The Year That Clayton Delaney Died

I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died
 They said for the last two weeks that he suffered and cried
 It made a big impression on me, although I was a barefoot kid
 They said he got religion at the end, and I'm glad that he did
 Clayton was the best guitar picker in our town
 I thought he was a hero and I used to follow Clayton around
 I often wondered why Clayton, who seemed so good to me
 Never took his guitar and made it down in Tennessee
 Well daddy said he drank a lot but I could never understand
 I knew he used to pick up in Ohio with a five-piece band
 And Clayton used to tell me son, you'd better put that ol' guitar away
 There ain't no money in it, it will lead you to an early grave
 I guess if I'd admit it, Clayton taught me how to drink booze
 I can see him half stoned a-pickin' out the lovesick blues
 
 When Clayton died I made him a promise, I was going to carry on somehow
 I'd give a hundred dollars, if he could only see me now
 
 I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died
 Nobody ever knew it, but I went out in the woods and I cried
 While I know there's a lot of big preachers that know a lot more than I do
 But it could be that the good Lord likes a little pickin' too
 Yeah, I remember the year that Clayton Delaney died