Route No. 1, Box 144

(album: Hello, I'm Johnny Cash - 1969)

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 1 Box 144

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
Couple of miles out of town on a mailbox it said
Route 1 Box 144

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 times 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 1 Box 144

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 1 Box 144