Can't send no fourteen year-old boy to no school

The only thing I learned in the years I worked on my daddy's farm was

"sonyou better get them crops in when it turns cool."



In the magazinesI saw the naked women

I heard about the drinkin' and the bars

If my daddy could've caught mehe'd a-killed me

He said"you might runboybut you ain't gonna get far."



I hit town or you might say that it hit me

Next mornin' there were things I knew more about



The woman who had taken me in said"country boyyou're all right."

The same way I turned her onshe turned me out

The first law I brokeright away they got me

I helped them build the country roads for awhile

They fed me two times a day and knocked me down about four

For thirty days I didn't even crack a smile



I met a nice girl and she said I was her baby

She let me go and would never tell me why

I learned what it means to be somebody's baby

They let you lie in your bed by yourself and cry



The miles were good but the mileage is turnin' my hair gray

I've met some people that knew me and call me friend

Ain't no sense in wantin' my life to live over

I'd find different ways to make those mistakes again



So let me say thisI never tried to hurt anybody

Though I guess there's a few that I still couldn't look in the eye

If I've got one wishI hope it rains at my funeral

For onceI'd like to be the only one dry