A Long Time Ago

(album: I've Always Been Crazy - 1978)

I don't look the way the average cowboy singer looks
I'll admit I've taken things I never should of took
You can read a different story in a lot of different books
But even then you won't really know
How it was a long time ago

Women have been my trouble since I found out they weren't men
In spite of that I stopped and took a wife now and then
They built their fences high but they couldn't hold me in
I was born with a fire down below
And I learned to fly a long time ago

Don't ask me about the years I spent out in the rain
About the ones I spent in love or the ones I spent insane
Don't ask me who I gave my seat to on that plane
I think you already know
I told you that a long time ago

Me and ol' Willie, lordy we've been sold and bought
I guess y'all heard about some kind of system that we fought
We ain't the only outlaws just the only ones they caught
They tried to run us off but Willie's slow
I quit running a long time ago