Just a ragged kid in overalls,
He thumbed a ride one day
He said, "Anywhere you're headed is on my way."
But as we pa**ed the Big Sky drive-in
His eyes began to gla**
He was leavin Rapid City mighty fast.
He said, "I hope to God she finds
The good-bye letter that I wrote her
But the mail don't move to fast
In Rapid City, South Dakota. "
--- Instrumental ---
Well, he left her just a blanket
Of snow upon the farm
And that don't keep your conscience very warm.
He said his friends were too durn hungry
And his pa was too damn mean
And there ain't no money pumpin gasoline.
And in her gentle eyes, was the merchandise
Of dreams the peddler sold her
As he left her there alone in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Now the reason he was goin,
I'm not sure I could say,
Might've been the rodeo in Santa Fe
"There's a doctor in Chicago,
I know she'll be all right, "
He told himself as he stared into the night.
And he said, "I hope to God she finds
The good-bye letter that I wrote her
'Cause the mail don't move too fast
In Rapid City, South Dakota. "
And all her people treatin her
Just like they never knowed her,
Lord, the winter pa**es slow
In Rapid City, South Dakota.