He was standing by the highway   With a sign that just read Mother   When he heard a driver coming   About a half a mile away   So he held the sign up higher   So no decent soul could miss it   It was ten degrees or colder   Down by Boulder Dam that day      He was raised up in Milwaukee   Though he never was that famous   He was just a road musician   To the taverns he did go   Singing songs about the rambling   The loving girls and gambling   How the world fell on his shoulder   Back in Boulder, I don't know      It was out in Arizona   And he heard the lady listening   To each song that he was singing   To each line that he would write   So he sat down by her table   And they talked about the weather   98.6 and rising down   By Boulder Dam that day      And she told him she would take him   For a ride in the morning sun   Back in Boulder he had told her   I don't know when I've had a better friend      Now he's traded off his Martin   But his troubles are not over   His feet are nearly frozen   And the sun is sinking low   Won't you listen to me brother   If you ever loved your mother   Just pull off on the shoulder   If you're going Milwaukee way      It's ten degrees and getting colder   Down by Boulder Dam today