When the wagons leave the city
For the forest and further on
Painted wagon of the morning
Dusty roads where they have gone
Sometimes travelin' through the darkness
Met the summer comin' home
Fallen faces by the wayside
Looked as if they might have known
Oh, the sun was in their eyes
And the desert that dried
In the country town
Where the laughter sounds
Oh, the dancing and the singing
Oh, the music when they played
Oh, the fires that they started
Oh, the girls with no regret
Sometimes they found it, sometimes they kept it
Often lost it along the way
Fought each other to possess it
Sometimes died in sight of day
Oh, the sun was in their eyes
And the desert that dried
In the country town
Where the laughter sounds