[Verse 1]
Boys, workin' on empty
Is that the kinda way to face the burnin' heat?
Just think about my baby
So full of love I could barely eat
There's nothin' sweeter than my baby
I'd never want once from the cherry tree
'Cause my baby's sweet as can be
She give me toothaches just from kissin' me

[Chorus]
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her

[Verse 2]
Oh, when my baby found me
I was three days on a drunken sin
I woke with her walls around me
Nothin' in her room but an empty crib
And I was burnin' up a fever
I didn't care much how long I lived
And I swear I thought I dreamed her
She never asked me once about the wrong I did
[Chorus]
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her

[Bridge]
And my baby never fret none
About what my hands and my body done
If the Lord don't forgive me
I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me
When I was kissin' on my baby
She'd put her love down so soft and sweet
In the low lamplight, I was free
Heaven and hell were words to me

[Chorus]
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her
When my time comes around
Lay me gently in the cold dark earth
No grave can hold my body down
I'll crawl home to her