verse 1
A Bm
Virgil Lee was a mighty man
D A
He could outrun the L&N
A Bm
Caught a wild cat and made him his friend
D A
He was a flat woods boy
A Bm
Caught his learnin' from a runnin' brook
D A
Taught him go with the flow and don't get hooked
A Bm
But Virgil Lee kindly mistook
D A
The devil for a dear friend
Pre-Chorus
Bm
You can fool all the jokers with diamonds
C#m
You can playboy ramblin' roots
D
You can lie like a penny on the CNO line
E
But the good Lord knows the truth
A Bm
Just like a old hickory
D A
Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down
A Bm
There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory
D A
And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory
verse 2
A Bm
It was Gainsboro at the Glow Worm Bar
D A
We were passin' around a jug and a guitar
A Bm
Virgil picked it like an Opry star
D A
I mean the boy was on fire
A Bm
I said, "Hey Virgil Lee, where'd you get that stuff?"
D A
He said, "I don't know, I guess I made it up?"
A Bm
Well sometimes an empty cup
D A
Just overflows
Pre-Chorus
Bm C#m
And all that summer was fire and rain
D
Virgil Lee started nursin' the pain
'Til every one of them songs he would play
E
Was twisted, falling down
A Bm
Like a old hickory
D A
Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down
A Bm
There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory
D A
And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory
verse 3
A Bm
Laid him out in his overalls
D A
'Cause when you get too big for your breeches well that's all
A Bm
Hung his fiddle and his flat top guitar
D A
Up in the high school gym
A Bm
Nobody remembers his name
D A
And I can't say anyone's to blame
A Bm
One of these times you gotta hear him play
D A
He was the greatest that's ever been
Pre-Chorus
Bm
You can fool all the jokers with diamonds
C#m
You can playboy ramblin' roots
D
You can lie like a penny on the CNO line
E
But the good Lord knows the truth
A Bm
Just like a old hickory
D A
Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down
A Bm
There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory
D
And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut
A Bm
Old hickory
D A
Shadin' the porch of a house that's been torn down
A Bm
There ain't nothin' that's left but the memory
D A
And that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory
D A
Oh and that long, tall, scraggily, bitter nut old hickory