Tom: C
Dm F C
[Verse 1]
N.C Dm F C
Swinging Doors and Whiskey River the first words I learned to say
Dm F C
Willie, Merle, and all those outlaws was all that daddy'd ever play
F C
These beer joints where I'm workin', I started workin' at sixteen
Am Dm F C A# F C
Now if I look a little ragged must be those thirty years between
N.C. Dm F C
My first single hit the big-time, for a while there I was hot
Dm F C
I can't recall the early nineties these last ten I'd rather not
F C
There are mornings when I wonder what I can show for all my time
Am Dm F C A# F C
Oh, but I sure can sing with feeling, whiskey river take my mind
[Chorus 1]
C F
This honky tonkin' way of livin'
C
I've been livin' way too long
Dm
'Scuse me if I'm late for heaven
F C
I just lived a country song
Dm F C Am
Dm F C
[Verse 3]
C Dm F C
Now at this Super 8 in Reno, a couple screamin' through the wall
Dm F C
I'm layin' in my jeans and dreamin' about a girl in Omaha
F C
Well that's been twenty years and counting I can't go back there anyhow
Am Dm F C
I hitched my wagon to a heartache and Lord, I'm sleepin' with it now
[Chorus 2]
C F
This honky tonkin' way of livin'
C
Will make a weak out of the strong
Dm
Don't tell your troubles to me mister
F C
Until you've lived a country song
[Bridge]
G
When that lost highway finds you
C
Those family ties won't bind you
F C
No matter how your mama may cry
D
Just follow Hank down that highway
D
'Til you feel it when you say
G D G N.C.
I'm so lonesome I could cry
[Outro]
N.C. F
This honky tonkin' way of livin'
C
I've been livin' way too long
Dm
'Scuse me if I'm late for heaven
F C
I just lived a country song
Dm
And if I never get to heaven
F C A# F C
It's 'cause I lived a country song
