[Verse 1]
Seen a man stand over a dead dog
Right by the highway in the ditch
Was looking down kinda puzzled
Poking that dog with a stick
Got his car door flung open
He's standing on Highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough
That dog would get up and could run

[Refrain]
It struck me kinda funny
Yeah funny to me
At the end of every hard day
People find some reason to believe

[Verse 2]
Now, Mary Lou loved Johnny
With a love mean and true
She said, "Baby, I'll work for you every day"
And bring my money home to you
One day, he got up and left her
And ever since that
She waits down at the end of the road
For young Johnny to come back
[Refrain]
It struck me kinda funny
Funny, indeed
At the end of every hard day
People find some reason to believe

[Verse 3]
Take a baby down to the river
"Kyle William," they called him
Wash the baby in the water
Take away little Kyle's sins
In a whitewashed shotgun shack
An old man passes away
Take the body to the graveyard
And over him, they will pray

[Refrain]
Lord, won't you tell us
Tell us—what does it mean?
At the end of every hard day
People find some reason to believe

[Verse 4]
The congregation gathers
Down by the riverside
Preacher stands with a bible
And the groom stands waiting for his bride
Congregation gone and the sun sets
Behind a weeping willow tree
The groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly
[Refrain]
Wondering where his baby, his baby can be
Til at the end of every hard day
People find some reason to believe