I remember the year 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 guitar and made it down in tenn-o-see

Well daddy said he drank a lot but I could never understand

I knew he used to pick up in ohio with a five-piece band

Clayton used to tell me son you better put that old guitar away

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

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

I can see him half-stoned a-pickin out the lovesick blues

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

Id 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

Well I know there's a lotta big preachers

That know a lot more than I do

But it could be that the good lord likes a little picking too

Yeah I remember the year that clayton delaney died