It happened many years ago not many people know
So I'll tell you the story of a hobo and the rose
In our town a young man loved this lady fair
He gave to her a white rose to wear in her hair
But she in turn gave to him a rose that he would wear
To prove that their love was true and that they'd always c

But her father was a rich man the town respected him
Since the young man was a poor man's son
Their chance for love grew dim
Her father forced upon her another man to wed
And this put the young man on the tracks so the people said

He became a hobo in dirty ragged clothes
But upon the dirty clothes he wore he wore this one white rose
He traveled far to many towns in his life upon the tracks
But he never found another love so he decided to come back

His sweetheart was still married her children numbered five
Then one day she saw a crowd gathered by the railroad track
By the sign of the one white rose she knew that he'd come back

There she saw a beaten man in dirty ragged clothes
She only recognized him by the one crushed white rose
They buried him in a poor man's grave out on proper's hill
With no one to mourn him but the lonely whippoorwill

If you should pass his grave on a warm summer's night
You'll see upon his grave a rose so clear and white
(The next two lines are spoken)
This is my story always I suppose
The sad sad story of the hobo and the rose
A hobo and the rose a hobo and the rose