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Tennessee Flat-Top Box Lyrics
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 slipping away from home,
And putting jewelery in hock,
To take the trip,
To go and listen,
To the little dark haired boy that played the Tennessee flat-top box,
And he would play.
Well, he couldn't write or angle,
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 snapping fingers, tapping toes, and begging him don't stop,
And hypnotized,
And fascinated,
By the little dark haired boy that played the Tennessee flat-top box,
And he would play.
Then one day he was gone,
And no one ever saw him 'round,
He vanished like the breeze,
And 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 a little dark haired boy that played a Tennessee flat-top box,
And he would play.
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 slipping away from home,
And putting jewelery in hock,
To take the trip,
To go and listen,
To the little dark haired boy that played the Tennessee flat-top box,
And he would play.
Well, he couldn't write or angle,
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 snapping fingers, tapping toes, and begging him don't stop,
And hypnotized,
And fascinated,
By the little dark haired boy that played the Tennessee flat-top box,
And he would play.
Then one day he was gone,
And no one ever saw him 'round,
He vanished like the breeze,
And 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 a little dark haired boy that played a Tennessee flat-top box,
And he would play.
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This is a great tune, it's a pretty self-explanatory tune about a kid who plays an obscure form of mountain music and he becomes an unexpected hero in the world of popularity. The boy becomes a one-hit wonder and then disappears back into obscurity. This may be the first ballad ever written about a one-hit wonder. It's a classic because Johnny Cash can write a kickass tune.
Flat-top box = acoustic guitar
an uneducated little dark-haired boy from a South Texas border town. This, IMO, implies a Mexican. Not necessarily illegal though seeing as his disappearance was not deporting but apparently him becoming popular on the 'hit parade'
"Well, he couldn't ride or wrangle"
"Well, he couldn't write or angle"
great song by a great legend. johnny cash could pick up a pen and write some of the most beautiful words ever put to music. its a shame he had to leave us too soon. nobody today cant come close to matching his talent. todays musicians are a dime a dozen, but i prefer mine in Cash!
Boy this song takes me back to when I was a young boy, about 5th grade I guess. Mom worked a cafe as the cook, and she had to clean after closing. I used to go there after school and hang around till closing, then go home with mom. After the cafe closed, they would take those quarters painted red with nail polish so the guy would give them back when he emptied the machine, and play that song, as well as the song Mexico that was popular back then. I would lay in that little cove that was where the speakers were on the Jukebox and listen to Johnny Cash tell his story's with such talent and gusto. Man those were the days, about 61 or 62 when God was still a good thing to worship, and the dollar wasn't. When the Duke was still making westerns, and always got the girl, and won in the end.