Johnny Cash
"Route #1, Box 144" lyrics

Route #1, Box 144

His dying
Barely made the morning paper
And they summed it up
In twenty words or more
"Killed in action
Leaves wife and baby
At Route one, Box one-forty-four"

He grew up on a little farm
Just a couple of miles out of town
As a boy he worked
In his daddy's field
And when his daddy could spare him
He hired out to the neighbors
For whatever they could pay him

He was thought of as just average a good boy
Nothing more
The average amount of friends
He married his high school sweetheart
They brought a little plot of ground

And couple of miles out of town
On a mailbox it said
"Route one, Box one-forty-four"

Well, back in town
There were very few people
That really knew him
Because he hardly ever came to town
Except for maybe on Saturdays
Of course the usual crew was always there
But he didn't spent a lot of time
With the usual crew

He took care of his business
Bought what he had to have
Or could afford for his family
And went back to his little farm

With a baby on the way
He went to the army
And it was a short while
That the news came
That he was killed in action
His body was sent back on a plane
And then by train
And then they brought the body
From the train station
To Route one, Box one-forty-four

He never did great things
To be remembered
He'd never been
Away from home before
But you'd've thought that he was
President or something
At Route one, Box one-forty-four

Authors: Johnny Cash