1.

(# 2 country hit)

The Cold Hard Facts Of Life

Bill Anderson

© Moss-Rose Pub, BMI

I got back in town a day before I'd planned to
I smiled and said I'll sure surprise my wife
I don't think I'll phone I'll just head on home
For I didn't know the cold hard facts of life

I passed a little wine store on the corner
I pictured pink champagne by candle light
I stopped the car right then got out and hurried in
My mind not on the cold hard facts of life

A stranger stood there laughing by the counter
He said I'll take two bottles of your best
Her husband's out of town and there's a party
He winked as if to say you know the rest

I left the store two steps behind the stranger
From there to my house his car stayed in sight
But it wasn't till he turned into my drive that I learned
I was witnessing the cold hard facts of life

I drove around the block till I was dizzy
Each time the noise came louder from within
And then I saw our bottle there beside me
And I drank a fifth of courage and walked in

Lord you should've seen their frantic faces
They screamed and cried please put away that knife
I guess I'll go to hell or I'll rot here in this cell
But who taught who the cold hard facts of life
Who taught who the cold hard facts of life

**********

2.

(# 3 country hit)

Big Wind

Wayne P. Walker - Alex Zanetis - George McCormick

© Cedarwood Pub, BMI

From daylight till dusk we've been a workin' in the dust
Pickin' cotton workin' side by side
Well I can't forget yes I remember yet
The way my daddy looked at me and cried

Big wind's a comin' listen to the hummin'
Hurry up son be quick don't stall
You know we can't be slow take the kids and get below
If we don't hurry it'll surely get us all

Well I ran across the field so scared my lips were sealed
To warn my mom the storm is on its way
Well I knew I'd won my race when I saw my mamy's face
And the way she looked at me and said

Big wind's a comin' listen to the hummin'...

Oh but dad was on the cellar and by now the sky was yeller
The wind was a blowin' trees were fallin'
And outside I heard him cryin' and as he lay there dyin'
It seemed I could still hear him callin'

Son big wind's a comin' listen to the hummin'...
Big wind big wind's comin'

**********

3.

Little Boy's Prayer

Jim Owen

© Sawgrass Music, BMI

Darling I don't know whether you can hear me or not
Because of this lump in my throat I can't talk very loud
But I've got to tell you bout our little son's prayer tonight
If you could've heard it honey you'd've been so proud

I'd already left a note on the table for mom and dad
As if they didn't know what was wrong
Now I asked them to take a care of him
Now that you and I we're both gone

After I finished the note I figured that he was alseep
So I've slipped in to see him just once more
But he was just startin' to pray
And his words froze me at the door

And he said
Dear God it's late I hope I didn't get you up
But there's somethin' we gotta talk about
You see God my mommy was burried today
And my daddy needs straighten out
Ever since mommy got sick he's been nervous
And hollered at me a lot
But that part I can't understand
Cause even a little boy like me knows
That worry sometimes overload a man
But God he loved mommy so much
And he used to tel her nothing would ever come between
Now I know that's what's botherin' him now cause somethin' has
And I'm afraid he's thinkin' about joinin' her somehow

God I'm glad that he loved mommy
I want him to be with her again one of these days
But I want to talk to him and tell him that first he's got me to raise
Tell him every now and then a little boy needs a helpin' hand
And I guess you probably still need your daddy even after you're a fullgrown man
And God if I'd lost him and mommy both it'd be more than I could stand
I know my grandma and grandpa would take care of me
Cause they both love me a whole lot
But God they're older and they don't always understand
The problems a little boy like me has got

Well God I won't bother anymore tonight
But tomorrow night I'll be sure and talk to you again
You take care of my daddy now God you hear
Thank you Amen

I've just stood there thinkin' bout his prayer and all that he said in it
Finally I opened the door and asked him if I could talk to him for a minute
We sat down on the edge of his bed
And both took turns laughin' and cryin' for a while
And he could tell it'd been a change in me
Cause for the first time in the long time
I saw him smile
So darling you go on ahead but you walk slow
And someday when you'll turn around I'll be there
But it'll be a while cause I'm gonna spend the next few dozen years
Bein' an answer to our little boys prayer

**********

4.

I Couldn't Wait Forever

Dolly Parton - Bill Owens

© Combine Music, BMI

I couldn't wait forever did you expect me to
I guess you thought I'd never find somebody new
I lived on dreams and promises as long as I could
I couldn't wait forever the way you thought I would

The lonely nights grew longer as I prayed for time to fly
I lived on hopes that you'd return that's how I got by
The agony of loneliness just got too much for me
I couldn't wait forever needing love so desperately

So I found new lips to kiss me new arms to hold me tight
I found new love and happiness to fill my empty nights
You took my love for granted now my heart has found a new home
I couldn't wait forever forever's just too long
No I couldn't wait forever forever's just too long

**********

5.

