I don't know what went wrong
I ain't known you that long to begin with
Leave the rocks in the road, stay away from the river, Virginia
There's not much you can do 'cept wait on a train
When the road gullies out in a Biblical rain
And that's how it's been ever since I can remember

I'm not too keen of mind
I don't pick up on signs like I ought to
So I won't sweat the cost of the coffee
Or the wine that I bought you
With your emptied out nest, your chicks have all flew
There's nobody left to take care of but you
And you don't know how to just be
No one ever taught you

I can't find much to say as you play with that loose strand of hair
If you had you a tail, you'd be twitching it
And I've got to get over the scare and tell you no

And tell you no
And tell you no
Tell you no

Never saw such a cold day in June did you ever, Virginia?
In our young days the old people called it Blackberry Winter
As the mail plane goes out at a slow rate of climb
This cold rain don't help with your low state of mind
Hanging down like the fog on the ridge
You can't tell what's in it

And you stare me down hard and you ask me why I even care
It's not that I'm any Sir Galahad
There just needs to be somebody there to tell you no

To tell you no
To tell you no
To tell you no

Your bags are all packed, you're not coming back that's for certain
And the landlady won't like the stains on the rugs and the curtains
Well, that's just wear and tear such as happens in life
Folks around here live to gossip and gripe
So I won't tell a soul
What they'll never know will never hurt 'em

And I found the letter you left at the foot of the stairs
And I heard the horn blow, the train's pulling out
I hope you find somebody there to tell you no

To tell you no
To tell you no
To tell you no

Leave the rocks in the road, stay away from the river, Virginia

Copyright: BMG Rights Management
Writer(s): James McMurtry, Ross Hogarth