1.

(# 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

**********

2.

(# 1 country hit)

You Take Me For Granted

Leona Williams

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

My legs and my feet have walked till they can't hardly move from tryin' to please you
And my back is sore from bendin' over backwards to just lay the world at your door
And I'm trying hard to put a smile on a sad face while deep down it's breakin' my heart
And as sure as the sun shines I'll be a lifetime not knowing if I've done my part

Cause you take me for granted and it's breakin' my heart
And as sure as the sun shines
I'll be a lifetime not knowing if I've done my part
And as sure as the sun shines
I'll be a lifetime not knowing if I've done my part

**********

3.

(# 1 country hit)

That's The Way Love Goes

Lefty Frizzell - Sanger D. Shafer

© Acuff-Rose Music, BMI

I've been throwing horseshoes over my left shoulder
I've spent most all my life searching for that four leaf clover
Yet you ran with me chasing my rainbows
Honey I love you too and that's the way love goes

That's the way love goes babe that's the music God made
For all the world to sing it’s never old it grows
Losing makes me sorry you say honey now don't worry
Don't you know I love you too and that's the way love goes
[ guitar ]
That's the way love goes babe that's the music God made...

**********

4.

(# 2 country hit)

Are The Good Times Really Over

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

I wish a buck was still silver it was back when the country was strong
Back before Elvis and before the Vietnam war came along
Before the Beatles and Yesterday when a man could still work and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good

Are we rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell
With no kinda chance for the flag or the Liberty Bell
I wish a Ford and a Chevy would still last ten years like they should
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good

I wish coke was still cola and a joint was a bad place to be
And it was back before Nixon lied to us all on TV
Before microwave ovens when a girl could still cook and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now
And are the good times really over for good

Are we rolling downhill like a snowball...

Stop rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell
Stand up for the flag and let's all ring the Liberty Bell
Let's make a Ford and a Chevy that'll still last ten years like they should
Cause the best of the free life is still yet to come
And the good times ain't over for good

**********

5.

(# 1 country hit)

Big City

Merle Haggard - Dean Holloway

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

I'm tired of this dirty old city
And tired of too much work and never enough play
And I'm tired of these dirty old sidewalks
Think I'll walk off my steady job today

Turn me loose set me free somewhere in the middle of Montana
And give me all I've got coming to me
And keep your retirement and your so called Social Security
Big city turn me loose and set me free
[ fiddle - guitar ]
Been working everyday since I was twenty
Haven't got a thing to show for anything I've done
There's folks who never work and they've got plenty
Think it's time some guys like me had some fun

So turn me loose set me free...
Yeah big city turn me loose and set me free

**********

6.

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

Poncho And Lefty

Townes Van Zandt

© Columbine Music, ASCAP

with Willie Nelson

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

**********

7.

(# 1 country hit)

Someday When Things Are Good

Merle Haggard - Leona Williams

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Someday when things are good I'm gonna leave you
I can't seem to go when things are bad
I'll be one more love that you can dream about
And one more man that you can say you've had

You'll always be the kind to dream of yesterday
And the way of life I never understood
And someday soon I'll be just one more memory
And you'll call my name when things are not so good

Someday when things are good I'm gonna leave you...

**********

8.

(# 3 country hit)

What Am I Gonna Do (With The Rest Of My Life)

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

I can make it for a day or two without you
And maybe I can make it through the night
I can light and I can drink and probably be alright until morning
But what am I gonna do with the rest of my life

I've got things that I can do
I've got places I can go to this evening
I've got whiskey I can drink
That'll help me not to think about your leaving
Yes I can smoke and I can drink
Probably be alright till morning
But what am I gonna do with the rest of my life
[ guitar ]
I've got things that I can do...
Honey what am I gonna do with the rest of my life

**********

9.

(# 1 country hit)

My Favorite Memory

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

The first time we met is a favorite mem'ry of mine
They say time changes all it pertains to but your mem'ry is stronger than time
I guess everything does change except what you choose to recall
There's a million good day dreams to dream on
But baby you are my favorite mem'ry of all

Like the night we made love in the hallway and slept all night long on the floor
Like the winter we spent on Lake Shasta alone and closer than ever before
And I remember that London vacation it was you made the whole thing of all
There's a million good times I could dwell on
But baby you are my favorite mem'ry of all

The first time we met is a favorite mem'ry of mine...

**********

10.

(# 1 country hit)

Going Where The Lonely Go

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Rollin' with the flow goin' where the lonely go
Anywhere the lights are low goin' where the lonely go
Makin' up things to do
Not runnin' in all directions tryin' to find you
I'm just rollin' with the flow goin' where the lonely go

And I've got to keep goin' I can't lay down
Sleep won't hardly come where there's loneliness all around
I've got to keep goin' travelin' down this lonesome road
And I'll be rollin' with the flow goin' where the lonely go

I've got to keep goin' I can't lay down...

**********

11.

(# 10 country hit)

C.C. Waterback

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

CC Waterback one tequila sunrise
One's for my achin' head the other's for my bloodshot eyes
Well last night I let it all hang out I guess that's how my head got sore
CC Waterback I can't stand the pain no more

Last night we got invited to a party at the Joneses place
For fun and games and booze and things I guess I musta drank a case
But that lady of mine she drank warm red wine till she couldn't even find the door
She wound up in old Joneses bed and I wound up on the floor

Hag I give ya CC Waterback one tequila sunrise
One's for my achin' head the other's for my bloodshot eyes
Last night we let it all hang out yeah I guess that's how our heads got sore
I said CC Waterback I can't stand the pain no more

And I fed ya CC Waterback one tequila sunrise
One's for my achin' head the other's for my bloodshot eyes
Last night I let it all hang out I guess that's how my head got sore
I said CC Waterback I can't stand the pain no more

**********