Well, people let me tell you of the story of a man named Charlie on a tragic and fateful day.
He put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, went to ride on the M.T.A.

Chorus:
Well, did he ever return?
No, he never returned and his fate is still unlearned.
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston.
He's the man who never returned.

Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall Square Station and he changed for Jamaica Plain.
When he got there the conductor told him, One more nickel. Charlie couldn't get off of that train.

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Now, all night long Charlie rides through the station, crying, What will become of me?
How can I afford to see my sister in Chelsea or my cousin in Roxbury?

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Charlie's wife goes down to the Sculley Square Station every day at quarter past two,
And through the open window she hands Charlie a sandwich as the train comes rumblin' through.

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Now, you citizens of Boston, don't you think it's a scandal how the people have to pay and pay?
Fight the fare increase! Vote for Walter O'Brien! Get poor Charlie off the M. T. A.

(Chorus)

He's the man who never returned.
He's the man who never returned.