Six o'clock silence of a new day beginning

Is heard in a small Texas town

Like a signal from nowhere the people who live there

They're up and they're moving around 'Cause there's bacon to fry and there's biscuits to bake

On the stove that the salvation army won't take

You open the windows and you turn on the fan

'Cause it's hotter than hell when the sun hits the land Now Walter and fanny well they own the grocery

That sells most all that you need

They've been up and working since early this morning

They've got the whole village to feed Well they put out fresh eggs, they throw bad ones away

That rotted because of the heat yesterday

The store's all dark so you can't see the flies

That settle on 'round steak and last Monday's pies And sleepy hill's drugstore and the cafe they're open

The coffee is bubbling hot

And all the folks that ain't working gonna sit there 'til sundown

And talk about what they ain't got Someone just threw a clutch in the old pickup truck

It seems like they've been riding on a streak of bad luck

The doctor bills came and the well has gone dry

Seems their grown kids don't care whether they live or die