Hank Williams Jr. - Hank Williams Jr.'s Greatest Hits Album Lyrics

Country music singers have been a real close family,
But lately some of my kinfolks have disowned a few others and me.
I guess it's because I kind of changed my direction.
Lord I guess I went and broke their family tradition.

They get on me and want to know Hank why do you drink? Why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
Over and over everybody makes my predictions.
So if I get stoned, I'm just carrying on an old family tradition.

I am very proud of my daddy's name
All though his kind of music and mine ain't exactly the same.
Stop and think it over. Put yourself in my position.
If I get stoned and sing all night long it's a family tradition.

So don't ask me, Hank why do you drink? Hank, why do you roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
If I'm down in a honky-tonk some ole slick's trying to give me friction.
I said leave me alone I'm singing all night long it's a family tradition.

Lord I have loved some ladies and I have loved Jim Beam
And they both tried to kill me in 1973.
When that doctor asked me, Son how did you get in this condition?
I said, hey sawbones, I'm just carrying on an ole family tradition.

So don't ask me, Hank why do you drink? Hank, why do roll smoke?
Why must you live out the songs that you wrote?
Stop and think it over, try and put yourself in my unique position.
If I get stoned and sing all night long, it's a family tradition!

I've got a good woman at home
Who thinks I do no wrong
But sometimes, Lord, she just ain't always around
And you know that's when I fall
Now I can't help myself at all
And I get whiskey bent and hell bound

Play me some songs about a ramblin man
Put a cold one in my hand
Cause you know I love to hear those guitar sounds
Don't you play, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
Cause I'll get all balled up inside
And I'll get whiskey bent and hell bound

Sure enough about closin time
About stoned out of my mind
And I end up with some honkytonk special I found
Just as sure as the mornin sun comes
Thinkin of my sweet girl at home
And I need to get whiskey bent and hell bound

Play me the songs about ramblin man
Put old Jim Beam in my hand
Cause you know I still love to get drunk
And hear country sounds
But don't you play, Your Cheatin Heart
Cause that'll tear me all apart
I'll get whiskey bent and hell bound

Yeah, old Hank's songs
Always make me feel low down

I like to play my music and have good time
I love to hear no train rolling down the line
I am into happy and I don't like sad
I like to have women I never had

I'll take a little smoke and a lot of wine
I get high and I call old friends of mine
I like the sweet young things and Old Grandad
And I like to have women I've never had

I like to ride my hoses and shoot my gun
You know a cowboy's work is just never done
I am in to bacics and I don't like fads
And I like to have women I never had

Hey, I don't mean to ever do anybody no wrong
I was just born the son of a singer of songs
I do things that makes some people mad
And I like to have women I never had

I kicked the habit, of smoking back sometime ago
And I tried the hard stuff, but I had to let all that go
But the toughest thing, I ever gave up was today
'Cause old habits like you, are hard to break

I use lifesavers, to help me get off cigarettes
But you know for your love, I ain't found no lifesavers yet
And I've gone cold Turkey, 'cause there's not even one kiss a day
And old habits like you, are hard to break

Old habits like you, are hard to break
Love with someone new, is so hard to make
I had grown so used to you, and all of your ways
And old habits like you, are hard to break

Kaw-liga was a wooden Indian standing by the door.
He fell in love with an Indian maiden over in the antique store.
Kaw-liga just stood there and never let it show,
So she could never answer "yes" or "no."

[Chorus:]
Poor ol' Kaw-liga, he never got a kiss.
Poor ol' Kaw-liga, he don't know what he missed.
Is it any wonder that his face is red?
Kaw-liga, that poor ol' wooden head.

He always wore his Sunday feathers and held a tomahawk.
The maiden wore her beads and braids and hoped some day he'd talk.
Kaw-liga, too stubborn to ever show a sign,
Because his heart was made of knotty pine.

Kaw-liga was a lonely Indian, never went nowhere.
His heart was set on the Indian maid with the coal black hair.
Kaw-liga just stood there and never let it show,
So she could never answer "yes" or "no."

And then one day a wealthy customer bought the Indian maid,
And took her, oh, so far away, but ol' Kaw-liga stayed.
Kaw-liga just stands there as lonely as can be,
And wishes he was still an old pine tree.

