"Better Than I Deserve" lyrics

When my granddaddy was a boy
He walked for miles and miles
From Buckhannon to Ole Jane Lew
To find a place to stay awhile

It wasn't a home he'd made his own
But one for wayward boys
Said, "The food was hard and the women cold
But it's better than I deserve"

It's just another place to be alone
Another war that can't be won
If I could pull my boots back on
I'd still be left with just the one
But the only truth I've ever known
You can't take it with you when you're gone

An orphan left alone to die
He never bothered to lay down and cry
So he packed his grip, he traveled extra light
Said, "My only plans was for tonight"

He was small in his frame
But neither blind nor he lame
So he told a lie that put him in the sky
Uncle Sam gave him a plane

It's just another place to be alone
Another war that can't be won
If I could pull my boots back on
I'd still be left with just the one
But the only truth I've ever known
You can't take it with you when you're gone

In nineteen forty-five they shot his gunner
Down in broad daylight
Crying, "Glory be! What a day to die!
But you'll never have me alive"

And after four days he was saved at sea
Floated right on by the enemy
Took him home to die with some dignity
And that better than I deserve

It's just another place to be alone
Another war that can't be won
If I could pull my boots back on
I'd still be left with just the one
But the only truth I've ever known
You can't take it with you when you're gone

Yeah, the only truth I've ever known
You can't take it with you when you're gone