One Piece At a Time
by Johnny Cash
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Well I left Kentucky back in '49, I went to Detroit workin on assembly
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line. The first year they had me puttin wheels on Cadillacs. Every day
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I'd watch them beauties roll by and sometimes I'd hang my head and cry,
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cause I always wanted me one that was long and black. One day I devised
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myself a plan that should be the envy of most any man, I'd sneak it out
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of there in a lunch box in my hand. Now, gettin caught meant gettin
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fired, but I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired. I'd have
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me a car worth at least a hundred grand. I'd get it one piece at a time
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and it wouldn't cost me a dime, you'll know it's me when I come through
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your town. I'm gonna ride around in style, I'm gonna drive everybody
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wild, cause I'll have the only one there is around.
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So the very next day when I punched in with my big lunch box and with
help from a friend, I left that day with a lunch box full of gears.
I've never considered myself a thief, but GM wouldn't miss just one
little piece, especially if I strung it out over several years. The
first day I got me a fuel pump and the next day I got me an engine and a
trunk, then I got me a transmission and all the chrome. The little
things I could get in my big lunch box like nuts and bolts and all four
shocks, but the big stuff I snuck out in my buddy's mobile home. Now,
up to now my plan went all right till we tried to put it all together
one night, and that's when we noticed that somethin was definitely
wrong. The transmission was a '53 and motor turned out to be a '73, and
when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone. So we
drilled it out so that it would fit and with a little bit of help from
an adaptor kit, we had that engine runnin just like a song. The back
Now, the headlights, they was another sight, we had two on the left and
one on the right, but we pulled out the switch and all three of them
came on. The back end looked kinda funny too, but we put it together and
when we got through, well that's when we noticed that we only had one
tail fin. About that time my wife walked out and I could see in her
eyes that she had her doubts, but she opened the door and said honey,
take me for a spin. So we drove up town just to get the tags and we
headed right on down main drag, I could hear everybody laughing for
blocks around. Up there at the courthouse, they didn't laugh because to
type it up it took the whole staff, and when they got through the title
weighed sixty pounds. I got it one piece at a time, and it didn't cost
me a dime, you'll know it's me when I come through your town. I'm gonna
ride around in style, I'm gonna drive everybody wild, cause I'll have
only one there is around.
........
It's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59 automobile
It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70 automobile
