But the wife was in bed and the horses had to be fed
And he call me by my native name
Your money, it's just 2.99, 2.99 a gallon
C'mon, just 2.99, 2.99 a gallon
Pay up, y'all, it's 2.99, 2.99 a g-g-gallon
2.99, 2.99, 2.99, 2.99, 2.99, 2.99, 2.99, 2.99
2.99, 2.99 a gallon
And he, he even lets us drink spring water on Sundays

He could have been flying through the snow on his sled
He don't say much as he tips his hat
And I got no more strength to roam
But he sure likes the spot, sure likes the spot
Besides, it's 2.99, 2.99 a story
In the middle of a southern town
Pay up, it's just 2.99, 2.99 a story
And somewhere further down the road, where I also roam
And he, he don't pay rent no more, no more
Pay up y'all, it's just 2.99 a story
There lives a boy who just come back from war
Pay up, y'all, it's 2.99, 2.99 a story

But in the furthest place I've ever known
His mother calls him by his given name
There lives my caterpillar cousin
His flesh was wounded but he made it back home
Say, “2.99, 2.99 a gallon”
Sold for 2.99, 2.99 a gallon
C'mon, just 2.99, 2.99 a story
And he get, he gets nightmares about boys dripping blood
Beneath the cemetery burial plot
Beneath a fancy engraved tomb head stone

2.99, 2.99 a story
He take good care of my native son
I catch me a horse driven carriage ride
He sure likes the spot, sure likes the spot
And he carries his body as heavy as lead
Where even I so rarely roam
C'mon, 2.99, 2.99 a story
Yeah, sure likes the spot, sure likes the spot

C'mon, ya'll, it's 2.99, 2.99, 2.99, 2.99

And the neighbors whisper how he prefers to be alone
But when I get me all real tired

From a local man named Ethan Frome