While riding on a train goin' west I fell asleep for to take my rest I dreamed a dream that made me sad Concerning myself and the first few friends I had With half-damp eyes I stared to the room Where my friends and I'd spent many an afternoon Where we together weathered many a storm Laughin' and singin' till the early hours of the morn By the old wooden stove where our hats was hung Our words were told, our songs were sung Where we longed for nothin' and were satisfied Jokin' and talkin' about the world outside With hungry hearts through the heat and cold We never much thought we could get very old We thought we could sit forever in fun But our chances really was a million to one As easy it was to tell black from white It was all that easy to tell wrong from right And our choices they was few so the thought never hit That the one road we traveled would ever shatter and split How many a year has passed and gone? Many a gamble has been lost and won And many a road taken by many a first friend And each one I've never seen again I wish, I wish, I wish in vain That we could sit simply in that room again Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that