[Verse 1]
Mama told her baby, "Girl, take it real slow"
Girl told her mama, "Hey, I really gotta go
He's waitin' in the car"
Mama said, "Girl, you won't get far"

[Verse 2]
Thus are the dreams of an average Jane
Ninety miles an hour down a lover's lane
On a tank of dreams
Oh, if she could have only seen

[Pre-Chorus]
But fate's got cards that it don't wanna show

[Chorus]
And that boy's just a walkaway Joe
Born to be a leaver, tell you from the word go
Destined to deceive her, he's the wrong kind of paradise
She's gonna know it in a matter of time
That boy's just a walkaway Joe

[Verse 3]
Now just a little while into Abilene
Pulls into a station and he robs it clean
She's waitin' in the car
Underneath the Texaco star
[Verse 4]
She only wanted love, didn't bargain for this
She can't help but love him for the way he is
She's only seventeen
And there ain't no reasoning

[Pre-Chorus]
So she'll ride this ride as far as it can go

[Chorus]
'Cause that boy's just a walkaway Joe
Born to be a leaver, tell you from the word go
Destined to deceive her, he's the wrong kind of paradise
She's gonna know it in a matter of time
That boy's just a walkaway Joe

[Verse 5]
Somewhere in a roadside motel room
Alone in the silence, she wakes up too soon
And reaches for his arms
But she'll just keep reachin' on

[Pre-Chorus]
For the cold hard truth revealed what it had known

[Chorus]
That boy's just a walkaway Joe
Born to be a leaver, tell you from the word go
Destined to deceive her, he's the wrong kind of paradise
But it was just another lesson in life
That boy was a walkaway Joe
[Outro]
All he was was a walkaway Joe
Ooh, walkaway Joe
Ooh, he was a walkaway Joe
Ooh, walkaway Joe
Yes, he was a walkaway Joe