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

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

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

[Verse 4]
Now Coleman said, "Daddy, don't you worry 'bout me
I'm gonna stay here in Kentucky till the day I die
I'm gonna drink that sour mash, I'm gonna race that mare
Hey, I got me a woman with the foxy red hair"

[Verse 5]
"Now you 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"
[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 6]
Now Coleman's daddy said, "Now what's it all comin' to?
Young people these days are just as stubborn as mules
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's raised up solid, he can find his own way
But as for me honey I'm with you
Yeah, I always thought Kentucky was just passin' through"

[Verse 8]
Now Coleman's little sister was started in cryin'
And his daddy shook his head for the very last time
Coleman's mama said, "Somebody's gotta do it
Lord there wouldn't be no Kentucky if you didn't stick to it"

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