[Verse 1]
Coleman Bonner was a fiddle playin' fool
He's a backwoods rounder and a breaker of mules
Coleman Bonner's got a wore-out bow
He's been playin' all day down the new cut road

[Verse 2]
Coleman's little sister said, "You better act right, Coleman
Daddy's gone to Louisville, he'll be back tonight
He's going to get another wagon and a good pair of mules
And we gonna move to Texas, we just waiting on you"

[Verse 3]
Coleman's daddy pulled up in the yard
He said, "Pack up your lives, kids, it's getting too hard
Kentucky's alright, but there's too many people
Well, just the other day I thought I saw a church steeple"

[Verse 4]
Coleman said, "Daddy, don't you worry 'bout me
I'm gonna stay here in Kentucky 'til the day I d'
I'm gonna drink that sour mash, I'm gonna race that mare
And find that woman with the fox red hair"

[Verse 5]
"Now y'all been movin' west since the day you got married
Well, I'm gettin' off the wagon, daddy, I'm too old to be carried
Gonna stay here in Kentucky where the bluegrass grow
I'm gonna play it all night down the new cut road"
[Verse 6]
Coleman's daddy said, "Now what's it all comin' to?
Young people these days, they just as stubborn as mules
You can't make him go, naw, he's too old for that
It's that damned old fiddle and that bolder hat

[Verse 7]
Coleman's mama said, "Let the boy stay
Because he's raised up solid he can find his own way
But as for me, honey, I'm with you
I always thought Kentucky was just passing through"

[Verse 8]
Coleman's little sister then she started in to crying
And his daddy shook his head for the very last time
Coleman's mama said, "Somebody's gotta do it
Wouldn't be no Kentucky 'less you didn't stick to it, Coleman"

[Verse 9]
Coleman Bonner stood on the porch of that cabin
Watched them all go to Texas in a covered wagon
He pulled out his fiddle and he rosined up his bow
And he played a little tune called The New Cut Road