Leonard - Merle Haggard

When Leonard finally came to California

He was twenty-one years old as I recall

He loved to write a song and pick the guitar

And he came to hang a gold one on the wall

The town in which he lived is not important

But you’ll know which town I mean by the time I’m through

He soon became a famous entertainer

But Leonard was a name he never used

He was on his way to having what he wanted

Just about as close as one could be

Hey!

once he even followed Elvis Presley

And he wrote a lot of country songs for me

But he laid it all aside to follow Jesus

For years he chose to let his music go

But preaching wasn’t really meant for Leonard

But how in the hell was Leonard s’posed to know

Well, life began to twist its way around him

And I wondered how he carried such a load

He came back again to try his luck in music

And lost his wife and family on the road

After that he seemed to bog down even deeper

And I saw what booze and pills could really do

And I wondered if I’d ever see him sober

But I forgot about a Friend that Leonard knew

Well, Leonard gave me lots of inspiration

He helped teach me how to write a country song

And he even brought around a bag of groceries

Hey back before Muskogee came along

Really I’m not trying to hide his showname

Or the town in which this episode began

Somehow I had to write a song for old Tommy

If just to see the smiling faces in the band