Lyrics They Lived It Up - Tony Jackson

They were all kind of crazy but it kept them from going insane.
Ol' Haggard been to prison, Johnny told him "son, don't be ashamed.
Cause if you tell the world the truth,
You can always look them in the eye."
Then along came along "Branded Man"
And "Sing Me Back Home" and "Mama Tried."

Hank never knew his daddy,
But he carried on his name and his own voice
As if the hand of destiny said, "Son,
Take this guitar. You have no choice."
It led him to that mountaintop where he nearly lost his life,
But he lived to write a book and
Songs about how a country boy survived.

They lived it up and wrote it down.
They were more than drugstore cowboys,
They'd been bucked and bruised and kicked around.
They took their pain,
Their voices rang until the whole world sang that country sound
All because they lived it up and lived to write it down.

They didn't understand him when he
Wore his mohair suit and skinny ties.
So Willy took ol' Trigger and said
You can kiss my Nashville ass goodbye.
On a Bloody Mary morning he was on the road again and Texas-bound.
Ol' Willie knew how to live it up so he could write it down.

They lived it up and wrote it down.
They were more than drugstore cowboys,
They'd been bucked and bruised and kicked around.
They took their pain,
Their voices rang until the whole world sang that country sound
All because they lived it up and lived to write it down.

I think I'll live it up tonight.
I hope to live to write it down.