Well, I quit my job down at the car wash,
Yah, aku berhenti dari kerja di tempat cuci mobil,
Left my mama a goodbye note,
Tinggalin mama surat perpisahan,
By sundown I'd left Kingston,
Saat matahari terbenam, aku udah cabut dari Kingston,
With my guitar under my coat,
Gitar di bawah jaketku,
I hitchhiked all the way down to Memphis,
Aku numpang mobil sampai ke Memphis,
Got a room at the YMCA,
Dapet kamar di YMCA,
For the next three weeks I went huntin' them nights,
Selama tiga minggu ke depan, aku cari tempat malam,
Just lookin' for a place to play,
Cuma nyari tempat buat main,
Well, I thought my pickin' would set 'em on fire,
Aku kira main gitar bisa bikin mereka terkesima,
But nobody wanted to hire a guitar man.
Tapi nggak ada yang mau nyewa gitaris.

Well, I nearly 'bout starved to death down in Memphis,
Hampir mati kelaparan deh di Memphis,
I run outta money and luck,
Uang dan keberuntunganku habis,
So I bought me a ride down to Macon, Georgia,
Jadi aku beli tumpangan ke Macon, Georgia,
On a overloaded poultry truck,
Di truk ayam yang kelebihan muatan,
I thumbed on down to Panama City,
Aku numpang lagi ke Panama City,
Started pickin' out some o' them all night bars,
Mulai main di beberapa bar yang buka semalaman,
Hopin' I could make myself a dollar,
Harap-harap bisa dapet uang dari situ,
Makin' music on my guitar,
Main musik pakai gitarku,
I got the same old story at them all night piers,
Cerita yang sama di semua dermaga malam,
There ain't no room around here for a guitar man
Nggak ada tempat buat gitaris di sini,
We don't need a guitar man, son
Kami nggak butuh gitaris, nak.

So I slept in the hobo jungles,
Jadi aku tidur di hutan gelandangan,
Roamed a thousand miles of track,
Berkeliaran seribu mil di rel kereta,
Till I found myself in Mobile Alabama,
Sampai akhirnya aku sampai di Mobile Alabama,
At a club they call Big Jack's,
Di sebuah klub yang mereka sebut Big Jack's,
A little four-piece band was jammin',
Ada band kecil beranggotakan empat orang yang lagi main,
So I took my guitar and I sat in,
Jadi aku ambil gitarku dan ikut main,
I showed 'em what a band would sound like,
Aku tunjukin ke mereka suara band yang sebenarnya,
With a swingin' little guitar man.
Dengan gitaris kecil yang asyik.
Show 'em, son
Tunjukin, nak.

If you ever take a trip down to the ocean,
Kalau kamu pernah jalan-jalan ke pantai,
Find yourself down around Mobile,
Coba deh mampir di sekitar Mobile,
Make it on out to a club called Jack's,
Coba datangi klub yang namanya Jack's,
If you got a little time to kill,
Kalau ada waktu senggang,
Just follow that crowd of people,
Ikuti kerumunan orang itu,
You'll wind up out on his dance floor,
Kamu bakal nyampe di lantai dansanya,
Diggin' the finest little five-piece group,
Nikmatin grup kecil beranggotakan lima orang yang keren,
Up and down the Gulf of Mexico,
Di sepanjang Teluk Meksiko,
Guess who's leadin' that five-piece band,
Tebak siapa yang memimpin band lima orang itu,
Well, wouldn't ya know, it's that swingin' little guitar man.
Eh, tahu nggak? Itu si gitaris kecil yang asyik.