Cisco Clifton's Fillin' Station

Cisco Clifton had a fillin' station about a mile and a half from town

Most cars passed unless they were out of gas so Cisco was always around

Regular gas was all that it sold except tabacco matches and oil

Other than that he fixed lots of flats keepin' Cisco rough hands soiled

He'd wipe the gas and check the air in a hundred times a day

He patiently gave directions on how to get to the state highway

Usually he'd give 'em water or a tyre or two some air

And once a big black Cadillac spent seven dollars there

He'd give anybody anything they'd ask and lend anything he had

His tools are tyres bumperjacks or wire to the good ones or the bad

In wintertime there was a depot stove and a table for a checker game

And every mornin' at sunup the same checker players came

So Cisco Clifton's fillin' station was always in the red

Personal loans were personally gone but never a word was said

One mornin' at eight them checker players heard a big bulldozer roar like a freight

And Cisco said I hope my kids stay fed when they build that Interstate

He'd managed to pay for property where his little fillin' station sat

And friends still came for checker game so Cisco settled for that

He wouldn't say so but Cisco knew that the Interstate was too much to fight

But to keep his will and to pay his bills he did odd jobs at night

He still opened up at sunrise and the checker game went on

The cars flew past on hightest gas and the neighbors had sold out and gone

If a car ever did go by he was lost and if they stopped they were treated the same

So at Cisco Clifton's fillin' station there's a howdy and a checker game