$5.27

I can’t afford gas in the old V-8
And the Caddy blew a gasket so I use her for a gate
I could use a good hand on the ranch all year
But the payroll department says I need a volunteer
I reached in pocket, trying to find the rent
All I’ve got is Five Dollars and Twenty Seven Cents

I got my horse for a grand, got a ten dollar saddle
Feeding hundred dollar bales to forty dollar cattle
There’s nothing on the place that ain’t rent lent or bent
But I’ve got Five Dollars and Twenty Seven Cents

I went a couple years when I couldn’t buy grass
Then an old mad cow came and kicked me in the ass
The next two years I got nothing but rain
Seems the whole agriculture’s gone totally insane
Had a little oil money but it all got spent
But I’ve got Five Dollars and Twenty Seven Cents

There ain’t a whole lot that ain’t broke around here
I’d have to sell the whole works to get enough to buy a beer
The old grey mare she’s getting kinda tired
And that pickup truck is running four bald tires
Everybody in town thinks I’m a little dence
But I’ve got Five Dollars and Twenty Seven Cents

Allen Christie and Scott Laitre
March 2008