["I held on for 8" ] He was a daily drinkin', deep thinking Tendency to cuss He and daddy caught up with a coffee cup, bout the time I caught the bus And I remember that old barn out back And those dusty beams of light Making that old buckle shine Like a beacon in the night Chorus He said boy I bet you didn't know I used to ride in a rodeo It was back before your daddy was my child Between Tucson and Thibodeaux I got hung up in a short go... And beat to hell by a bull named Deuce's Wild... I made my last ride that day But I held on for 8 And I tell you son they can't take that away Like a green broke roan with a face of stone He left to fight a war They said you're too old to make it through like you did in '44 He said until you've felt the dying breath Of a good man in your arms I don't need your opinion I need a ride to Vietnam Chorus He said boy I know it all too well That place in the Bible known as hell It's a... Few thousand East of those Georgia pines I set her down in a hot L Z Took two in the shoulder and one in the knee Seven men piled in but one had fell behind Made my last ride that day But I held on for 8 And I tell you son they can't take that away Bridge Just one time let down his guard With wistful poetry divulged And through the fog he sighed I heard his eyes cry "medic!" at the Bulge and those worth more than the salt surrounding where those zeros took a dive And the stains on folded freedom From the tears their mamas cried Chorus I was 17 the day he died Found a note there by his side Said I'm sorry boy I hope you understand Been sick for quite some time Doctor told me when you turned 9 I had less than a year to the promised land. Been a hard ride all the way But I held on for 8 And I tell you son...
