The song Ballad Of Forty Dollars is performed by Tom T. Hall in the album named Storyteller, Poet, Philosopher in the year 1995 .
The man who preached the funeral
Said it really was a simple way to die
He laid down to rest one afternoon
And never opened up his eyes
They hired me and Fred and Joe
To dig the grave and carry up some chairs
It took us seven hours
And I guess, we must have drunk a case of beer
I guess, I ought to go and watch them put him down
But I don't own a suit
And anyway when they start talkin' about
The fire in hell, well, I get spooked
So, I'll just sit here in my truck
And act like I don't know him when they pa*s
Anyway, when they're all through
I've got to go to work and mow the gra*s
Well, here they come and who's that
Ridin' in that big ol' shiny limousine
Mmh! look at all that chrome, I do believe
That that's the sharpest thing I've seen
That must belong to his great uncle
Someone said, "He owned a big ol' farm"
When they get parked, I'll mosey down
And look it over, that won't do no harm
Well, that must be the widow in the car
And would you take a look at that?
That sure is a pretty dress
You know, some women do look good in black
Well, he's not even in the ground
And they say that his truck is up for sale
They say, she took it pretty hard
But you can't tell too much behind the veil
Well, listen ain't that pretty
When the bugler plays the, 'Military taps'
I think that when you's in the war
They always hide 'n' play a song like that
Well, here I am and there they go
And I guess, you'd just call it my bad luck
I hope he rests in peace, the trouble is
The fellow owes me forty bucks
Tom T. Hall - Storyteller, Poet, Philosopher
- Magnificent Music Machine
- A Million Miles To The City
- I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew
- The Hitch-Hiker
- Ballad Of Forty Dollars
- I Hope It Rains At My Funeral
- Turn It On, Turn It On, Turn It On
- Strawberry Farms
- Watergate Blues
- I Want To See The Parade
- 100 Children
- The Year That Clayton Delaney Died
- The Son Of Clayton Delaney
- The Old Side Of Town
- I Can't Dance
- Last Of The Drifters
- Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)
- A Week In A Country Jail
- Spokane Motel Blues
- Homecoming
- Hello, We're Lonely
- Down At The Mall
- Fox On The Run
- Shoeshine Man
- Flat-Footin' It
- Old Five And Dimers Like Me
- Willy The Wandering Gypsy And Me
- More About John Henry
- Give Her My Best
- Pamela Brown
- I Flew Over Our House Last Night
- Molly And Tenbrooks
- The Monkey That Became President
- That's How I Got To Memphis
- Mama's Got The Catfish Blues
- Day Drinkin'
- Salute To A Switchblade
- Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn
- Subdivision Blues
- America The Ugly
- Hang Them All (Get The Guilty)
- Levi Jones
- Faster Horses (The Cowboy And The Poet)
- I'm Forty Now
- Me And Jesus