[Verse 1]

The legs of Maddox kitchen tables

My whole life I twisted on a lathe

In a foreman's torrent, my first English was

"Faster boy if you want your pay"

Barking commands loud and simple

We could all obey

[Verse 2]

Then I was forever pulling slivers

Rubbed the sawdust always deeper in my eye

Varnish vapor that could linger

On my skin, it held tight

The whine of spinning blades

Still echoes to bother my sleep at night

[Chorus 1]

See that oxen stamped dead center

On the letterhead of the company mail

For decades, a spitting image

Of the animal I portrayed

At Maddox table a yoke was carved

For my neck

[Verse 3]

Sun through the window oil spattered

And in mason jars tricked plenty seeds to thrive

The standing joke around the shop

Was with my green thumb anything'd grow

My part was to laugh

Show an ornery jig had cut it at the knuckle bone

[Chorus 2]

See that oxen trade mark

Burned Into every stick of furniture from horn to tail

For decades, a spitting image

Of the animal, I portrayed

At Maddox table a yoke was carved

For my neck

Was tailor made

[Verse 4]

Oh, my Dolly was a weak, not a burdened girl

Treat her to a piece of vaudeville

A Wintergarden moving picture show

Bemus Point on July Sundays, by trolley we'd go

To your benefit we'll strike a bargain

With the waving fist of a union man

Not just for smokes, spirits, candy and cologne

But for automobile keys, cash in the bank

And the deed on a place called home