All the stations up here they don't sign off with Dixie
The way they did in sweet home Alabam'
And the people here don't sip Jack Daniels whiskey
The way they do in the Tennessee mountain land

I'd always heard lots about the big apple
So I thought I'd come up here and see
But all I've seen so far is one big hassle
Wish I was camped out on the Okeechobee

If this is the promised land, I've had all I can stand,
And I'm headed back below that Dixie line
No I just don't fit in, and I'll never come back again
But I'm busted here an' I got Dixie on my mind
Oh I'm stuck up here an' I got Dixie on my mind

(Yee-ha)

These people never smile or say a word
They're all too busy tryin' to make an extra dime
Oh I'd love to haul 'em all down around Spartanburg
And show 'em how to raise hell in Carolin'

Oh the things you know that I miss most of all
Is the freedom of the rivers and the pines
They don't do much huntin' and fishin' up here ya know
But I have met a few squirrels and one porcupine

Well if this is the promised land, I've had all I can stand
Wish I was down in Houston town tonight
No I just don't fit in, and I'll never come back again
But I'm busted here an' I got Dixie on my mind
Oh I'm stuck up here an' got Dixie on my mind

I've got some fond memories of San Angelo,
And I've seen some beauty queens in El Paso,
But the best lookin women that I've ever seen,
Have all been in Texas and all wearin jeans

[Chorus:]
I'm a country plowboy, not an urban cowboy,
And I dont ride bulls but I have fought some men,
Drive a pickup truck, trust in God and luck
And I live to love Texas women.

I thought I'd seen beauty in faraway places,
Till I looked upon those Houston faces,
Spent Hollywood nights up in Beverly Hills,
But they werent nothin like one night down in BROWNSVILLE

[Chorus]

I'm a pretty fair judge of the opposite sex,
And I ain't seen nothin that will touch em' yet,
They may be from Waco or out in Lampassas,
But one thing about it they all come from Texas.

[Chorus]

I'm an Oiler fan not a soccer man,
And my arms are red and so is my blood,
And they make it boil with that soft Texas drawl
And I love em all, Texas women.

Too many lawyers in football, baseball's got a few
The pitcher got a million dollars and the quarterback he got two
The pitcher threw his arm away and the quarterback ruined his knee
And this they did so they could live the American dream

Now there are some preachers on TV with a suit and a tie and a vest
They want you to send your money to the Lord, but they give you their address,
'Cause all of your donations are completely tax-free
God bless you all, but most of all, send your money

Do you really want it, do you really need it?
You gotta keep on grindin' just to try to keep it
You got no time for yourself, you got more for old Jim Beam,
You're goin' crazy dreamin' the American dream

Reagan is a cuttin' the budget, makin' the Democrats scream
Says we gotta control inflation, quit spending our money on everything
But this year's tax increase, why, it's the biggest in history,
'Round and around we go, where we stop, who knows, the American dream

Do we really want it, do you really need it?
You gotta keep on grindin' just to try to keep it
We got no time for yourselves, we got more for old Jim Beam,
We're goin' crazy dreamin' the American dream

We're goin' crazy dreamin' the American dream
Hail to the chief

The preacher man says it's the end of time
And the Mississippi River she's a goin' dry
The interest is up and the Stock Markets down
And you only get mugged
If you go down town

I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain't too many things these ole boys can't do
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

Because you can't starve us out
And you cant makes us run
Cause one-of-'em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma'am
And if you ain't into that we don't give a damn

We came from the West Virginia coalmines
And the Rocky Mountains and the and the western skies
And we can skin a buck; we can run a crop line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly
My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I'd send him some homemade wine

But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45
Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

Cause you can't starve us out and you can't make us run
Cause one-of-'em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma'am
And if you ain't into that we don't give a damn

We're from North California and south Alabam
And little towns all around this land
And we can skin a buck; we can run a crop line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive

All my rowdy friends have settled down
And they seem to be more into laid back songs
Nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
Everybody just wants to go back home

I, myself, have seen my wilder days
And I have seen my name at the top of the page
But I need to find a friend just to run around
But nobody wants to get high on the town
And all my rowdy friends have settled down

And I think I know what my father meant when he sang about a "Lost Highway"
And old George Jones, I'm glad to see, is finally getting straight
And Waylon's staying home and loving Jessi more these days
And nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
And all my rowdy friends have settled down

Ow!

And the hangovers hurt more than they used to
And corn bread and ice teas took the place of pills and 90-proof
And it seems like none of us do things quite like we used to do
And nobody wants to get high on the town
And all my rowdy friends have settled down

Yeah, I think I know what my father meant when he sang about a "Lost Highway"
And Johnny Cash don't act like he did back in '68
And Kris, he is a movie star and he's moved off to L.A..
And nobody wants to get drunk and get loud
And all my rowdy friends have settled down

Yeah, me and my rowdy friends done rowdied on down