1.

(# 1 country hit)

Mama Tried

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

The first thing I remember knowin' was a lonesome whistle blowin'
And the youngest dream of growin' up to ride
On a freight train leavin' town not knowin' where I'm bound
And no one could change my mind but mama tried

One and only rebel child from a family meek and mild
My mama seemed to know what lay in store
Spite of all my Sunday learnin' toward the bad I kept on turnin'
Till mama couldn't hold me anymore

I turned twenty one in prison doing life without parole
No one could steer me right but mama tried mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better but her pleading I denied
That leaves only me to blame cause mama tried
[ instrumental ]
Dear old daddy rest his soul left my mama heavy load
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes
Working hours without rest wanted me to have the best
She tried to raise me right but I refused

And I turned twenty one in prison doing life without parole...

**********

2.

Green Green Grass Of Home

Curly Putman

© Tree Pub, BMI

The old hometown looks the same
As I step down from the train
And there to meet me is my mama and papa
Down the lane I look and there runs Mary
Hair of gold and lips like cherries
It's good to touch the green green grass of home

The old house is still standing
Though the paint is cracked and dry
There's the old oak tree that I used to play on
Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary
Hair of gold and lips like cherries
It's so good to touch the green green grass of home

Yes they'll all come to meet me
Arms areached smiling sweetly
It's so good to touch the green green grass of home
[ instrumental ]
Then I awake and look around me
At the four grey walls that surround me
And I realized that I was only dreaming
For there's a guard and there's that sad old padre
Arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak
And again I'll touch the green green grass of home

Yes they'll all come to see me
In the shade of that old oak tree
As they lay me neath the green green grass of home

**********

3.

Little Ole Wine Drinker Me

Hank Mills - Dick Jennings

© Moss-Rose Pub, BMI

I'm praying for rain in California
So the grapes can grow and they can make more wine
And I'm a sittin' at a honky'n in Chicago
With a broken heart and a woman on my mind

I match the man behind a bar for the jukebox
And the music takes me back to Tennessee
When they ask who's the fool in the corner cryin'
I say a little ole wine drinker me
[ instrumental ]
I came here last week from down in Nashville
Cause my baby left for Florida on a train
And I thought I'd get a job and just forget her
But in Chicago a broken heart is still the same

I match the man behind a bar for the jukebox...
Yeah I say a little ole wine drinker me

**********

4.

In The Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)

Dolly Parton

© Owepar Pub, BMI

We got up before sunup to get the work done up
We'd work in the fields till the sun had gone down
We've stood and we've cried as we helplessly watched
A hailstorm a beatin' our crops to the ground
And I've gone to bed hungry many nights as a lad
In the good old days when times were bad

I've seen daddy's hands break open and bleed
And I've seen him work till he's stiff as a board
I've seen mama lay and suffer in sickness
In need of a doctor we couldn't afford
Anything at all was more than we had
In the good old days when times were bad

No amount of money could buy from me
The mem'ries that I have of then
No amount of money could pay me
To go back and live through it again

We've got up before we found ice on the floor
Where the wind would blew snow through the cracks in the wall
And I've walked many miles to an old country school
With my lunch in a bag of my overalls
Anything at all was more than we had
In the good old days when times were bad

No amount of money could buy from me...

**********

5.

I Could Have Gone Right

Mel Tillis

© Cedarwood Pub, BMI

Oh I was born a good boy my mama loved me so
She gave me every chance she could to make my life a gold
But I fell in with the wrong crowd and the wrong crowd led me on
But I could have gone right just as easy as I went wrong

I went to the places where sin just waits for you
And I fell in with the wrong crowd like sinners always do
Now here I sit in prison just waiting for the day
When they'll lead me through that door and burn my life away

Oh mama please forgive me the shame is all my own
For I could have gone right just as easy as I went wrong
[ instrumental ]
Oh mama please forgive me the shame is all my own...

**********

6.

I'll Always Know

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Revenge must be the reason
Why forgiveness was a thing I'd never knew
And someday soon I know you plan to hurt me
But don't count on gettin' by with things you do

Cause I'll always know when you've been cheatin'
And I'll always know when you've been untrue
I'll always know
[ instrumental ]
Your heart is like a window
When I look inside I see another man
But go on and lie and tell him how you fool me
But remember I saw through your evil plan

And I'll always know when you've been cheatin'...
Don't forget it either

**********

7.

