John the revelator,
Sitting on the corner,
At a bus stop in the pale morning light,
He's been sitting, sitting there all night,
Just waiting, waiting for a sign,

And in comes the song and dance man,
He keeps his razor close to his side,
He's got forty children but he'll sing you a song so sweet,
You can't help but hang your head and cry,
You'll hang your head and cry,

Here come the baker man,
His rolling pin is ten inches high,
And he rolls his jelly roll, Lord, Lord,
Like it ain't been rolled in some time,
Like it ain't been rolled in some time,

And here comes the butcher's wife,
She's in love with the way that baker man rolls,
All the world can see she's big, fat mama,
Got that meat shaking all on her bones,
Got that meat shaking all on her bones,

Here come the wood choppin' man,
He brags too much and he's full of pride,
He says, "I can chop more wood than any man here, more than any man alive,"
But still he's looking, looking for a sign,

And here come the politician man,
With his politician wife,
They all say she's half crazy, but that's alright,
'Cuz that politician man, he's half blind,
And they're looking, both looking for a sign,

Just then the parade came through,
But it stopped as it was passing by,
The marching band, the beauty queen, and the clowns all sat down,
And the rest, they all towed the line,
Everybody was looking for a sign,

And after a while the butcher's wife left with the baker man,
And the politician left with his wife,
The wood choppin' man picked up his axe,
Someone threw the song and dance man a dime,
And he was on that train by half past nine,

And John the revelator,
Still watching that rising sun,
And he smiled as he boarded that Greyhound bus,
And he rolled, he rolled on down the line,
That ol' bus just rolled on down the line