1.

(# 1 country hit)
(# 21 pop hit)

Poncho And Lefty

Townes Van Zandt

© Columbine Music, ASCAP

Livin' on the road my friend was gonna keep you free and clean
And now you wear your skin like iron and your breath as hard as kerosene
Weren't your mama's only boy but her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye sank into your dreams

Pancho was a bandit boy his horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words ah but that's the way it goes

All the federales say they could have had him any day
They only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose

Lefty he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day laid poor Pancho low Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go there ain't nobody knows

All the federales say they could have had him any day
We only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell and Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold and so the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true but save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do and now he's growin' old

All the federales say we could have had him any day
They only let him go so long out of kindness I suppose

A few gray federales say we could have had him any day
We only let him go so long out of kindness I suppose

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2.

It's My Lazy Day

Smiley Burnette

© Golden West Melodies, BMI

Well I might a gone fishin' I got to thinkin' it over
The road to the river is a mighty long way
Well it must be the season no rhyme or no reason
I'm taking it easy it's my lazy day

And never mind callin' cause I ain't comin'
Just get you on by me stay out of my way
Stay out of my way
A little deep thinkin' drives me to drinkin'
Hey I'm takin' it easy it's my lazy day

Well I might a gone fishin' I got to thinkin' it over
The road to the river it's a mighty long way
It must be the season no rhyme or no reason
I'm taking it easy it's my lazy day

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3.

My Mary

Stuart Hamblen - Jimmie Davis

© Hamblen Music, ASCAP

I take a trip every evenin' strollin' down memory lane
I'm walkin' again those old familiar paths and dreamin' those dreams again
I can always see my sweetheart just as she used to be
Waiting for someone at the garden gate and I know that someone is me

Big brown eyes and curly hair
Can't you tell that's Mary
Rosy cheeks and ruby lips
Can't you tell that's Mary

Oft times in the evenin' we'd go strollin'
Hand in hand together beneath the pepper tree
And I can feel her hand in mine as I sit alone tonight
Dreamin' of the hours I spent with Mary

Oft times in the evenin' we'd go strollin'...

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4.

Half A Man

Willie Nelson

© Pamper Music, BMI

If I only had one arm to hold you better yet if I had none at all
Then I wouldn't have two arms that ache for you and I'd have one less memory to recall
If I'd only had one ear to listen to the lies that you told to me
Then I would more closely resemble the half a man that you've made of me

And if I had been born with but one eye then I'd only have one eye to cry
And if half of my heart turned to ashes maybe half my heartaches would die
And if I only had one leg to stand on then a much a much truer picture you'd see
For then I'd more closely resemble the half a man that you've made of me

If I only had one leg to stand on then a much a much truer picture you'd see
For then I'd more closely resemble the half a man that you've made of me

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5.

(# 6 country hit)

Reasons To Quit

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Reasons to quit the smoke and booze don't do me like before
And I'm hardly ever sober and my old friends don't come around much anymore
Reasons to quit the low is always lower than the high
And the reasons to quit don't outnumber all the reasons why

So we keep smokin' and we keep drinkin' havin' fun and never thinkin'
Laughing at the price tags that we pay
And we keep roarin' down the fast lane like two young men feelin' no pain
And the reasons for quittin' are gettin' bigger each day

Reasons to quit I can't afford the habit all the time
I need to be sober I need to write some new songs that will rhyme
Reasons to quit they have no rhyme or reason when you're high
And the reasons to quit don't outnumber all the reasons why

And we keep smokin' and we keep drinkin' havin' fun and never thinkin'...
And the reasons for quittin' are bigger each day

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6.

No Reason To Quit

Dean Holloway

© Tree Pub, BMI

There's a circle of people where I'm no longer welcome
And I'm ashamed to say that I no longer fit
I could sober up tomorrow and face my friends again
But I've got no reason to quit

No I've got no reason for livin' right
And there's no other way to forget
I could sober up tomorrow and face my friends again
But I've got no reason to quit

No I've got no reason for livin' right
And there's no other way to forget
I know down deep inside me that I'm man enough to change
But I've got no reason to quit

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7.

Still Water Runs The Deepest

Jesse Ashlock

© Tuckahoe Music, BMI

Still water runs the deepest
Like a love complete and true
So peaceful and dependable
I can't say the same about you

Your love is cold and selfish and it never could be true
One time I loved you truly I can't say the same about you
Well I'm leavin' and I won't be back I'm goin' where I belong
Too long we've been together and too long you've done me wrong

Still water runs the deepest...

Well I'm leavin' and I won't be back and I'm goin' where I belong
Too long we've been together and too long you've done me wrong

Still water runs the deepest...

**********

8.

My Life's Been A Pleasure (I Still Love You As I Did In Yesterday)

Jesse Ashlock

© Tuckahoe Music, BMI

I still love you as I did in yesterday
Many years have gone by though it seems just like a day
It's no wonder that I love you you have been so kind and true
There will never be another it will always be just you

We've come a long way together and you've proved your love is true
My life's been a pleasure and it's all because of you
And to me you'll always be just as sweet as flowers in May
And I'll still love you as I did in yesterday

I still love you as I did in yesterday...

We've come a long way together and you've proved your love is true...

And to me you'll always be just as sweet as flowers in May
And I'll still love you as I did in yesterday

**********

9.

All The Soft Places To Fall

Leona Williams

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Most of my life I've been runnin' around playin' and havin' a ball
And maybe I've been on a party too long these memories are fond to recall
You see we've got this thing about women smokin' and good alcohol
But now we're lookin' for a home life with clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall

The women we've known have been many but they don't understand us at all
Though we've spent many a long hours hopin' some old lover would call
Surely somebody somewhere still wants us or don't nobody want us at all
We're lookin' for a home life with clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall

Most of our lives we've been outlaws slept with our backs to the wall
I'm a rambler I'm a seeker and we're gettin' weaker and a whole lot more likely to fall
We're tired of the rocks and the brambles those barbed-wire fences and all
And we're lookin' for a home life with clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall

Most of our lives we've been outlaws slept with our backs to the wall...

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10.

Opportunity To Cry

Willie Nelson

© Pamper Music, BMI

Just watch the sunrise on the other side of town
Once more I've waited and once more you've let me down
This would be a perfect time for me to die
So I'd like to take this opportunity to cry

You gave your word now I return it to you
With this suggestion as to what you can do
Just exchange the words I love you for goodbye
While I take this opportunity to cry

I'd like to see you but I'm afraid that I don't know wrong from right
And if I saw you would I kiss you or want to kill you on sight
It's been a long night so I think I'll go home
And feed my nightmares they've been waiting all night long
And they'll be the last ones to tell me goodbye
And they'll give me many opportunities to cry

Well I'd like to see you but I'm afraid that I don't know wrong from right...

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