C G7 C I was raised on cornbread and gravy G7 C G7 And I slept in a cardboard box till I was nearly three C G7 C G7 I bathed myself in the muddy river running by our shack C F C G7 C By the time that I had reached thirteen I'd been through hell and back F G7 I've been thrown from pillar to post F C I've been banged around and scarred F I've done so much I've seen so much C G7 C And I've lived so fast and hard G7 C G7 Mama died when I was young and I never knew my dad C G7 C G7 C I never had the love and care that other children had G7 C G7 I spent five years in an orphan's home but I ran off one day C F C G7 C And I hoboed an old freight train to San Francisco Bay F G7 I've fought in the war I've been in jail F C There ain't much I ain't done F I'd lived as much as any man C G7 C Before I was twenty one F G7 I've been thrown from pillar to post F C I've been banged around and scarred F I've done so much I've seen so much C G7 C And I've lived so fast and hard