John Cotton lived North, of the Auburn borderline
Now he and I we had our fun, 'mongst our whiskey and our rye
We swore like sailors and we hurt like men
Weekend after weekend and over again
Ol' Johnny Cotton and I, we had our fun
If women couldn't kill us, we left it to the booze
Dead end friends, condemned to comprehend, lowly livin', takin' abuse
We did our best, with all we had
To raise ourselves some Cain
Ol' John and I were troubled souls nourished by our pain
Now Johnny knew, how to turn a fool, of any man he'd meet
And Johnny knew how to take a clue, ten steps ahead of me
For a man who knew, no fiddlin' tunes
He played my horse-hair well
Ol' Johnny Boy was dragging me, down with him to hell
Ol' Johnny Boy loved wastin', his life on the highs he was chasin'
Never, having nothing, but his name
Till one night there was a fight, between us and the booze
And whiskey ain't cheap, so it wasn't tough, Johnny had to choose
The stuff he knew, through and through
Never let him down
Ol' Johnny Boy he picked the liquor, and the liquor brought him down
Ol' Johnny Boy loved wastin', his life on the highs he was chasin'
Never, having nothing, but his name