[Verso 1]
I rolled off the San Francisco mint in 1909
The last one they ever made, you should have seen me shine
When I landed on the counter they gave me to a kid
Making change for a jaw breaker was the first thing that I did
I got traded for a pocket knife, two marbles and some string
Wound up on a rail-road track waiting for a train
Snatched up by a hobo and turned right into wine
Pitched up against the wall at least a hundred thousand times
[Coro]
Around and around a penny goes
Around and back again
Listen and I'll tell you
The places that I've been
[Verso 2]
I got stolen from a banker by Pretty Boy Floyd and then
He gave me to a farmer who was trying to save his land
I was good luck to a soldier back in W.W.II
He lost me in a poker game the day the war was through
I got stuck behind the back seat of a '51 Chevrolet
Spare change in the sixties, getting worth less every day
Now it's piggy banks and gum machines
And occasional wishing wells
Or laying on a bar room floor, Indian heads or tails
[Coro]
[Verso 3]
I'm a pretty lucky penny, Lord it happens every time
Just when I start feeling lost and left behind
Some kid will pick me up and wonder where I've been
Put me in his pocket, and here I go again
