Album: Decoration Day (2003)
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  • You want to grow up to paint houses like me
    A trailer in my yard till you're twenty three
    You want to be old after forty two years
    Keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gears

    Well, I used to go out in a Mustang, a 302 Mach One in green
    Me and your Mama made you in the back and I sold it to buy her a ring
    And I learned not to say much of nothing so I figured you already know
    But in case you don't or maybe forgot, I'll lay it out real nice and slow

    Don't call what you're wearing an outfit, don't ever say your car is broke
    Don't worry about losing your accent, a southern man tells better jokes
    Have fun, stay clear of the needle, call home on your sister's birthday
    Don't tell them you're bigger than Jesus, don't give it away

    Five years in a St. Florian foundry, they call it Industrial Park
    Then hospital maintenance and tech school just to memorize Frigidaire parts
    But I got to missing your Mama and I got to missing you too
    And I went back to painting for my old man and I guess that's what I'll always do

    So don't let 'em take who you are boy, and don't try to be who you ain't
    And don't let me catch you in Kendale with a bucket of wealthy man's paint

    Don't call what you're wearing an outfit, don't ever say your car is broke
    Don't sing with a fake British accent, don't act like your family's a joke
    Have fun, but stay clear of the needle, call home on your sister's birthday
    Don't tell them you're bigger than Jesus, don't give it away

    Don't give it away Writer/s: Jason Isbell
    Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

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