23 (Steel Mix)

Simple as my mama said, when I was very young

She told me not to worry, son

One day, you'll be someone

But here I am at twenty-one

As loaded as a stagecoach shotgun

I'm sorry, mama

Please don't look at me

Yeah, when I got to Oklahoma, I was seventeen

My papa taught me how to work and Lord, he was mean

Working all day in that August heat

And he taught me how to fish

My uncle taught me how to drink

Well, I went to California and I had me a band

And we played in all the bars in all the southern lands

We played all night, and we drank for free

All of my boys and me

Now I'm twenty-three and there ain't nobody who can drink like me

Soon I'll be twenty-four and the Lord knows that I can't drink no more

I know I shoulda taken it slow

It's not the way that my life goes

Now I know

When you're passed out on the floor

You're sober by twenty-four

Well, I had a girl who loved me the whole damn time

And I'd drink my whiskey and she'd drink wine

But soon my bottle was too much to comfort me

And we'd sit on the river and we'd fish all day

And we'd drive across the country, let the radio play

Seven damn years, I never thought she'd leave

Now I'm twenty-three and there ain't nobody who can drink like me

Soon I'll be twenty-four and the Lord knows that I can't drink no more

I know I shoulda taken it slow

It's not the way that my life goes

Lord, I know

When you're passed out on the floor

You're sober by twenty-four

Simple as my mama said, when I was very young

She told me not to worry, son

One day you'll be someone

But here I am at twenty-one

As loaded as a stagecoach shotgun

I'm sorry, mama

Please don't look at me