Well, I never was one for trouble, but I reckon it was for me. When I was just a little boy, Pep put me on his knee. And he said, "Dear son, steer clearly on the high road you should stay, 'Cause down there in that valley, boy, them detours make ya stray" He said, "Don't waste tomorrow on today's idle time, It's hard time living on the backroads of your mind!" On the backroads of my mind where the turns are mostly blind Reckoning by rote and memory, Well they've long been neglected and lately you're in decline It's hard time living on the backroads of my mind! Now the years flew by so swiftly and I can't say they was kind The old home and my family, I left it all behind For a life of hopeful fortune, on the highways I did roam But like so many dead-end roads, they left me all alone! I ain't never been to Jackson, where trouble's so easy to find I mourned my fair share here on the backroads of my mind. On the backroads of my mind where the turns are mostly blind Reckoning by rote and memory, Well they've long been neglected and lately you're in decline It's hard time living on the backroads of my mind! On the backroads of my mind where the turns are mostly blind Reckoning by rote and memory, Well they've long been neglected and lately you're in decline It's hard time living on the backroads of my mind! Yes, it's hard time living on the backroads of my mind!