Ballad Of Hank

Don tell us how it really was when you was workin with daddy.
Well in 1950 I took a little nip
Along with Mr. Williams on the way to Mississipp'
We was stacked 8 deep in a Packard limousine
And we met this promoter in the town of New Orleans
Now the man told Daddy that he had what it took
And he liked the way he sang and he liked the way he shook
He said pretty soon he'd make us all rich
And we started believin' that fat sumbitch
Daddy told the man if you wanna make some dough
Take a little money and book me on a show
And we played them dates and we filled the places well
But Hank, he'd done blowed the profits all to hell

'Cause he'd run through a 10 and he'd run through a 20
And he'd run through a 100 just as fast as it could go
Like a big dose of sauce to a little bitty fella
He'd spend a $1000 dollars on a $100 dollar show
Hank looked at me with a funny lookin' grin,
Said "I've been to the Opry and I'm goin' back again"
We met the owner in a little office there
And a big fat fella with some artificial hair
He told Hank he wanted half of everything he made
Or he'd have to tell Audrey 'bout some women Hank had laid
And you told Daddy he'd better get smart,
Get rid of them fellas and make a new start

And he fired my ass and he fired Jerry Rivers
And he fired everybody just as hard as he could go
He fired old Cedric and he fired Sammy Pruitt
And he fired some people that he didn't even know

Well, every song he made it went to number one,
Y'all was workin' like hell and you was havin' fun
We was ridin' every day and playin' every night
And every 20 minutes some of us had a fight
Now, Daddy he was makin' money hand over fist,
And y'all was getting' screwed but you wasn't getting kissed
Yeah, I told him to pass a little bit around
But he said he'd rather send it to his folks in Alabam'

So he fired your ass and he fired Jerry Rivers
And he fired everybody just as hard as he could go
He fired old Cedric and he fired Sammy Pruitt
And he fired some people that he didn't even know

Now the owner of the Opry, he's a-doin' pretty good,
He's got a music company that they call Cedarwood
And Hank played nothing but sold out halls
And I was pumpin' gas in greasy overalls

'Cause he fired my ass and he fired Jerry Rivers
And he fired everybody just as hard as he could go
He fired old Cedric and he fired Sammy Pruitt
And he fired some people that he didn't even know

Hank run through a 50 and he'd run through a 100
And he'd run through a 1000 just as hard as he could go
Buying cadillac coots paying double alimony
And he fired some people that he didn't even know.

Don you know you, know you used to work for me one time
I sure know that come but come to think of it you fired my ass back in 1972
Oh well it's a family tradition ya know?
Yap yap yap yap
But I kept Jerry Rivers
Right right