(She thinks I still care)

Just because I asked a friend about her
Just because I spoke her name somewhere
Just because I rang her number by mistake today
She thinks I still care

Just because I haunt the same old places
Where the memory of her lingers everywhere
Just because I'm not the happy guy I used to be
She thinks I still care

But if she's happy thinking I still need her
Then let that silly notion bring her cheer
But how could she ever be so foolish
Oh where would she get such an idea

Just because I asked a friend about her
Just because I spoke her name somewhere
Just because I saw her then went all to pieces
She thinks I still care
She thinks I still care

Get in line brother

---

Backwoods Bluegrass version of lyrics

INSTRUMENTAL INTRO

VERSE 1
Oh listen to me sinners, don't you want to know?
For someday he's coming back again, you know
If that wrong ain't rightened you'll be lost in sin
(Get in line, Brother) he will take you in

CHORUS 1
Get in line, Brother, if you wanna go home
Get on your knees and righten that wrong
Then you'll be singin this old-time song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

BREAK 1

V2
Now let me tell you brother just how I feel
Then I'm sure you'd know the love of God is real
Then you'll be praying while I sing this song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

C2
Get in line, Brother, if you wanna go home
Get on your knees and righten that wrong
Then you'll be singin' this old-time song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

BREAK 2

V3
Now listen to me Satan I have rightened that wrong
Got a one-way ticket and I'm going home
I've got no worries as I sing this song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

C3
Get in line, Brother, if you wanna go home
Get on your knees and righten that wrong
Then you'll be singin this old-time song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

BREAK 3

C4 and OUTRO
Get in line, Brother, if you wanna go home
Get on your knees and righten that wrong
Then you'll be singin this old-time song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

+++++

Flatt and Scruggs version of lyrics

INSTRUMENTAL INTRO

VERSE 1
Oh listen to me sinners, don't you want to know?
For someday he's coming back again, you know
If that wrong ain't rightened you'll be lost in sin
(Get in line, Brother) he will take you in

CHORUS 1
Get in line, Brother, if you wanna go home
Get on your knees and righten that wrong
Then you'll be singin this old-time song
(Get in line Brother) if you wanna go home

BREAK 1

V2
Oh listen to me Satan I have rightened that wrong
Got a one-way ticket and I'm going home
I've got no worries as I sing this song
(Get in line Brother) if you wanna go home

C2
Get in line, Brother, if you wanna go home
Get on your knees and righten that wrong
Then you'll be singin this old-time song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

BREAK 2

V3
If I could tell you brother just how I feel
Then I'm sure you'd know the love of God is real
Then you'll be praying while I sing this song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

C3
Get in line, Brother, if you wanna go home
Get on your knees and righten that wrong
Then you'll be singin this old-time song
(Get in line, Brother) if you wanna go home

INSTRUMENTAL TAG

Hank. I can't help it

3-line verse 1
Today I passed you on the street
And my heart fell at your feet
REFRAIN:
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

3-line verse 2
Somebody else stood by your side
And he looked so satisfied
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

4-line verse 1
A picture from the past came slowly stealin'
As I brushed your arm and walked so close to you
Then suddenly I got that old time feelin'
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

BREAK

4-line verse 2
It's hard to know another's lips will kiss you
And hold you just the way I used to do
Oh, heaven only knows how much I miss you
I can't help it if I'm still in love with you

Tonight the bottle let me down. Haggard

---

---

INSTRUMENTAL INTRO

VERSE1
Each night I leave the bar room when it's over
Not feeling any pain at closing time
But tonight your memory found me much too sober
Couldn't drink enough to keep you off my mind

CHORUS 1
Tonight the bottle let me down
And let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down

SHORT BREAK

V2
I've always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately I've been turnin' every day
But the wine don't take effect the way it used to
And I'm hurtin' in an old familiar way

C2
Tonight the bottle let me down
And let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down

TAG
Tonight the bottle let me down

Hills of Roane County

In the beautiful hills, way back in Roane County
There's where I roamed for many long years
There's where my heart's been tending most ever
That's where the first step of misfortune I made

I was thirty years old when I courted and married
Amanda Gilbraith I then called my wife
Her brother stabbed me for some unknown reason
Just three months later I'd taken Tom's life

For twenty-five years this whole world I rambled
I went to old England to France and to Spain
But I thought of my home way back in Roane County
I boarded a steamer and come back again

I was captured and tried in the village of Kingston
Not a man in that county would speak one kind word
When the jury came in with the verdict next morning
A lifetime in prison was the words that I heard

BREAK
When the train pulled out poor mother stood weepin'
And sister she sat alone with a sigh
And the last words I heard was Willie God bless you
Was Willie God bless you, God bless you, good bye

No matter what happens to me in Roane County
No matter how long my sentence may be
I'll love my old home way back in Roane County
It's way back down in old East Tennessee

Sweet Martha was grave but Corey was better
There's better and worse, although you can see
Boys when you write home from the prison in Nashville
Place one of my songs in your letter for me

---

ORIGINAL LYRICS?
The following are as close to the original lyrics as researchers can get:

In the beautiful hills, in the midst of Roane County,
There's where I have roamed, for many long years;
There's where my poor heart's been tending most ever,
There's where my first steps of misfortune I made.

