King of the Road

"King of the Road"
Song by Roger Miller
Tabs
Songwriter(s)	Roger Miller

"King of the Road" is a song written by country singer Roger Miller, who first recorded it in November 1964. The song was used as the Smashing Pumpkins intro music for approximately five weeks of the Rock Invasion tour. The lyrics tell of the day-to-day life of a hobo who, despite being poor (a "man of means by no means"), revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously and cynically as the "king of the road".

Lyrics

Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let, 50 cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes

Ah, but two hours of pushing broom
Buys a eight by 12 four-bit room
I'm a man of means, by no means
King of the road

Third boxcar, midnight train
Destination: Bangor, Maine
Old worn out suit and shoes
I don't pay no union dues

I smoke, old stogies I have found
Short, but not too big around
I'm a man of means, by no means
King of the road

I know every engineer on every train
All of the children and all of their names
Every handout in every town
Every lock that ain't locked when no one's around

I sing, trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, 50 cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes

Ah, but two hours of pushing broom
Buys an eight by 12 four-bit room
I'm a man of means, by no means
King of the road

Trailer for sale or rent
Rooms to let, 50 cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes

Ah, but, two hours of pushing broom
Buys an eight by 12 four-bit room

Videos

(audio only)

Tour stats

• Total plays: 0 plays (0 full, 6 prerecorded)
• First performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 1993-09-14 at O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK (prerecorded)
• Last performance: The Smashing Pumpkins 1993-10-23 at UCSB Robertson Gym, Santa Barbara, CA, US (prerecorded)