Simple as my mama said when I was very young
She told me not to worry son
One day, you'll be someone
But here I am at twenty-one
As loaded as a stagecoach shotgun
I'm sorry mama
Please don't look at me

When I got to Oklahoma I was seventeen
My papa taught me how to work and Lord, he was mean
Working all day in that August heat
He taught me how to fish
My uncle taught me how to drink

Well, I went to California and I had me a band
And we played in all the bars in all the southern lands
We played all night, and we drank for free
All of my boys and me

Now I'm twenty-three and there ain't nobody who can drink like me
Soon I'll be twenty-four and the Lord knows that I can't drink no more
I know I shoulda taken it slow
It's not the way that my life goes
Now I know

When you're passed out on the floor
You're sober by twenty-four

Well, I had a girl who loved me the whole damn time
And I'd drink my whiskey and she'd drink wine
But soon my bottle was too much to comfort me

Yeah, we'd sit on the river and we'd fish all day
And we'd drive across the country, let the radio play
Seven damn years, I never thought she'd leave

Now I'm twenty-three and there ain't nobody who can drink like me
Soon I'll be twenty-four and the Lord knows that I can't drink no more
I know I shoulda taken it slow
It's not the way that my life goes
Lord, I know

When you're passed out on the floor
You're sober by twenty-four

Simple as my mama said when I was very young
She told me not to worry son
One day you'll be someone
But here I am at twenty-one
As loaded as a stagecoach shotgun
I'm sorry mama
Please don't look at me