If That Ain't Country - David Allen Coe

Recitation:
    the old man was covered with tattoos and scars
    he got some in prison and others in bars
    the rest he got workin' on old junk cars
    in the daytime
    they looked like tombstones in our yard
    and i never seen him when he wasn't tired 
    and mean
    he sold used parts to make ends meet
    covered with grease from his head to his feet
    cussin' the sweat and the texas heat
    and mosquiters
    and the neighbors said we lived like hicks
    but they brung their cars for pa to fix 
    anyhow
    he was veteran-proud, tried and true
    he'd fought till his heart was black and blue
    didn't know how he'd made it through
    the hard times
    he bought our house on the g.i. bill
    but it wasn't worth all he had to kill
    to git it
    he drank pearl in a can and jack daniels black
    chewed tobacco from a mail pouch sack
    had an old dog that was trained to attack
    sometimes
    he'd get drunk and mean as a rattlesnake
    and there wasn't too much that he would take
    from a stranger

    there were thirteen kids and a bunch of dogs
    a house full of chickens and a yard full of hogs
    i spent the summertime cuttin' up logs for the winter
    tryin' like the devil to find the lord
    workin' like a nigger for my room and board
    coal-burin' stove, no natural gas
    if that ain't country, i'll kiss your ass
    if that ain't country, it'll hairlip the pope
    if that ain't country, it's a damn good joke
    i've seen the grand ole opry, and i've met johnny cash
    if that ain't country, i'll kiss your ass

    recitation:
    mama sells eggs at a grocery store
    my oldest sister is a first-rate whore
    dad says she can't come home anymore
    and he means it
    ma just sits and keeps her silence