| Sportin'
Life is an old blues song. Back in my teenage years, I heard it on
an album
by the Lovin' Spoonful. At some point, I started playing it, then it dropped out of my repertoire for a long time. By the time I brought it back, I hadn't heard it done by anyone else for decades, and had forgotten some of the words. So I added some new ones, including the whole fourth verse, which replaced a verse that I couldn't remember at the time. Sportin' Life is done acoustically on my "Mysterious Ways" CD, but I also recorded a full-band version of it for a label in Sweden while I was touring over there. I don't know if that version ever got released or not. -Steve H. |
1. Well, I'm gettin' tired / of runnin'
round
I believe I'll get married / and
I'll settle down
'Cause this old night life / this
old sportin' life
It's killin' me
2. Well, I've been a gambler / and
a cheater, too
And now it's my time / my time to
lose
And it makes me worry / it makes
me wonder
What am I gonna do?
3. My mama used to fall down / on
her knees and pray
And these are the very / words she
did say
She said, "son / won't you please
Change your lowdown ways?"
4. Now I've played every roadhouse
/ every honky-tonk and bar
And I've seen the world, boys / from
behind this guitar
And sometimes I wonder / have I gone
nowhere
Or have I gone too far?
5. Yeah, I'm gettin' tired / of runnin'
round
I believe I'll get married / and
I'll settle down
'Cause this old night life / this
mean old sportin' life
It's killin' me.
| "Sportin'
Life" appears on the Steve Haggard CD,
Mysterious Ways.
Available on Wild Oats Records (OAT-714) |