Nevada Jane

Are the linens turned down in folds of glowing white?
Are you lying there alone again tonight?
He's marching again through the cold November rain
But you know he'll come back home, Nevada Jane

And when he stumbles in with blood upon his shirt
Washing up alone, just to hide the hurt
He'll lie down by your side and wake you with your name
You'll hold him in your arms, Nevada Jane

Have you seen the way he holds her as though she was a bride
Children riding on the shoulders strong and wide?
She never thought to scold him or even to complain
And Big Bill always loved Nevada Jane

Nevada Jane went riding. Her pony took a fall
The doctor said she never could walk again at all
But Big Bill could lightly lift her. The big hands rough and plain
Would gently carry home Nevada Jane

The storms of Colorado they rained for ten long years
The mines of old Montana were filled with blood and tears
California, Arizona and Utah heard the name
Of the man who always loved Nevada Jane

Although the ranks are scattered like leaves upon the breeze
And with them go the memory of harder times than these
But some things never change, they always stay the same
Just like the way Bill loved Nevada Jane

Have you seen the way he holds her as though she was a bride
Children riding on the shoulders strong and wide?
She never thought to scold him or even to complain
And Big Bill always loved Nevada Jane