Not Just Another Fad

If Hank had been a farmer
Would he still be here today?
Plowin' fields of cotton
Bringin’ in Alabama hay
Would he have grown into a grandpa
With kids upon his knee
And tuned in the Grand Old Opry
Along with you and me?

Chorus:
(But we loved the way he sang the songs
And the special gift he had
Though he was here and gone like a flash of light
He was not just another fad)

If Elvis had been a preacher
Preachin' the gospel word
Would he have made us to believers?
Would we still have seen and heard?
Would he have set out on a mission?
A soul-saving search
Would he have shook our hands on Sunday
At a little white country church?

If Phil had been a teacher
Teachin' in the schools
Most likely political science
And bendin’ all the rules
Would he have stayed up grading papers
Late into the night
With special care for a ghetto kid
To help him see the light?

If Tim had been a carpenter
Workin' with his hands
Makin' things that last with time
In the time for which it stands
Would he have set himself a standard
To work for and achieve?
Would he have still given us a reason
A reason to believe?

So we can criticize the way they lived
And the way they died
But the songs they sang were all for us
In us they did confide
Behind the star, upon the door
Was a worn and a broken crutch
Somehow I guess they gave us
Gave us just a little too much

Yes we loved the way they sang the songs
And the special gift they had
Though they were here and gone like a flash of light
They were not just another fad
Though they were here and gone like a flash of light
They were not just another fad