[Verse 1]
Coleman Bonner was a fiddle playing fool
He's a backwoods rounder and a breaker of mules
Coleman Bonner’s got a wore out bow
He’s been playing two days down the new cut road

[Verse 2]
Now 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
Oh and we're going to move to Texas, we just waiting on you"

[Verse 3]
Now Coleman’s daddy, he 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
Oh just the other day I thought I saw a church steeple"

[Verse 4]
Now Coleman said, "Daddy, don't you worry about me
I'm going to stay here in Kentucky till the day I die
I'm going to drink that sour mash and I'm gonna race that mare
Oh, I've got me a woman with the fox red hair"

[Verse 5]
"Now y’all been moving west since the day you got married
Well I'm getting off the wagon daddy, I'm too old to be carried
I'm going to stay here in Kentucky where that bluegrass grows
And I'm going to play it all night down the new cut road"
[Fiddle Solo]

[Verse 6]
Now Coleman’s daddy said, "What’s it all coming to?
Young people these days are just as stubborn as mules
Well, you can’t make him go, he’s too old for that
It’s that damned old fiddle and that bowler hat"

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

[Verse 8]
Now Coleman’s little sister, well she started in a crying
And his daddy shook his head for the very last time
Coleman’s mama said, "Somebody got to do it
Whoa, there wouldn't be no Kentucky unless you didn't stick to it, Coleman"

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