Well, I was born in a called Audubon Southwest Iowa, right it oughta been houses, fourteen saloons, And a feed in nineteen-thirty. Had a neon sign, "Squealer Feeds" And the bus through when they felt the need And they stopped at a place there in town called The Old Cafe
Now my daddy was a music man He stood six-foot-seven, had big ol' He'd lost two fingers in a chainsaw but he could play the violin And Mom played piana, just the keys in the And Dad played a storm on his three-fingered 'Cause that's all there was to do back folks, except ta go downtown and watch haircuts
So I was raised on Dust tunes, you see Had a radio an' no TV It was so hot I had to wet the bed in the summer just to keep cool. Yeah, a night I'd lay awake for a distant station break Just and a-wettin' an' a-lettin' that radio fry.
Well, I listened to and Tulsa and Dallas And Oklahoma City my ear a callus And I'll never them announcers at three A.M. They'd come on an' say "Friends, many a soul who needs us "So them letters an' cards ta Jesus "That's friends, in care a' Del Rio, Texas."
But the place I remember, on the edge a' Was the place you really got the hard-core sound Yeah, a place where the truckers used ta stop on their way to Moins was signs all over them windowsills Like "If the don't get ya, then Roosevelt will" And "The bank don't sell no beer, and we don't no checks."
Now them truckers never talked about but haulin' And the four-letter words was really They thought them home-town gals was nothin' but toys for amusement. Chevys and Macks and big ol' stacks They's always complainin' their livers an' backs But they was fast-livin', strung-out, son of a guns
Now the gal waitin' was really classy Had a rebuilt motor on a fairly new And she knew how to handle truckers; name was Mavis Davis Yeah, she'd pour 'em a coffee, then she'd bat her she'd listen to 'em tell 'er some big fat lies Then she'd ask 'em how the wife and kids was, back in Joplin?
Now Mavis had all of her in a row Weighed pounds; put on quite a show Remind ya of a couple a' Cub tryin' ta set up a Sears, Roebuck pup tent There's no that she couldn't handle Next ta her, nothin' could a candle Not a hell of a lot upstairs, but from on down, Disneyland!
Now the truckers, on the hand, was really crass They remind ya of a-scratchin' on glass A-stompin' on in, leavin' tracks all the Montgomery Ward linoleum Yeah, they'd them counters and kick them stools They's always fights with the local fools But one look at Mavis, and turn into a bunch a' tomcats
Well, I'll never forget them gone by I's just a kid, 'bout four high But I never forgot lesson an' pickin' and singin', the country way Yeah, them walkin', truck stop blues Came back ta life in As "The Old Home Filler-up An' Keep On Cafe"
Oh, the Old Filler-up An' Keep On A-Truckin' Oh, the Old Home An' Keep On A-Truckin' Oh, the Old Home An' Keep On A-Truckin' Cafe Oh, the Old Home Filler-up An' Keep On Oh, the Old Filler-up An' Keep On A-Truckin' Oh, the Old Home Filler-up An' Keep On A-Truckin'