Hello Ohio, the back roads I know Ohio, like the back of my hand Alone Ohio, where the river bends And it's strange to see your story end In my life I've seen a thousand dreams Through the threshers all torn to pieces And the land lay bare someone turned a profit there And a good son lost his life in a strip pit Hello Ohio, the back roads I know Ohio, like the back of my hand Alone Ohio, where the river bends And it's strange to see your story end When the sun went down we would all leave town And light our fires in the Egypt Bottom And the reservoir was just as good for Joni 'Cause we knew we would dream out loud in the night air Holly said, "Don't go inside the children's home" Mary said, "Don't leave your man alone" Valerie was singin' to the radio, Ohio It was summertime in '83 We were burnin' out at the rubber tree Yeah, I'm wonderin' what in the world Would make all this worthwhile And if I knew then I was older then Would I see regret to the last mile Hello Ohio, the back roads I know Ohio, like the back of my hand Alone Ohio, where the river bends And it's strange to see your story end How I hate to see your story end It's so sad to see your story end