The Sunny Side Of My Life

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Oh the sunny side of my life is the side you're living on
Grey skies never come when I'm with you
Good times hang around only when you're here at home
The sunny side of my life is here with you

Standing at my window watching raindrops hit the ground
Countin' up the days you've been away
It's lonely her without you and the blues had got me down
Come on home and brighten up my days

Oh the sunny side of my life is the side you're living on...
[ instrumental ]
Sittin' on a park bench with the funnies in my hand
Trying hard to laugh at what I see
The sunny side of my life is shining somewhere else
Nothin's quite the way it ought to be

Oh the sunny side of my life is the side you're living on...

**********

8.

Teach Me To Forget

Leon Payne

© Acuff-Rose Music, BMI

You taught me how to love with all my heart
With all my soul I trusted you
And now you say we'll have to live apart
A thing I don't know how to do

You say someday I'll find somebody new
And I'll have not one regret
Stay a while if what you say is true
Stay and teach me to forget
[ instrumental ]
You taught me how to worship you alone
And now you say that you must go
And people call me on the telephone
Just to say I told you so

You say someday I'll find somebody new...
Stay and teach me to forget

**********

9.

Folsom Prison Blues

Johnny Cash

© Hi-Lo Music, BMI

I hear that train a comin' it's comin' around the bend
I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when
I'm locked in Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on
And I hear that train a rollin' on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby my mama told me son
Always be a good boy don't ever play with guns
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that lonesome whistle I hang my head and I cry
[ instrumental ]
I bet there's rich folks eatin' in a fancy dining car
They're probably drinking coffee and smoking big cigars
Well I know I had it comin' I know I can't be free
But I hear that train a rollin' that's what tortures me
[ instrumental ]
If they freed me from this prison if that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it over a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom Prison that's where I long to be
And let that train keep a rollin' and roll my blues away

**********

10.

Run 'em Off

Oney Wheeler - Tracey Lee

© Peer Int, BMI

Now when the big bad wolf got in grandma's house
A little Red Ridinghood was scared as the mouse
And just like her I'm scared through and through
Some two legged wolf would run away with you

So run 'em off no use to talk all day
Just run 'em off they're tryin' to get you to play
Run 'em off and make 'em let us be
If you don't run 'em off I'll swear you're cheatin' on me

Now there's an iceman and milkman and folks out of town
They don't come to visit they just hang around
They act just as friendly as can be
But I don't think they care a thing about me

So run 'em off don't talk too long
Run 'em off so we can be alone
Run 'em off and make 'em let us be
If you don't run 'em off I'll swear you're cheatin' on me
[ instrumental ]
No matter where you are or what you do
Folks all whistle and how is you
When they get too close I wanna say shoo
Cause it looks like they wanna a bite of you

So run 'em off don't talk too long
Run 'em off they're tryin' to get in Dutch
Run 'em off and make 'em let us be
If you don't run 'em off I'll swear you're cheatin' on me

Now once I ended this song but I'll write some more
Cause there's a half-a-dozen wolfs comin' up to my door
And I can tell by a lookin' cause it's plain to see
That they're not here to make eyes at me

So run 'em off don't talk too long...

**********

11.

You'll Never Love Me Now

Merle Haggard

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Admitting you're to blame won't heal my wounded pride
It's too late to be ashamed I've already stepped aside
Just let me live again and please don't come around
If you never loved me then you'll never love me now

You fooled me all the way each time you held me tight
But when darkness turned to day then I finally saw the light
When I really needed you that's when you let me down
If you never loved me then you'll never love me now
[ instrumental ]
Just let me live again and please don't come around...

**********

12.

Too Many Bridges To Cross Over

Dallas Frazier

© Blue Crest Music, BMI

Be close to me but please don't ever love me
Don't let your feelings carry you that far
I'll hold you in my arms buy you clothes and pretty charms
And I'll give you everything except my love

Because there's too many bridges to cross over
Too many places I ain't been
Yeah there's too many fields of tempting clover
Like an eagle I'm a prisoner of the wind
[ instrumental ]
Well traveling was the nickname of my papa
And mama said he died cause he slowed down
Keep in mine these things I'm saying
Cause I ain't got the time to staying
Won't be long until my shoes touch distant ground

Because there's too many bridges to cross over...

**********