Men With Broken Hearts

Hank Williams

© Fred Rose Music, BMI

You'll meet many just like me upon life's busy streets
With shoulders stooped and heads bowed low and eyes that stare in defeat
Or souls that live within the past where sorrow plays all parts
Where a livin' death is all that's left
For men with broken hearts

Now you have no right to be the judge to criticize and condemn
Just think but for the grace of God it'd be you instead of him
One careless step a thoughtless deed and then the misery starts
And to those who weep death comes cheap
These men with broken hearts

Oh so humble you should be when they come passin' by
For it's written that the greatest men they never get too big to cry
Some lose faith in love and life when sorrow shoots her darts
And with hope all gone they walk alone
These men with broken hearts

Now you've never walked in that man's shoes or saw things through his eyes
Or stood and watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies
Some were paupers and some were kings and some were masters of the arts
But in their shame they're all the same
These men with broken hearts

You know life sometimes can be so cruel that a heart will pray for death
God why must these livin' dead know pain with every breath
So help your neighbor along the road no matter where you start
For the God that made you made them too
These men with broken hearts

**********

6.

Ole Slew Foot

Howard Hausey - Eddie Manney

© Bluebonnet Music, BMI

High on the mountain what do you see
Bear tracks bear tracks lookin' back at me
You better get your rifles boys before it's too late
The bear's got a little pig and headed through the gate

He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump
Doin' ninety miles an hour takin' thirty feet a jump
He never been caught and he ain't never been treed
Some folks say looks a lot like me
[ instrumental ]
I saved up my money and I bought me some bees
They started makin' honey way up in the trees
I chopped down the tree but my honey's all gone
Ole Slew Foot's done made himself at home

He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump...
[ instrumental ]
Winter's comin' on and it's twenty below
The river's froze over so where can he go
We'll chase him in the gully and we'll run him in the well
And shoot him at the bottom and we'll listen to him yell

He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump...

**********

7.

(# 2 country hit)
(# 92 pop hit)

The Carroll County Accident

Bob Ferguson

© Warden Music, BMI

Carroll County's pointed out as kinda square
The biggest thing that happens is the county fair
I guess that's why it seems like such a big event
What we all call the Carroll County accident

The wreck was on the highway just inside the line
Walter Browning lost his life and for a time
It seemed that Mary Ellen Jones would surely die
But she lived long enough for her to testify

Walter Browning was a happy married man
And he wore a golden wedding ring upon his hand
But it was gone nobody knew just where it went
He lost it in the Carroll County accident

Mary Ellen testified he flagged her down
Said he was sick and could she drive him into town
No one even doubted what she said was true
Cause she was well respected in the county too

I went down to see the wreck like all the rest
The bloody seats the broken glass the tangled mess
But I found something no one else had even seen
Behind the dash in Mary's crumpled up machine

A little matchbox circled by a rubber band
And inside the ring from Walter Browning's hand
It took a while to figure out just what it meant
The truth about the Carroll County accident

By dark of night I dropped the ring into a well
And took a sacred oath that I would never tell
The truth about the Carroll County accident
Cause the county ordered dad a marble monument
I lost him in the Carroll County accident

**********

8.

You Gotta Have A License

Tommy Collins

© Central Songs, BMI

Me and brother Bill was goin' a fishin'
Down to the river one day
We had a can of worms and a willer poles
A big can of minners and a lot of sourdough
The fish was a bitin' we's gonna have fun

Then the big man come said I'm a game warden
Chases me and brother Bill away
We take 'em out of sack and throw them all back
The big man him do say

Well you got to have a license got to have a license
We asked him why he replied cause you got to have a license

Well I drive 'em down the open highway
Passin' up highway patrolman
Let me go right along but I no do wrong
Trees go by me think I'm a flyin'
I sing a little song and I have lotta fun

Then before I know whistle blow
A big man rolled my way
He pullin' down and I'm hit the ground
Shakin' so cause I have to know
The big man him do say

Well you gotta have a license got to have a license
I asked him why he replied cause you got to have a license
[ instrumental ]
Well I got a little gal her name Emilou
She makin' me feel a funny
I love that gal with a big lotta noise
She gave me kiss she given no joy
Me pretty young and I wanna lotta fun

But she tell me no to watch my step
She don't wanna be too gay
She said don't I told you a lot of big times
The little gal she did say

Well we gotta have a license got to have a license
I asked her why she repied cause you got to have a license

**********

9.

When You're Hot You're Hot

Curly Putman

© Tree Pub, BMI

There is ice today on your lips as you kiss me
And a cold wind blows strong through our bedroom
But not long ago our love was fire but it was soon forgot
When you're cold you're cold when you're hot you're hot

When you're hot you're hot
And good times fly by and soon you're not
When you're cold you're cold
And it seems that bad times don't know when to stop
When you're cold you're cold and when you're hot you're hot

Suddenly it seems the whole world is on my shoulders
And a chilly wind of bad times is blowing colder
Once we lived to love and loved to live found time to laugh a lot
But when you're cold you're cold and when you're hot you're hot

When you're hot you're hot...

**********

10.

The Banks Of The Ohio

Bill Fold - Bob Ferguson

© Warden Music, BMI

I asked my love to take a walk
Just to walk a little ways
As we talked about our future wedding day
And when she told me she can never be mine

I placed a knife against her breast
As into my arms she pressed
She cried oh please don't murder me
I'm not prepared for eternity

Only say that you'll be mine
In no other's arms entwined
Down beside where the waters flow
Down by the banks of the Ohio

I started home between twelve and one
I cried my God what have I done
I've murdered the only girl I loved
Because she would not be my bride

Only say that you'll be mine...
Down by the banks of the Ohio

**********

11.

Pastor's Absent On Vacation

Mel Tillis

© Cedarwood Pub, BMI