The Ride

Well, I was thumbin' from Montgomery I had my guitar on my back When a stranger stopped beside me in an antique Cadillac He was dressed like 1950 Half drunk and hollow-eyed He said, "It's a long walk to Nashville Would you like a ride, son?" And I sat down in the front seat, he turned on the radio And them sad old songs comin' out of them speakers Was solid country gold Then I noticed the stranger was ghost-white pale When he asked me for a light And I knew there was something strange about this ride He said, "Drifter, can ya make folks cry when you play and sing? Have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues? Can you bend them guitar strings?" He said, "Boy, can you make folks feel what you feel inside? 'Cause if you're big star bound let me warn ya, it's a long, hard ride" Then he cried just south of Nashville And he turned that car around He said, "This is where you get off, boy 'Cause I'm goin' back to Alabam'" As I stepped out of that Cadillac I said, "Mister, many thanks" He said, "You don't have to call me Mister, Mister The whole world called me Hank" He said, "Drifter, can ya make folks cry when you play and sing? Have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues? Can you bend them guitar strings?" He said, "Boy, can you make folks feel what you feel inside? 'Cause if you're big star bound let me warn ya, it's a long, hard ride" He said, "Drifter, can ya make folks cry when you play and sing? Have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues? Can you bend them guitar strings?" He said, "Boy, can you make folks feel what you feel inside? 'Cause if you're big star bound let me warn ya, it's a long, hard ride" If you're big star bound let me warn ya, it's a long, hard ride You know you got a lot of competition out there Now the sound, it ain't like it was in the '50s when I was here And then you got Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson You got Clarke and Billy Joe Shaver and David Allan Coe And you even got my son