They told him to just fade away
His time had past and all his kind would die

But he remembers when Hank played the Opry high as a kite
While Patsy Cline was out walking after midnight
Well, he saw the torch being passed from Lefty to Merle
Now there's so-called successors but it's hard to find a hero in this world

There ain't no country music for old men
All of the good ones have died or just packed it in
Now there's posers and losers and would-be outlaws who only know how to pretend
But there ain't no country music for old men

He was sitting on a bar stool the first time he heard Jolene
A song by the prettiest angel he'd ever seen
Back when Nashville was swinging and making them deals
While old Buck was out strolling the streets of Bakersfield

There ain't no country music for old men
All of the good ones have died or just packed it in
Now there's posers and losers and would-be outlaws who only know how to pretend
But there ain't no country music for old men
Loretta and Conway, Jones and Tammy Wynette
Songs about prisons and passion and whiskey
That's as good as it's ever gonna get

They call him nostalgic with a permanent case of the blues
He just walks around wondering who's gonna fill their shoes
Looking back on the great ones we've lost, he says why so soon?
He shed an ocean of tears on the graves of Johnny and June

There ain't no country music for old men
All of the good ones have died or just packed it in
Now there's posers and losers and would-be outlaws who only know how to pretend
But there ain't no country music for old men
There ain't no country music for old men