The Hard Way
The hard way to get here,
the hard way to stay
The hard way to work
and the hard way to play
The hard way, the long way,
the rough way, the slow
The hard way to get here
and the old hard way to go
They tell me that I first saw light in 1844
In a wagon in the hills of Tennessee
And my mother soon lay dead
With an arrow through her head
So it started out the old hard way for me
The hard way to get here,
the hard way to stay
The hard way to work
and the hard way to play
The hard way, the long way,
the rough way, the slow
The old hard way to get here
and the old hard way to go
I hunted possum and raccoon
to get my share of grub.
I fought the bear to
rob the honeybee
When I was only five
that is how I stayed alive
Everything has been the old hard
way for me. I
Never settled anywhere.
He never earned no pay
a bottle was his steady company.
I
I never learned to write,
all I learned to do is fight
Everything's been the old hard way for me
The hard way to get here,
the hard way to stay
The hard way to work
and the hard way to play
The hard way, the long way,
the rough way, the slow
The hard way to get here
and the old hard way to go
The bugle started blowin' back in 1861
I pulled up stakes and volunteered with Lee
I marched with old Stonewall
till I met a cannonball
Everything's been the
old hard way for me
The hard way to get here,
the hard way to stay
The hard way to work
and the hard way to play
The hard way, the long way,
the rough way, the slow
The hard way to get here
and the old hard way to go
So all good folk who come this way
and look upon this stone,
please say a prayer and
set my spirit free.
Won't you help me reach my goal,
because I'm down here
shoveling coal.
Everything is still the old hard
way for me.
Everything is still the
old hard way for me.
Everything is still the old hard
way for me.