I remem ber 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 Tennessee
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
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
to pickin' up the lovesick blues
When Clayton died
I made him a promise
I was gonna carry on somehow
I'd 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 lot of big preachers
That know a lot more than I do
But it could be that the good Lord
likes a little pickin' too
Yeah, I remember the year
that Clayton Delaney died