ONE PIECE AT A TIME
(Johnny Cash)
JOHNNY CASH (COLUMBIA 10321, 1976)

Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
And went to Detroit working on the assembly line
The first year they had me puttin' wheels on Cadillacs
Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black
One day I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now, gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand

I'd get it one piece at a time
And it wouldn't cost me a dime
You'd know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around

So the very next day when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friend
I left that day with a lunchbox full of gear
I've never considered myself a thief
But GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I'd strung it out over several years
The first day I got me a fuel pump
And the next day I got me an engine and a trump
Then I got me a transmisson and all the chrome
The little things I could get in my big lunchbox
Like nuts and bolts and all four shocks
But the big stuff was snuck out in my buddy's mobile home
Up to now my plan went all right
Till we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitly wrong
The transmission was a '53
And the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone
So we drilled it out, so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help from an adapter kit
We had that engine running just like a song
Now the headlights, there was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch, all three of 'em come on
The back end looked kind of funny too
But we put it together and when we got through
Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tailfin
About that time my wife walked out
I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts
But she opened the door and said, honey take me for a spin
So, we drove uptown just to get the tags
And headed to right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around
But up there at the courthouse they didn't laugh
'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff
And when they got through the title, it weighed 60 pounds

I got it one piece at a time
And it didn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around

Ehh, yeah Red Rider, this is the Cotton Mouth
In a psychobilly Cadillac from ah... hah...
This is the Cotton Mouth
A negatory on the cost of this machine there Red Rider
You might say I went right up to the factory
And picked it up, it's cheaper that way
Ehh, what model is it?
Well it's a 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 automobile
It's a 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 automobile