Three Button Hand Me Down

(album: First Step - 1970)

I don't need no one's opinion
On the matter concerning my dress.
I was raised in a clinic down in Oklahoma,
There were many things I did not possess.
I never complained, because my father said,
"Son you'll get your chance before you're my age".
Then he took me upstairs and gave me this suit
Written all over his face

He said, "Others may come and others may go,
But that suit will be around wherever you're goin'"
Three button hand me down
Three button hand me down

I had my fair share of neat women,
But they came between me and my suit.
That was a filly from Boston, a barmaid from Houston,
Not forgetting the one in Detroit.
They said, "We like you boy and we think you're sweet,
But can't you lose your suit?"
I said, "No, you can't do that to me"
I remember what my father said:

He said, "Others may come and others may go,
But that suit will be around wherever you're goin'"
Three button hand me down, ha ha,
Three button hand me down

I've never been a tidy dresser
And the fold in my trousers it ain't straight.
Still I know a good cloth when I see one.
That's why I'm clad in this gray flannel suit.
Sometimes I wonder if I should visit a tailor
And get myself a smooth outfit.
Then I remember what my father said to me.
I'll make you from the open road

He said, "Others may come and others may go,
But that suit will be around wherever you go"
Three button hand me down,
Three button hand me down