Poem by Berton Braley, Music & additional Lyrics by Don Edwards
Transcribed and Submitted by: Brian McNeal (kc7rcc@netscape.net)

Note:
Don Edwards actually has two different versions of this song. This
version is from the Don Edwards/West of Yesterday CD and varies from
the earlier version on his “Chant of the Wanderer” CD in that he has
written the chorus which makes the song sound more commercial.

Don Edwards: Vocal & Acoustic Guitar
Tim & Molly O’Brien: Harmony Vocals
Rich O’Brien: Acoustic Guitar/Mandolin/6-string Banjo
Tom Morrell: Slide Resonator Guitar
Randy Elmore: Fiddle
Bob Boatright: Fiddle
Mark Abbott: Upright Bass

The Habit
Poem by Berton Braley, Music & additional Lyrics by Don Edwards

I beat my way wherever any winds have blown
I’ve bummed along from Portland down to San Antone
From Shady Hook to Frisco, over plains and hills
For once you get the Habit, you just can’t keep still

I’ve seen a lot of places where I’d like to stay
I gets to feelin’ restless, then I’m on my way
I was never meant for sittin’ on my own door sill
For once you get the Habit, you just can’t keep still

Chorus
I ride wherever the wind[-] blows
I’m driftin’ like a tumblew[-]eed
I’m just a wanderin troubador
A song and my guitar is all I need

I’ve been in rich men’s houses and I’ve been in jail
And when its time for leavin’, I just hits the trail
I’m a human bird of passage and the song I trill
Is once you get the Habit, you just can’t keep still

Now the sun is sort of coaxin’ and the road is clear
And the wind is singin’ ballads that I just gotta hear
It ain’t no use to argue when you feel the thrill
For once you get the Habit, you just can’t keep still

REPEAT CHORUS TWICE Repeat last line of chorus