My Brother and Me

Grandpa Charlie smoked and drank whiskey
But he died in '43
Nobody like him in all my kin
Untill my brother and me
He died in a small town so far back
They didn't know what hit him maybe a heart attack
That was a drag on my Grandma you know
She never really forgave him for that
Most every year on Christmas Day
My dad and me go down where he lay
I don't know what kind of man he'd be
But he'd like my brother and me

Grandmama married a man she found
Even 'fore Grandaddy hit the ground
Took forty-five years but what do you know
He turned that right around
Grandma would tell about the family
How they come on over from Germany
Oma and Opa was hard folks though
You know how them Germans can be
When she died we cried and sang that day
With the guitars tuned to the doghouse bass
Nobody sings down low and sweet
Not like my brother and me

My Great Grandpappy on my mother's side
Made a whole lot of money before he died
He was a wildcatter and in the Klan besides
And that was a matter of pride
Never wondered where Great Grandpappy went
He lit a cigar 'neath a oxygen tent
A man of secrets I'll never know
Like a letter never sent
They're all livin' like they should
But all the money in the world didn't do 'em no good
Their daughter went and married an old hayseed
And they had my brother and me

What do they say about the small town
You can take the boy out of Bandera
Not the other way around
I don't know but man it's true
Those bright lights will get you down
I'm gonna stay on the old concrete
'Cause them city girls they smell so sweet
I don't know what the hell they see
But they like my brother and me
They like my brother and me
Like my brother a little more than they do me
But they like my brother and me

We go down to the Spur some night
And listen to the river 'neath the pale moon light
And tell our buddies what's it's like to be
Just like my brother and me
Just like my brother and me
Don't mess with my brother and me
Just like my brother and me