One Piece At A Time Lyrics & Chords By Johnny Cash

Well I left Kentucky back in '49 and
Went to Detroit workin' on the assembly line
The first year they had me puttin' wheels on Cadillacs
Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
Cuz I always wanted me one that was long and black
One day I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it outta there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least 100 grand

I'd get it one piece at a time
And it wouldn'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
Cuz I'll have the only one there is around

So the very next day when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friend
I left that day with a lunchbox 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 lunchbox
Like nuts and bolts and all 4 shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out my buddy's mobile home
Now up to now my plan went alright
'Til we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that somethin' was definitly wrong
The transmission was a '53 and
The 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 help from an adapter kit
We had that engine runnin' just like a song
Now the headlights, they was another sight
We had 2 on the left and 1 on the right
But when we pulled out the switch all 3 of 'em come 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 1 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 uptown just to get the tags and
I headed her right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around
But up there at the court house they didn't laugh
Cuz to type it up it took the whole staff and
When they got through the title weighed 60 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 the only one there is around.

Ugh! Yow, RED RYDER
This is the COTTON MOUTH
In the PSYCHO-BILLY CADILLAC Come on

Huh, This is the COTTON MOUTH
And negatory on the cost of this mow-chine there RED RYDER
You might say I went right up to the factory
And picked it up, it's cheaper that way
Ugh!, what model is it?

Well, 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.