The Year That Clayton Delaney Died

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 Tennessee

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

And Clayton used to tell me son, you'd better put that ol' guitar away

There ain't no money in it, it will 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 going to 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

While 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