Well I was thumbin' from Montgomery
Had my guitar on my back
When a stranger stopped beside
Me in an antique cadillac
He was dressed like nineteen fifty
Half drunk and hollow eyed
He said it's a long walk to Nashville
Son would you like a ride?

I sat down in the front seat
He turned on the radio
And them sad old songs coming
Out of them speakers was solid country gold

Then I noticed the stranger
Was ghost white pale
When he asked me for a light
And I knew there was something
Strange about this ride

He said "Drifter can you make folks
Cry when you play and sing
Have you paid your dues
Can you moan the blues
Can you bend them guitar strings?
He said "Boy can you make folks
Feel what you feel inside
'cause if you'rr big star bound let me
Warn ya it's a long hard ride"

Then he cried just south of Nashville
And he turned that car around
He said "This is where you get off boy
Because I'm going back to Alabam
As I stepped out of that cadillac
I said mister many thanks
He said "you don't have to call me mister
Mister the whole world called me hank

He said "Drifter can you make folks
Cry when you play and sing
Have you paid your dues
Can you moan the blues
Can you bend them guitar strings?
He said "Boy can you make folks
Feel what you feel inside
'cause if you'rr big star bound let me
Warn ya it's a long hard ride"

If you're big star bound let me warn ya
It's a long hard ride