1.

(# 9 country hit)

What Have You Got To Lose

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

Well I've been in some bars where they serve it in big silver
Goblets and pewter and brass
I've been in some joints where they serve it in paper cups
And maybe an old water glass
But it's all the same in the old drinking game
When you drink and you try to forget
One woman who loved you and another who didn't
And I ain't seen one winner yet

What have you got to lose
What have you got to lose
Try women and booze and the cigarette blues
What have you got to lose

Well I've been in some towns with some high rollin' heavies
And I know some unknowns and stars
The big equalizer is a good drink of liquor
When they all belly up to the bar
Some cry for fame some cry for money
And some people reach for the skies
But when a honky tonk heart starts crying for a honky tonk
You can't get a tear in edgewise

What have you got to lose...
[ instrumental ]
Now an old country boy just can't sit on the porch
And watch while the world's goin' by
Now se's got to be part of some social endeavor
So he gets him a jug and he tries
He'll play that old jukebox and chase them old hides
Bout daylight come to in his room
When that sun's comin' up he's bout half way to hell
About half way back home around noon

What have you got to lose...
What have you got to lose...

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2.

I Couldn't Live In Southern California

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

I couldn't live in southern California
I don't know nothin' I could do
I couldn't live in southern California babe
Not unless I lived there with you

We went down to laguna in the wintertime
Shops were warm the brandy tasted good
You know you said you never could stand tourist
And you wouldn't be a tourist if you could

Do you remember that we saw a rainbow
It began over the mountains in the way
And even though they said it would be rainin'
We found ourself that chilly sunny day

The mountains are so high I feel that I could fly
Lookin' down into the valley below
The clear Kentucky streams they are always in my dreams
I think that is something you should know
[ instrumental ]
I don't think that I could drive the freeways
I get lost and you know how that feels
Someday I think I'd like to paint a seascale
If they ever get the ocean stands still

The old men with the beer talked to the seagulls
The young men in their prime were playin' ball
Some coyotes on the prairie chased the rabbits
And we promised that we come back in the fall

But I couldn't live in southern California...

**********

3.

The Grocery Truck

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

When I was a little barefooted boy back in the hills of eastern Kentucky
I was lazy and about half crazy
Catfish didn't bite in the daytime
And little boys weren't allowed out after dark
But we had a few thrills and one of them was the grocery truck

Well the grocery truck was a little ole truck with the name painted on the door
In the winter time it always got stuck bringin' beans and greens to the poor
We'd go get the mules and we'd pull it out and the neighbors would come to the show
We'd cuss them mules and holler and shout cause the treasure on board was gold

And the grocery truck is a comin'
It's about a half a mile away
Just when we were down on our luck
Here comes the grocery truck
[ instrumental ]
Now the grocery truck with the store bought stuff bologney and crackers and cheese
Sometimes a new pair of pants with cuffs or candy to fill our needs
If I counted the thrills of my life today as I cater to fancy and whim
None would compare to the grocery truck it was Christmas ev'ry Friday back then

The grocery truck is a comin'...
[ guitar ]
Well the grocery truck was a sign of success we were economical giants
My mother would laugh sometimes till she cried cause daddy was high on a pint
Oh the grocery truck never comes anymore as it did in the way back when
Its supermarkets and one stop stores and hamburger shops again

The grocery truck is a comin'...

Daddy'd just say charge it to me
Whoa charge it to me

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4.

The Man Who Shot Himself

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

He did not seem much like a man with a problem
He was small he was quiet he dressed neat and shaved
His job was five days in a brick makin' plant
And he drank a few beers on his other two days

His music was country his faith was in Jesus
In fact he had pictures of Christ in his house
He never once questioned his daily existence
Nor wondered aloud what his life was about

He was fond of his pistol and he cleaned it too often
He'd go down by the river shoot driftwood all day
Stare out the window and sip on the cold beer
Sometimes he was happy like children who play

His music was country his faith was in Jesus...

And some Saturday morning he came to my father
And said Virgil would you cut my hair for me please
And my father was handy with razors and scissors
Sometimes he cut hair with the guys on our street

His music was country his faith was in Jesus...

