[Verse 1]
I headed for the logging woods
I took my chopping axe
I had to get some money quick
To pay that income tax

[Verse 2]
I fell me down a popping tree
I hauled it to the mill
I figured that I had enough
To pay that doggone bill

[Verse 3]
The scaler took his cheating stick
And ambled down the log
When he got through a-figuring up
My mind just slipped the cog

[Verse 4]
'Cause he took two inches off the bark
The rest he took for rot
When Jesse Jane pulled a trick like that
The highway man got shot

[Verse 5]
Oh, the scaler is an honest man
He jipped me fair and square
He said, "I'd give you more my friend
But the scale just isn't there"
[Verse 6]
So I had to sell my logging truck
I hocked my chopping axe
I had to find another way
To pay that doggone tax

[Verse 7]
I'm heading off to logging school
I'm gonna learn to scale
It's an 'arn good way to jip a man
And still stay out of jail