I was thirty years old when I courted and married,
Amanda Galbreath was then called my wife.
Her brother stabbed me for some unknown reason;
Just three months later, I'd taken Tom's life.

For twenty years this old world I rambled;
I went to old England, old France, and old Spain.
I thought of my home way back in Roane County;
I boarded a steamer and came back again.

I was captured and tried in the village of Kingston.
Not a man in that county would speak a kind word.
When the jury came in with the verdict next morning,
a lifetime of prison were the words that I heard.

The train it pulled out; poor Mother stood weeping.
And sister, she sat all alone with a sigh.
The last words I heard were: "Willie, God bless you;
Willie, God bless you, God bless you; goodbye."

The train left the shed at about eleven thirty;
The chains they did rattle, the handcuffs were tight
When Sonny Gibson took the throttle
The engine one-thirty was soon out of sight.

In the scorching hot sun I've been toiling;
Just working and worrying my poor life away.
You can measure my grave on the banks of old Cumberland
After I've finished the rest of my days.

No matter what happened to me in Roane County;
No matter how long my sentence may be,
I love my old home way back in Roane County,
Way back in the hills of East Tennessee."

OTHER LYRICS
In the beautiful hills, way back in Roane County
There's where I roamed for many long years
There's where my heart's been tending most ever
That's where the first step of misfortune I made

I was about thirty years when I courted and married
Amanda Gilbraith I then called my wife
But her brother stabbed me for some unknown reason
Just three months later I'd taken Tom's life

For twenty-five years this whole world I rambled
I went to old England, to France and to Spain
But I thought of my home way back in Roane County
I boarded a steamer and came back again

I was captured and tried in the village of Kingston
Not a man in the county would speak one kind word
When the jury came in with the verdict next morning
A lifetime in prison was the words that I heard

When the train pulled out poor mother stood weeping
And sister she sat alone with a sigh
And the last words I heard was "Willie God bless you"
Was "Willie God bless you, God bless you, goodbye"

The train left the shed at about eleven-thirty
The chains they did rattle, the handcuffs were tight
When Sonny Gibson took the throttle
The engine one-thirty was soon out of sight

In the scorching hot sun I've been toiling
Just working and worrying my poor life away
You can measure my grave on the banks of old Cumberland
After I've finished the rest of my days

No matter what happens to me in Roane County
No matter how long my sentence may be
I'll love my old home way back in Roane County
It's way back down in old East Tennessee

Sweet Martha was grave but Corey was better
There's better and worse, although you can see
Boys, when you write home from the prison in Nashville
Place one of my songs in your letter for me.

---

These lyrics, which have a number of variants, are widely attributed to Willis Maberry and have been performed by the Stanley Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys, among others.

---

---

Grandpa Jones has a fine voice, excellent delivery. But I dislike the sing-songy quality. Ralph Stanley's version, in particular, subsumes what I call the "sine wave" sound.

See this link for a historical account of the song by Willis Maberry, convicted of killing his brother in law.

Hi J

High on the mountain, tell me what you see
Bear tracks, bear tracks looking back at me
Better get your rifle, boy, before it's too late
'Cause a bear's got a little pig and headed thru the gate

He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump
Running ninety miles an hour, taking thirty feet a jump
Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been treed
Some folks say he look a lot like me

I saved up my mon' and I bought me some bees
And they started making honey way up in the trees
Cut down the tree, but my honey's all gone
Ole Slew-Foot's done made himself at home

He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump
Running ninety miles an hour, taking thirty feet a jump
Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been treed
Some folks say he look a lot like me

Winter's coming on and it's twenty below
And the river's froze over, so where can he go?
We'll chase him up the gulley then we'll run him in the well
And shoot him in the bottom just to listen to him yell

He's big around the middle and he's broad across the rump
Running ninety miles an hour, taking thirty feet a jump
Ain't never been caught, he ain't never been treed
Some folks say he look a lot like me

Lost Highway. Hank Williams

I'm a rollin' stone, all alone and lost
For a life of sin, I have paid the cost
When I pass by, all the people say
There goes another boy, down the lost highway

Just a deck of cards, and a jug of wine
And a woman's lies makes a life like mine
For the day we met, I went astray
I started rolling down that lost highway

BREAK
I was just a lad, nearly 22
Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you
And now I'm lost, too late to pray
Lord, I take a cost, on the lost highway

Now boys don't start your ramblin' round
On this road of sin, or you're sorrow-bound
Take my advice or you'll curse the day
You started rollin' down that lost highway