It's All Fleeting. As Fame

My Mother Was Determined That I Was Going To Leave The Farm And Do Well In Life. And She Thought With The Gift, I Might Be Able To Do That. So She Took In Washing. She Got A Washing Machine In 1942 As Soon As We Got Electricity And She Took In Washing. She Washed The Schoolteacher's Clothes And Anybody She Could And Sent Me For Singing Lessons For $3 Per Lesson.

There's A Lot Of Things Blamed On Me That Never Happened. But Then, There's A Lot Of Things That I Did That I Never Got Caught At.

When I Think About Country Music, I Think About America.

I'm Thankful For A Pair Of Shoes That Feel Really Good On My Feet; I Like My Shoes. I'm Thankful For The Birds; I Feel Like They're Singing Just For Me When I Get Up In The Morning... Saying, 'good Morning, John. You Made It, John.' I'm Thankful For The Sea Breeze That Feels So Good Right Now, And The Scent Of Jasmine When The Sun Starts Going Down. I'm Thankful.

They're Powerful, Those Songs. At Times They've Been My Only Way Back, The Only Door Out Of The Dark, Bad Places The Black Dog Calls Home.