Hallie Lonnigan - Tom Russell

My name is Hallie Lonnigan I married Walter Jones

for better or for worse so said the Reverend Dr. Stone

but the better times are all used up and the worse times took control

then drinking took my Walter may the lord protect his soul

along with two young kids to raise out on the western plains

my children harmonized with wolves and sang just like the rain

but haulin hay and water were the desperate daily facts

and the years have carved their memories in the muscles of my back

Hallie Lonnigan will tell these truths to you

hard times the only times I ever new

hard luck’s the only horse I ever drew

hard work’s the only way I made it through

then I married for convenience sake a trader from in town

a blacksmith named Charlie Hawk who’d court me on his rounds

but he’d paw me like a wolverine and there’s cheatin' in his blood

he fell upon my butcher knife and crawled off through the mud

well no one was the wiser when ol Charlie disappeared

and me and them poor children never shed one single tear

we can run this place on our own don’t need no drunks or cheats

and the men they step aside now when I walk down market street

Hallie Lonnigan will tell these truths to you

hard times the only times I ever new

hard luck’s the only horse I ever drew

hard work’s the only way I made it through

this land was conquered by brave men your history books will say

proud men upon fast horses drove the indian away

my name is Hallie Lonnigan I’ll have you all to know

that the secret of your history is in a workin woman’s soul

Hallie Lonnigan will tell these truths to you

hard times the only times I ever new

hard luck’s the only horse I ever drew

hard work’s the only way I made it through

hard work’s the only way I made it through