As small boys would do I sat watchin' my father
Dad kidded him some bout his jealous wife
The man thanked my father and he offered to pay him
Went back to his house and he took his own life

His music was country his faith was in Jesus...
His music was country his faith was in Jesus...

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5.

(# 14 country hit)

Son Of Clayton Delaney

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

On 4th Street in Louisville in 1978
Stranded in a honky tonk somewhere tween dates
There was a little band a playin' as I sipped my beer
But I never thought that I'd hear what I'd hear

There was a young man a pickin' lectric guitar
Smokin' and a sniffin' learnin' how to be a star
He had a big blue bandana tied around his head
A laid back bass and a drummer named Red

Well his hair was cut long in the fashion of the time
Sandpaper vocal but he milked every line
His fingers like lightnin' on the guitar that he played
He did Lay Down Sally and Hank Didn't Do It This Way
[ instrumental ]
Well I sat there and listened for over an hour
And the closest thing to country was a rockin' Wildwood Flower
And I got that feelin' that I had been there before
But I knew I had never been through that door

Well the jukebox was turned on and the band took a break
I made my way up front to howdy and shake
I said son I like your music and I kinda like your style
But it seems to me that I have seen that smile

While he stood there for a moment then he laughed and he slapped his knee
He said you are the one man I've wanted to see
He said I know you you storytellin' son of a gun
And you know me I'm Clayton Delaney's son

**********

6.

Mr. Bojangles

Jerry Jeff Walker

© Cotillion Music, BMI

I met a man Bojangles and he danced for you
In worn out shoes
He had silver hair and ragged shirt and baggy pants
The old soft shoe
He jumped so high he jumped so high
Then he'd lightly touch down

I met the man down in New Orleans
I was down and out
He seemed to me to be the eyes of sage
As he spoke right out
He talked of his life yes he talked of life
laughed picked his heels in step

He said the name's Bojangles then he danced a lick
Across the cell
He grabbed his pants in favorite stance and jumped so high
And he clicked his heels
He let go a laugh ha ha he let go a laugh
Shook back his clothes all around

Mr Bojangles Mr Bojangles
Mr Bojangles come on dance

He worked for those at country shows and county fairs
Throughout the south
He spoke with tears of fifteen years when his dog and him
Traveled about
His dog up and died I don't know just up and died
After twenty years he still grieves

He said now I dance at ev'ry chance in them honky tonks
For drinks and tips
But most the time I spend behind the county bars
Cause I drink so bit
He shook his head and as he shook his head
I heard someone ask please

Mr Bojangles Mr Bojangles
Mr Bojangles come on dance

**********

7.

The Three Sofa Story

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

I was sittin' and drinkin' in an old friend's apartment
On the westside of Nashville one night
And in his apaprtment he had these three sofas
He had two too many all right
I said buddy tell me about these three sofas
And start with that black on there first
He said there's story in each of the sofas
But give me a minute for quenchin' my thirst

He said now that first one is a good one for sleepin'
I got that one from my first wife
She left me half crazy took all of the babies
And drove off to Houston one night
Well I did as I pleased and I said what I thought
And it drove her right out of her mind
So many abuses and no damned excuses
I've often been told that I'm one of that kind

Now that second sofa I got that from a pal
Who was broke and was headed back home
He was ram cut and rusty boozed out and dusty
And I got that thing for a song
On long winter evenings I'd sit on that sofa
And listened what that fella sing
While I could do without it but there's something about it
That makes me believe the attentions to the thing

That third one right out there there's a story about it
I got that one from my second wife
A middle aged lady with money to spend
I guess she was the love of my life
Now I like I never got that damn thing in here
Cause it don't seem to fit any house
It's oblong and shapeless it's ugly and tasteless
But I got it in here and I'll get it out

I thanked him for tellin' the three sofa story
I yawned and I said my goodnight
And on my way home I considered the safas
And how they were part of his life
Buddies and sweethearts the winners and losers
Kept conjurin' up in my mind
And it's all in the tellin' of the three sofa story
Just one of the places where I have done time

**********

8.

