| The hard way to get here, the hard way to stay
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| The hard way to work and the hard way to play
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| The hard way, the long way, the rough way, the slow
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| The hard way to get here and the old hard way to go
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| They tell me that I first saw light in 1844
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| In a wagon in the hills of Tennessee
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| And my mother soon lay dead with an arrow through her head
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| So it started out the old hard way for me
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| The hard way to get here, the hard way to stay
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| The hard way to work and the hard way to play
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| The hard way, the long way, the rough way, the slow
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| The old hard way to get here and the old hard way to go
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| I hunted possum and raccoon to get my share of grub
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| I fought the bear to rob the honey bee
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| When I was only five, that is how I stayed alive
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| Everything’s been the old hard way for me
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| I never settled anywhere, ain’t never earned no pay
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| A bottle’s words is steady company
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| I never learned to ride, all I learned to do was fight
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| Everything has been the old hard way for me
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| The hard way to get here, the hard way to stay
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| The hard way to work and the hard way to play
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| The hard way, the long way, the rough way, the slow
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| The hard way to get here and the old hard way to go
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| That bugle started blowin' back in 1861
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| I pulled up stakes and volunteered with Lee
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| I marched with old Stonewall, till I met a cannon ball
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| Everything’s been the old hard way for me
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| The hard way to get here, the hard way to stay
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| The hard way to work and the hard way to play
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| The hard way, the long way, the rough way, the slow
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| The hard way to get here and the old hard way to go
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| So all good folk who come this way and then look upon this stone
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| Please say a prayer and set my spirit free
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| Won’t you help me reach my goal 'cause I’m down here shovelin' coal
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| Everything is still the old hard way for me
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| Everything is still the old hard way for me
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| Everything is still the old hard way for me |