Now I'd hear a lot of tall stories since my business is writin' songs
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And every now and then if you listen real close a good true one comes along
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And this is the story of old Bill Crump from the North Carolina Hills
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Nat Winston of Nashville knew this man real well
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He built the church and he built the pews
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He built the cradles and the furniture for the schools
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Folks in Avery County say that he was better than good
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Probably one of the reasons the Lord made wood
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Now men have faults and Bill's fault was he loved to sip that corn
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He lived ninety some years that way don't guess it was hurtin' him none
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You could take him a picture from a catalog he could build anything he'd see
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He could make anything that you could make out of the tree
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One day Bill said Mama I'm gettin' old I want you to measure me good
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I'm goin' out to that wood pile and get myself some wood
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And I'm gonna make me a coffin I want it to fit me fine
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The way I figure it I've got about enough time
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He built the church and he built the pews...
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Now Bill worked on that coffin like he was gonna be there awhile
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He'd show the folks and rub that wood and then stand back and smile
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He used that body for ninety some years figured it had treated him good
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And when he left it he put it away in some real fine wood
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Oh right now old Bill's sleepin' in the hills of North Caroline
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In his homemade coffin handrubbed walnut velvet lined
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Now most folks use their heads and hands and just think of themselves
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His body's there but his spirit's someplace else
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Cause he built the church and he built the pews...
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Ballad Of Bill Crump
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| Tom T. Hall |
