Oh, I used to wish I was a hard line taker and they'd say
Six to one a half dozen'll break her
Till I fell in love with a young man who sang the blues
Oh, bless my daddy, he warned me well
He'd whisper in my ear and say: Now look out, gal
There's always a ne'er do well gonna call you the fool

He said: You'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line
You'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin'
And it's a pity that you're lover died young, but
You'll never get tired of livin' alone

So, now I dream of the lover that I don't know
It's safer this way 'cause I don't have to go, oh, and he
Won't come, so nobody goes away
Sometimes I wish for the warmth of his hand
Take a look in these eyes and understand
I'm just a little too old to be a-learnin' the rules of the game

He said: You'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line
You'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin'
And it's a pity that your lover died young, but
You'll never get tired of livin' alone

Oh, maybe I could take him to Mexico
We'd kick our heels in the warm cloudy gulf
He'd sing a song about the weather in the Poconos
This lover that I don't know
Then two hearts would pound 'stead of one in the night
I'd learn to fish with my own line
Catch my dream and hope that line would hold

He said: You'll never learn to fish on a borrowed line
You'll never learn to write if you're walkin' 'round cryin'
And it's a pity that you're lover died young, but
You'll never get tired of livin' alone

No, I never get tired of livin' alone
Sometimes my feet get cold, when I'm livin' alone