I've always said that if I could have made a living someway in gospel music, I would have loved to had that break, but it never was offered to me, a job in that field, so naturally, I got lost on that other road.

It didn't make much difference what time of night it was, whenever [my father would] come in drunk, he'd say, "Get up and sing me some songs." We didn't want to sing but we sang.

There are questions I'm still not wise enough to answer, just wise enough to no longer ask.

You can't put this possum in a cage

I lay my head on the wheel and the horn begins honking, the whole neighborhood knows that I'm home drunk again.

The only thing different between sinners and saints is one is forgiven and the other ain't.

There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition. I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did.