Ballad Of The Devil’s Backbone Tavern

Story 'bout a failed trip to Luckenbach

Old Miss Virgie tended bar
At this shack out in the hills
It never made her no money, boys
But it paid up of all her bills
Well, now she must have been eighty years old
But her heart was warm and her beer was cold
She gave away more than she ever sold
Just smilin' all the time

I used to sing off in the corner
Every Friday night
There's a loud crowd of cowboys
And bikers and barroom fights
Now they was drinkin' beer and carryin' on
Not a one of them'd listen to one of my songs
But old Miss Virgie sang along
She said she knew 'em all by heart

And then one night after closin'
She poured me a beer
She said, "Come over here and sit down you little shit
I got somethin' you need to hear"
She said, "Life isn't easy gettin' through
Everybody's gonna make things tough on you
But I can tell you right now, if you dig what you do
They'll never get you down"

She said, "Life's too short to worry"
She said, "Life's too long to wait
And it's too short not to love everybody
And life is too long to hate
Yeah, I meet a lot of men who haggle, finagle all the time
Tryin' to save a nickel and make a dime"
She said, "Not me, boy, no sir-ee
No, I ain't a-got the time"

Now I ain't seen Ol' Virgie
I guess it's been about ten years
I've been bummin' around this country
Singin' my songs for tips and beers
Now the nights are long, the driving's tough
Hotels stink and the pay sucks
But I can't dig what I do enough
So it never gets me down

I say, "Life's too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
Well, it's too short not to love everybody
And life is too long to hate"
"I meet a lot of men who haggle, finagle all the time
Just tryin' to save a nickel and make a dime
Not me," she said, "No sir-ee
You know I ain't a-got the time"

That's right