Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down–Waylon Jennings
written by Merle Haggard
Thanks to CowboyUp for the basic chords. While I don’t agree with Waylon’s “flip
of the bird” to the Hag near the end of the song, I have to admit, he sings the hell
out of this one. And few can play steel like Ralph Mooney.

NOTE: On the D…I play a pattern of D, D/A, and D/F#, but it’s not necessary.

INTRO: D D/A A D A D/A

Each night I leave the barroom when it’s over
Not feeling any pain at closin’ time
But tonight your memory found me much too sober
I couldn’t drink enough to get you offa my mind

CHORUS:
Tonight the bottle let me down
Let your memory come around
The one true friend that I thought I’d found
Tonight the bottle let me down

SOLO

I’ve always had a bottle that I could turn to
Lately I’ve been turnin’ every day
But the booze don’t take affect the way it used to
I keep a hurting in old familiar ways

CHORUS

(Ralph Mooney!)
(Eat your heart out, Haggard!)

SOLO

CHORUS (fade)

CHORDS:

A x0222x
A7 x02020
D xx0232
D/A x00232
D/F# 2×0232

#——————————————————————————##

A LONG TIME AGO

performed by Waylon Jennings.

Capo on the 2nd fret.

Verse 1:
I don’t look the way the average cowboy singer looks
I’ll admit i’ve taken things i never should of took
You can read a different story in a lot of different books
But even then you won’t really know
How it was a long time ago

Verse 2:
Women have been my trouble since i found out they weren’t men
In spite of that i stopped and took a wife now and then
They built their fences high but they couldn’t hold me in
I was born with a fire down below
And i learned to fly a long time ago

Verse 3:
Don’t ask me about the years i spent out in the rain
About the ones i spent in love or the ones i spent insane
Don’t ask me who i gave my seat to on that plane
I think you already know
I told you that a long time ago

Verse 4:(a tone higher)
Me and ol’ Willie,lordy we’ve been sold and bought
I guess you all heard about some kind of system that we fought
We ain’t the only outlaws just the only ones they caught
They tried to run us off but Willie’s slow
I quit running a long time ago