It Sure Can Get Cold In Des Moines - Tom T. Hall

The Iowa weather was 13 below

I had come to Des Moines for a radio show

I awoke in the evening from a traveler’s sleep

With notions of something to eat

The old elevator slid down past the floors

My head and my eyes said «You should have slept more.»

The man at the desk said the restaurant was closed

Outside it was 14 below

The lounge was still open and so I walked in

In place of my food I had two double gins

I looked 'round the room, as a tourist would do

That’s when I saw the girl in the booth

She sat there and cried in the smoky half-dark

The silent type crying that tears out your heart

Her clothes were not cut in the new modern way

And her suitcase had seen better days

Nobody asked her what caused her such pain

Nobody spoke up, yet no one complained

Without even asking, I knew why she cried

Life is just like that sometimes

The man at the desk said, «It's 15 below.»

The bellhop said «Yeah man, that’s cold… that's cold.»

I went back to my room and I wrote down this song

Oh it sure can get cold in Des Moines