I was born in a small town In the hills of Tennessee Kentucky raised just a country boy That's all I'll ever be Daddy ran a steel house To keep us kids alive Just doin' what he had to do after momma died Same people that called him no good Meet him in the back woods for a little taste He said I may take your money But don't put yourself above me Don't cut me down as you walk away 'cuz you don't know me, you don't know who I am You don't know the pain that I've been through So don't judge me until you stand where I stand I don't need you or anyone else to approve 'cuz the blood in these veins is tried and true I left home at 16 with a guitar on my back Everything I called my own I carried in a paper sack Spent years of havin?nothin? sleepin?in my car I抎 drive all day and play all night in the honky tonks and bars Same people that called me crazy Said that I抦 too lazy to amount to anything Are the first ones to the stage Just beggin for a little taste Say they knew me when nobody knew my name But you don't know me, you don't know who I am You don't know the pain that I抳e been through So don't judge me until you stand where I stand I don't need you or anyone else to approve Cuz the blood in these veins is tried and true Same people that called me crazy Said that I抦 too lazy to amount to anything Are the first ones to the stage Just beggin for a little taste Say they knew me when nobody knew my name But you don抰 know me, you don抰 know who I am You don抰 know the pain that I抳e been through So don抰 judge me until you stand where I stand I don抰 need you or anyone else to approve Cuz the blood in these veins is tried and true Oh the blood in these veins is tried and true.