Pony - Cover of the song by Tom Waits

Despite the protagonist’s claim of having been “everywhere in the whole wide world”, the place names in this song – Murfreesboro, Natchez, Hushpuckena, Belzoni and Talullah – are all towns in Mississippi. Maxwell Street is in Chicago, and is considered to be the birthplace of Chicago blues. “Old Blind Darby” may be a reference to Blind Teddy Darby, a blues singer and guitarist (1906-1975). Maybe the protagonist is a down-and-out bluesman, “full of hollow”, part of The Great Migration - the mass movement of millions of Black Americans from the rural South to cities in the Northeast, Midwest, and West between roughly 1910 and 1970. Even his watch and chain are gone. All he has left is his metaphorical pony.

The Lyrics:

Pony – Tom Waits

I've seen it all boys
I've been all over
Been everywhere in the
Whole wide world
I rode the high line
With old blind Darby
I danced real slow
With Ida Jane

I was full of wonder
When I left Murfreesboro
Now I’m full of hollow
On Maxwell street

And I hope my Pony
I hope my Pony
I hope my Pony
Knows the way back home

I walked from Natchez
To Hushpuckena
I built a fire by the side
Of the road
I worked for nothin in a
Belzoni saw mill. I caught a
Blind out on the B and O
Talullah's friendly Belzoni ain't so
A 44 will get you 99

And I hope my Pony
I hope my Pony
I hope my Pony
Knows the way back home

I run my race with burnt face Jake
Gave him a manzanita cross
I lived on nothin
But dreams and train smoke
Somehow my watch and chain
Got lost.
I wish I was home in Evelyn's kitchen
With old Gyp curled around my feet

And I hope my Pony
I hope my Pony
I hope my Pony
Knows the way back home