The Great East Broadway Onion Championship Of 1978

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

The Great East Broadway Onion Championship of 1978

Now in Lubbox Texas the other night
Drinkin' beer and bout half tight
Me and Paul and Jim and a guy named Al
We were drawin' pictures and writin' songs
Sittin' there talkin' and fore too long
Paul said we oughta move this party over to Stubbs
The smoke was hangin' low and thick
And the guitarman was huntin' licks
And Joe Ely was in the back room shootin' pool
Now we all went back there to check it out
And Joe said well now shut my mouth
I heard the old storyteller knows how to handle a stick
I said I've had chalk on better clothes
And ya'll all know how that stuff goes
Pretty soon we's shootin' pool and just raisin' hell

The Great East Broadway Onion Championship of 1978

Joe and me kinda drew a crowd
The place got drunk and the place got loud
And Joe reached over in a sack and pulled a big ole onion
He placed that onion on the felt
And said here's where you're gonna need some help
We're gonna use that hamburger helper for a que ball
Then Joe picked up a big ole broom
And he waved it all around the room
Said I'm gonna play that onion que ball with a broomstick
We battled back and forth all night
The tears were streamin' from our eyes
And I had that onion for an eight ball in the corner pocket
Now the place got quiet as a mouse
And we told the guitarman to lay out
And I could barely see that onion for all that grass
Well I sipped a beer and fought back tears
And watched that eight ball disappear
And the whole damn town of Lubbock Texas went wild
And amidst the yelling and the cheers
Joe said ya'll wait till next year
And that's how I won the onion broadway championship of '78

The Great East Broadway Onion Championship of 1978

And I want to thank all the small people that made me what I am today
The Great East Broadway Onion Championship of '78

**********

9.

Hat Full Of Feathers

Glenn Ray

© Hallnote Music, BMI

I was almost full grown gettin' wide in the shoulders
Rubbin' my horns on a tree
When I noticed that ladies had big eyes for cowboys
They weren't noticin' me
I bought me a Stetson and all of the trappin's
Hung out where cowboys all gathered
I copied their style and their slow way of talkin'
Walked like I was chaffed by the leather

I tasted the smiles of the rodeo queens
And I lied about rides that I'd made
Then a honker from Jasper I'd been lustin' after
Said I'll be out to watch you today
Oh the riggin' was borrowed but the fear was my own
It was me and all hell tied together
Too damn scared to fall boys I won it all
And that's how I got my first feather

A feather for ev'ry event that I've won
I will be a contender forever
An all around cowboy I outrode 'em all
And I got me a hat full of feathers
[ instrumental ]
Well I feathered my hat through a lot of hard miles
Swapped bruises in a lot of good towns
Lord how many cowboys and ladies and bronks
Have left me laid out on the ground I don't know
I've had ev'ry bone broken and son I ain't jokin'
It's painful to be wired together
I ain't quiet so proud as I was awhile ago
But I got me a hat full of feathers

A feather for ev'ry event that I've won...

A feather for ev'ry event that I've won
And all of the storms I have weathered
An all around cowboy holdin' my own
With a shabby ole hat full of feathers

**********

10.

Gimme Peace

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

Let me sit on your porch let me drink a beer
Let me scratch that hound dog's ear
Let me rock in your rockin' chair
Gimme peace gimme peace gimme peace

Show me your garden I love to hoe
Let me walkin' up a puddle road
I got some seed that I like to sow
Gimme peace gimme peace gimme peace

And when that evening sun goes down
Drive me in the ol' hometown
Let me bye your friends around
Gimme peace gimme peace gimme peace
[ instrumental ]
Let me drink water from your well
Tell me a story that you'd like to tell
I think you find that I listen well
Gimme peace gimme peace gimme peace

When you've had all of me that you can take
Say so long with a strong handshake
Don't get to drinkin' and ask me to stay
Gimme peace gimme peace gimme peace

And when that evening sun goes down
Drive me in the ol' hometown
I'll catch that next truck I could bound
Gimme peace gimme peace gimme peace
[ piano ]


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