[Verse 1]
Mama said "You lazy boy
You got to get yourself a job
You can't go on living like this
You know you've upset your pa
Can't you hear how the neighbors talk
You're making us a laughing stock for blocks
Playing on your guitar, such a foolish thing

[Verse 2]
All you want to do is lay around
And listen to your pocket radio
Or wander over to the Jennings house
Where they say you play so loud you shake the floor
And every night you're out 'til three o'clock
You're 'bout to drive me slowly out of my mind
Playing on your guitar, it'll turn your fingers green

[Verse 3]
Papa workin' from dawn to dusk
And every night his back aches worse
Mama, she takes in washing too
And most of what she makes goes to the church
And when I ask 'em why they live this way
They look at me as if I've gone insane
Playing on the guitar, gonna sing with it
[Verse 4]
If I put fourteen new albums out
And say six of 'em made the charts
My mom would still call me on Sunday nights
To ask me if I even got a job
And where did she go wrong, I've hurt her so
She prays to God to save me from my fate
Of playing on the guitar, it's a foolish thing

[Verse 5]
I guess a man is s'posed to work himself
Until he falls into a broken heap
And for his life work he gets a watch
Or maybe a handshake from Mr. Cheap
A song in church or two on Sunday's fine
But never waste your life or lose your mind
Playing on your guitar, hit a lick for ma, boys