Streets of Bakersfield

I came here looking for something I couldn't find anywhere else.
Hey, I'm not trying to be nobody,
Just want a chance to be myself.
I've done a thousand miles of thumbin',
I've worn holes in both my heels
Trying to find me something better
Here on the streets of Bakersfield.
Spent some time in San Francisco,
I spent a night there in the can.
They threw this drunk man in my jail cell,
I took fifteen dollars from that man.
Left him my watch and my old house key,
Don't want folks thinkin' that I'd steal.
Then I thanked him as I was leaving,
And I headed out for Bakersfield.
You don't know me, but you don't like me.
You say you care less how I feel.
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?

-- Homer Joy, "Streets of Bakersfield"

Via Terry Teachout, who also links to a nice obituary of Buck Owens.