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Old Nashville Cowboys Lyrics

Artist: Hank Williams, Jr.
Album: Whiskey Bent And Hell Bound

The old Nashville cowboy was burdened with time
He was bent by his years and the fight with the wine
With a head full of music and an old nursery rhyme
A heart full of sadness and dark sunken nights
He told me they've cheated he told me they stole
The strenght from his youth and the songs from his soul
He said he raised family till he got too old
And he called them miners mother Lord finders
Digging so deep in search of more gold
Oh where are the cowboys and the home on the range
Does anyone know that they've killed Jesse James
Now the good guys on TV seem bad ain't it strange
And the old Nashville cowboys missed out on the change

The old cowboy's life now is gone with the past
Like whiskey he drank it all went out too fast
He didn't know how to make each swallow last
And a head waitress won't be back to fill up his glass
Oh where are the cowboys and the home on the range
Does anyone know that they've killed Jesse James
Is anyone listening or is everyone blind
And old Nashville cowboys will sing for a dime
And hard times are cheap at the end of the line

Comments/Interpretations

by KT, TN on 5/19/2008 10:29pm
The lines "he told me they cheated, he told me they stole/The strength from his youth and the songs from his soul"

I always thought the following lyric was "they said he was family till he got too old/and he called them miners, mother lode finders/diggin' so deep in search of more gold."

Does anyone know if this song is actually about someone Bocephus knows or knew? I think I read somewhere it was about Knoxville songwriter Arthur Q. Smith, but I might be mixing it up with Harlan Howard's "Be Careful Who You Love (Arthur's Song)".

by bob on 7/31/2010 11:11am
The lyrics you said are correct.The lyrics posted on this page are incorrect.

by jj smith on 9/14/2012 1:44pm
The lyrics are
'he called them miners, mother lode finders digging so deep in search of more gold.'

by Barb on 1/17/2014 1:47pm
It was written by my former husband and friend Billy Earl McClelland. It wasn't about Hank at all...

by rick on 1/17/2014 6:22pm
Hank Jr. didn't write this song so I doubt if it was about someone he knew. Rock Killough and Billy Earl McClelland wrote it and Hank recorded it along with several other people.

by Jake D on 10/21/2015 7:43pm
I thought Jerry Jeff Walker wrote it?

by Ricardo on 5/6/2022 7:19pm
Great song ..
I wish l wrote it ..but l think that about every awesome song.. The only thing I don't like..is 'head waitress'.. I think "waitress" would have been sufficient... And the waitress won't be back to fill up his glass.