As a young man I went riding out on the western plain In the state of North Dakota I met my Nellie Kane I met my Nellie Kane She was living in a lonely cabin with a son by another man Five years she had waited for him as long as a woman can As long as a woman can I don't know what changed my mind 'Til then I was the rambling kind The kind of love I can't explain That I had for Nellie Kane She hired me on to work that day to help her till the land In the afternoon we planted seeds in the evening we held hands In the evening we held hands Her blue eyes told me everything a man could want to know It was then I realized that I would never go That I would never go Now many years have gone by and her son has grown up tall I became a father to him and she became my all She became my all