[Verse 1]
I was just a boy in school 1954
I heard Johnny singin' on my Sears radio
I wouldn't do my schoolwork then nor join in schoolyard games
I'd sit there by the radio so I could hear him sing
"Hey porter, hey porter would you tell me the time?"

[Verse 2]
Now, I want to get on board, John, I want to ride your train
I don't care where you're goin' long as it ain't where I been
There ain't nothin' in this little town that a boy like me can do
So if you're goin' to Folsom Prison, I want to go there too
And "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die"
Yes I did

[Verse 3]
Now I tried to learn the guitar blues just to ease my troubled mind
But Johnny kept a movin' and I keep wastin' time
He was somewhere down Big River but all that I could see
Was West Pico Boulevard and that's what tortured me
"And I followed you Big River when you called"

[Verse 4]
Yeah, well Johnny Cash will never die, buddy can't you see?
He's up there with the Tennessee Two for all eternity
But sometimes in the dark of night his voice still calls to me
"Hey porter hey porter" was what I heard him say
On my Sears and Roebuck radio, Pasadena KXLA