cash on the barrelhead I’ll take you down the road

[1] Got in a little trouble at the county seat
Lord they put me in the jailhouse for loafing [5] on the [1] street
Well a judge said guilty he made his point
He said forty-five dollars or thirty [5] days in the [1] joint

[1] And that’ll be [4] cash on the barrelhead [1] hon
You can take your [5] choice you’re twenty-[1]-one
No money [4] down no credit [1] plan
No time to [5] chase you ’cause I’m a busy [1] man

I found a telephone number on a laundry slip
I had a good-hearted jailer with a six-gun hip
He let me call long-distance she said number please
And just as soon as I told her she shouted back at me

Sayin’ that’ll be cash on the barrelhead hon
Not part not half but the entire sum
No money down no credit line
‘Cause a little bird tells me that you’re a traveling kind

Thirty days in the jailhouse four days on the road
I was feeling mighty hungry my feet a heavy load
Saw a Greyhound coming stuck up my thumb
As soon as I was seated the driver caught my arm

Said that’ll be cash on the barrelhead son
This old gray dog gets paid to run
When engine starts and the wheels do’t roll
You’ll be cash on the barrelhead I’ll take you down the road