I was born in a small town
In the hills of Tennessee
Kentucky raised just a country boy
That's all I'll ever be

Daddy ran a steel house
To keep us kids alive
Just doin' what he had to do after momma died

Same people that called him no good
Meet him in the back woods for a little taste
He said I may take your money
But don't put yourself above me
Don't cut me down as you walk away

'cuz you don't know me, you don't know who I am
You don't know the pain that I've been through
So don't judge me until you stand where I stand
I don't need you or anyone else to approve
'cuz the blood in these veins is tried and true

I left home at 16 with a guitar on my back
Everything I called my own I carried in a paper sack
Spent years of havin?nothin?sleepin?in my car
I抎 drive all day and play all night in the honky tonks and bars
Same people that called me crazy
Said that I抦 too lazy to amount to anything
Are the first ones to the stage
Just beggin for a little taste
Say they knew me when nobody knew my name

But you don't know me, you don't know who I am
You don't know the pain that I抳e been through
So don't judge me until you stand where I stand
I don't need you or anyone else to approve
Cuz the blood in these veins is tried and true

Same people that called me crazy
Said that I抦 too lazy to amount to anything
Are the first ones to the stage
Just beggin for a little taste
Say they knew me when nobody knew my name

But you don抰 know me, you don抰 know who I am
You don抰 know the pain that I抳e been through
So don抰 judge me until you stand where I stand
I don抰 need you or anyone else to approve
Cuz the blood in these veins is tried and true

Oh the blood in these veins is tried and true