Old Hickory

Virgil Lee was a mighty man He could outrun the elements Caught a wild cat and made him his friend He was a flat woods boy Caught his learnin' from a runnin' brook Taught him go with the flow and don't get hooked But Virgil Lee kindly mistook The devil for a dear friend You can fool all the jokers with diamonds You can playboy ramblin' roots You can lie like a penny on the CNO line But the good Lord knows the truth Just like a old hickory Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory It was Gainsboro at the Glow Worm Bar We were passin' around a jug and a guitar Virgil picked it like an Opry star I mean the boy was on fire I said, "Hey Virgil Lee, where'd you get that stuff?" He said, "I don't know, I guess I made it up?" Well sometimes an empty cup Just overflows And all that summer was fire and rain Virgil Lee started nursin' the pain 'Til every one of them songs he would play Was twisted, falling down Like a old hickory Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory Laid him out in his overalls 'Cause when you get too big for your breeches well that's all Hung his fiddle and his flat top guitar Up in the high school gym Nobody remembers his name And I can't say anyone's to blame One of these times you gotta hear him play He was the greatest that's ever been You can fool all the jokers with diamonds You can playboy ramblin' roots You can lie like a penny on the CNO line But the good Lord knows the truth Just like a old hickory Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut Old hickory Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory Oh and that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory