Standard (EADGBE)

Daddy sits on the front porch swingin', lookin' out on a vacant field

 It used to be filled with burly tobacco now he knows it never will

 My brother found work in Indiana, my sister's a nurse at the old folks home

 Momma's still cookin' too much for supper and me, I've been a long time gone

 Been a long time gone, no I ain't hoed a row since I don't know when

Long time gone and it ain't comin' back again

Delia plays that old church piano, sittin' out on her daddy's farm

 She always thought that we'd be together, Lord, I never meant to do her harm

 Said she could heard me singin' in the choir, me I heard another song

 I caught wind and hit the road runnin' and Lord, I've been a long time gone

 Been a long time gone, Lord, I ain't had a prayer since I don't know when

Long time gone and it ain't comin' back again

 Now me, I went to Nashville, tryin' to be the big deal.

Playin' down on Broadway, gettin’ there the hard way

Livin' from a tip jar, sleepin' in my car

Hockin’ my guitar, yeah I'm gonna be a star

Now me and Delia singin' every Sunday, watchin' the children and the garden grow

 We listen to the radio to hear what's cookin' but the music ain’t got no soul

 Now they sound tired but they don't sound Haggard

 They got money but they don't have Cash,

 They got Junior but they don’t have Hank

I think, I think, I think the rest is a...

Long time gone, no I ain't hit the roof since I don't know when

Long time gone and it ain't comin' back..

 I said a long time gone, no I ain’t honked a horn since I don’t know when

Long time gone and it ain’t comin’ back again

 I said a long time, long time, long time gone, oh it’s been a long time

Long time, long time, long time gone

 Oh it's been a long time gone

 Long time, long time, long time gone. Yeah, yeah.