Well, I grew up wild and free Walkin' these fields in my barefeet There wasn't no place I couldn't go With a .22 rifle and a fishin' pole [Chorus] Well, I live in the city, but don't fit in You know it's a pity the shape I'm in Well, I got no home, and I got no choice Oh, Lord, have mercy on a country boy When I was young, I remember well I'd hunt the wild turkey and Bobwhite quail The river was clear and deep back then Had fishin' lines tied to the willow limb [Chorus] Well, they damned the river, they damned the stream They cut down the Cyprus and the Sweetgum trees There's a laundromat and a barbershop And now the whole meadow is a parking lot [Chorus x 2] Oh, Lord, have mercy on a country boy