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It started March of sixty-four |
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Many years ago |
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We were hired by Johnny Cash |
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To open up his show |
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Four boys, a worn out Cadillac |
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With a road map on the dash |
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For the next eight and one half years |
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We got paid by Cash |
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He took us down to Nashville |
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To Columbia studio |
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Not knowing where we came from |
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They told us where to go |
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But Johnny said, "I like 'em |
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Don't you give them no trash" |
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You see, we were Johnny's little boys |
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And we got paid by Cash |
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We were there when June became |
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Johnny's lovin' bride |
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And we sang to him that mornin' |
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Our buddy Luther died |
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And we were there when the son was born |
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That filled them both with pride |
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And we were there when John remembered |
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God was on his side |
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We watched him on the concert stage |
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We watched him write his songs |
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And saw the things we had to do |
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And the things that could go wrong |
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And if we had to start again |
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We'd do it in a flash |
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'Cause we learned more than we earned |
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When we got paid by Cash |
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Then came the time when our career |
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Demanded that we go |
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And through some tears we all shook hands |
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That last and final show |
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All those years we never had |
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A contract or a clash |
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Whatever we may be today |
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We owe it all to Cash |
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We were there when June became |
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Johnny's lovin' bride, |
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And we sang to him that mornin' |
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Our buddy Luther died |
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And we were there when the son was born |
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That filled them both with pride |
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And we were there when John remembered |
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God was on his side |
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Now John will tell you there were years |
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When times were good and bad |
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But we can tell you they were some |
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Of the best we ever had |
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Carl Perkins and the Carters |
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And the Tennessee Three |
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We were one big happy family |
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And would have done it all for free |
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Don don, don don |
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Don don, don don |