Unwed Fathers by John Prine Lyrics
In an Appalachian Greyhound station
She sits there waiting in a family way
"Goodbye brother, tell Mom I love her
Tell all the others I'll write someday"
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream
In a cold and gray town, a nurse says, "Lay down
This ain't no playground and this ain't home"
Someone's children out having children
In a gray stone building all alone
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream
On somewhere else bound, Smoky Mountain Greyhound
She bows her head down, hummin' lullabies
Your daddy never meant to hurt you ever
He just don't live here, but you've got his eyes
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream
Well, they run like water through a mountain stream
She sits there waiting in a family way
"Goodbye brother, tell Mom I love her
Tell all the others I'll write someday"
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream
In a cold and gray town, a nurse says, "Lay down
This ain't no playground and this ain't home"
Someone's children out having children
In a gray stone building all alone
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream
On somewhere else bound, Smoky Mountain Greyhound
She bows her head down, hummin' lullabies
Your daddy never meant to hurt you ever
He just don't live here, but you've got his eyes
From a teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream
Well, they run like water through a mountain stream