Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson (VH1 Storytellers)
Worried Man Lyrics:
[Nelson:] You wrote a song that I did on a Reggae album that I did. And you had,
you got a house over in Jamaica, don'tcha?
[Cash:] Mmm-hmmh.
[Nelson:] And you know a lot of those folks over there.
[Cash:] Yeah.
[Nelson:] So I did this song called, "Worried Man," and did it on the Reggae
album. It's, it really sounds good with those guys playin' it.
[Cash:] Good, I haven't heard it. I'm anxious to hear it. Lemme, lemme tell
you how I wrote th... I come to write it. Ah, you were there and you probably
went through a little town called Falmouth, on the north, north shore, ah, between,
uh, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. And, uh, I was walkin' along the streets of Falmouth
one day and this, this bum came up and he said, uh, he recognized me, he said, "Mr.
Cash, I'm a 'rr'd man. I'm very worr'd man." I thought, man, here's a new approach.
I've never had this one before (chuckles). I said, ah, "O.K., what are you worried
about?" He said, he said, "I got a wife and nine pikni [1] and no job, and that makes
me a worried man." So after I left him on the way back to, to our home I wrote this:


[Nelson & Cash:]
Worried man, worried man.
I'm a very worried man.
Hungry babies don't understand,
Papa is a worried man.
[Cash:]
Papa is a worried man.

[Nelson:]
The place I used to draw my pay,
Slammed the door on me today.
Told me just to stay away,
And don't come back again.

Well, I went back home to break the news,
My woman saw that I had the blues.
She said the babies need new shoes.
Now, I'm a worried man.

[Both:]
Worried man, a worried man.
I'm a very worried man.
Hungry babies don't understand,
Papa is a worried man.
Papa is a worried man.

[Instrumental break.]

[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/3Hfk ]
[Cash:]
There is no way that I can see,
That I can feed my family.
I don't own a money tree.
I don't own no land.

[Nelson:]
But I said, "Mamma, don't you cry,
I'll get a job before the day goes by.
I don't know where and that is why,
I'm a worried man.

[Both:]
Worried man, oh, worried man.
I'm a very worried man.
Hungry babies don't understand,
Papa is a worried man.
Papa is a worried man.
[Cash:]
Papa is a worried man.


[Nelson chuckles.]
[Applause.]
[Cash:] You know, I guess there, there really is a story behind every song. You know?
[Nelson:] Mmm-hmm.
[Cash:] No matter what the song, there's a story behind it.
[Nelson:] Mmm-hmm.
[Cash:] Even if you stole it.
[Laughter.]
[Nelson:] Yeah, what do you wanna...
[Cash:] No, I'm not kiddin' ya. You know a song, I had a, a song, recorded a song by
Jack Clement. Written by Jack Clement called, uh, uh, "I Guess Things Happen That Way."
There's the tune to, When the Red, Red Robin, comes bob, bob, bobbin' along.
[Nelson:] Yeah.
[Cash chuckles.]
[Nelson:] Did you know it was when you wrote...
[Cash:] No, no I didn't. I didn't realize it at the time. He told me later that's where
he got the (? inaudible ?).
[Nelson:] Well, you know Kris wrote a song called, "Let's All Get Together And Steal Each
Other's Songs."
[Laughter.]
[Cash:] Want some water, Willie?
[Nelson:] Sure. We got water, coffee and hot chocolate.
[Cash takes a drink.]
[Nelson:] What's gonna happen to our image?
[Laughter.]
[Cash:] Lord.
[Laughter.]
[Cash:] As long as we keep wearin' black, I think we might be alright. I dunno.


[WORRIED MAN]
[Written by: John R. Cash & June Carter Cash
Performed by: Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
Appears on: VH1 Storytellers-1998 (Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson)]

[1] Pikni is the Jamaican word for children or kids.]
Lyrics: Worried Man, Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson (VH1
Storytellers) [end]