Benjamin rode out of Montana   On a Palomino pony   He told me he was all alone   He lost his family in forty-nine      Benjamin took me to San Diego   Guess we caused quite a commotion   Selling Pacific ocean water   And callin' it seaweed wine      (Chorus)   Oh, I never had as good a friend as Benjamin   He loved to travel   He'd been ever' place I'd been and back again   That boy could unravel   Stories that would make your eyes   Big as blackberry pies, I'm tellin' you   Life could be fun for anyone   Who had a good friend like Benjamin   Had a good friend like Benjamin      Well, me and Ben thumbed a ride to Alabama   Spent the summer pickin' cotton   Now it was so doggone hot   We bought us a three-speed electric fan      Then at night we'd drink a Coca-Cola   Listen to the rain a'fallin'   Hearin' the bob white callin'   As though he'd know we'd understand      (Chorus)      Well, Ben and me spent some time in Oklahoma   Livin' on a reservation   Workin' at the service station   Pumpin' gas and passin' time      We caught a train down to Harlan County   Thinkin' we were awful lucky   Just to walk along a Kentucky backroad   Without no reason nor rhyme      (Chorus)   Had a good friend like Benjamin