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Track

Tennessee Flat-Top Box

December 01, 1961
From: Tennessee Flat-Top Box (single)
Johnny Cash - Tennessee Flat-Top Box single
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100:
84
Weeks on Billboard Hot 100 Chart:
5

Songwriter: John R. Cash

B-Side: Tall Men

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
In a little cabaret in a south Texas border town
Sat a boy and his guitar and the people came from all around
And all the girls from there to Austin
Were slippin’ away from home and puttin’ jewelry in hock
To take the trip to go and listen
To the little dark-haired boy who played the Tennessee flat-top box
And he would play:

[Instrumental]

[Verse 2]
Well he couldn’t ride or wrangle and he never cared to make a dime
But give him his guitar and he’d be happy all the time
And all the girls from nine to ninety
Were snappin’ fingers, tappin’ toes, and beggin’ him don’t stop
And hypnotized and fascinated
By the little dark-haired boy who played the Tennessee flat-top box
And he would play:

[Instrumental]

[Verse 3]
Then one day he was gone and no one ever saw him ’round
He vanished like the breeze, they forgot him in the little town
But all the girls still dreamed about him
And hung around the cabaret until the doors were locked
And then one day on the Hit Parade
Was the little dark-haired boy who played the Tennessee flat-top box
And he would play:

[Instrumental]

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