The Year That Clayton Delaney Died

I remember the day that Clayton Delaney died

They said for the last two weeks that he suffered and cried

It made a big impression on me although I was a barefoot kid

They said he got religion at the end and I'm glad that he did

Clayton was the best guitar picker in our town

I thought he was a hero and I used to follow Clayton around

I often wondered why Clayton who seemed so good to me

Never took his old guitar and made it down in Tennessee

Daddy said he drank a lot but I could never understand

I know he used to pick up in Ohio with a five piece band

Clayton used to tell me, "Son, you better put that guitar away

There ain't no money in it, it'll lead you to an early gray

I guess if I'd admit it Clayton taught me how to drink booze

I can see him half stoned pickin' up the Lovesick Blues

When Clayton died I made him a promise, I was gonna carry on somehow

I'd give a hundred dollars if he could only see me now

I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died

Nobody ever knew it but I went out in the woods and I cried

I know there's a lotta big preachers that know a lot more than I do

But it could be the good Lord likes a little picking too

I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died