Indian Head Penny

Clark Guy

I rolled off the San Francisco mint in 1909 
The last one they ever made, you should've seen me shine 
When I landed on the counter they gave me to a kid 
Making change for a jaw breaker was the first thing that I did  

I got traded for a pocket knife, two marbles and some string 
Wound up on a railroad track waiting for a train 
Snatched up by a hobo and turned right into wine 
Pitched up against the wall at least a thousand times 

'Round and 'round a penny goes 
'Round and back again 
Listen and I'll tell you 
The places that I've been 

I got stolen from a banker by Pretty Boy Floyd and then 
He gave me to a farmer who was trying to save his land 
I was good luck to a soldier back in W.W.II 
He lost me in a poker game the day the war was through 

I got stuck behind the back seat of a '51 Chevrolet 
Spare change in the sixties, getting worth less every day 
Now it's piggy banks and gum machines and occasional wishing wells 
Or laying on a barroom floor, Indian heads or tails 

'Round and 'round a penny goes 
'Round and back again 
Listen and I'll tell you 
The places that I've been 

I'm a pretty lucky penny, Lord it happens every time 
Just when I start feeling lost and left behind 
Some kid will pick me up and wonder where I've been 
Put me in his pocket, and here I go again 

'Round and 'round a penny goes 
'Round and back again 
Listen and I'll tell you 
The places that I've been