Barney came to the gossip bench said I barbecued a dog
On a tractor axle yesterday down at the dump yard
And nobody looked surprised if they was listening at all
Cause when you're old to look surprised you got to try real hard
And they don't
And they won't
Because they tried before and they were just ignored
By everything and everyone
They tried
Barney told some jokes and kept 'em grinning for a while
Especially all the ones they'd heard before
And when he left they all said good old Barney sure can raise a smile
And then they wondered to themselves what am I smiling for
And then they don't
Maybe they just won't
But they all smiled before and now there's nothin more to laugh about
So they go without
A smile
Barney gets around to be as old as all the rest
He's the only one that seems to keep on trying
And he still drinks and tells tall tales and hunts and fishes with the best
While the others sit around and say its time to die
And won't
Anyway they don't
I guess they've lived so long that they just go on cause they was raised that way
What a price to pay
To live
Ah, we missed your family in church today
40 years ago I looked a lot like you
Sit down son help us pass the time of day
Lord knows there ain't much of nothing else to do
The good Lord knows there's nothing else to do
Barney died last week they said he'd drunk hisself to death
The church ladies said we're better off without him
They said he finished his last and his biggest yarn when he drew in his last breath
And mama told me if I start to feeling bad about him
Don't
Your Grandpa won't
You know he thought before and he said thinking is nothing more than killing time
And time don't matter anymore
Ahh, we missed your family in church today
Have you heard who's runnin round with you know who
Lights on at the funeral home who passed away
Lord knows there ain't much of nothin else to do
The good Lord knows there's nothin else to do