I knew a man from Tennessee He had a wife with a child to be He worked the land from dawn till dusk And ate his bread of bitter crust And the days would come And the days would go And the nights could fall He’d never know On Sunday morn, he went to pray To try and wash his sins away The preacher wailed, and he paid his dues With wine he’d wash away his blues And the days would come And the days would go And the nights could fall He’d never know He was not rich, but he held no debt And nothing passed that he could regret He lived his life for one more rain And one more sun to shine again And the days would come And the days would go And the nights could fall He’d never know (repeat twice) What can be said about a man Who lives his life as best he can? That he had a heart, that he had a soul? Does he know the days won’t always roll? And the days would come And the days would go And the nights could fall He’d never know (repeat twice)