Lyrics:

The Lovin' Spoonful
Nashville Cats
Words and Music by John B. Sebastian

{guitar intro}

Nashville Cats, play clean as country water.
Nashville Cats, play wild as mountain dew.
Nashville Cats, been playin' since they's babies.
Nashville Cats, get work before they're two.

Well, there's thirteen hundred 'n fifty two
guitar pickers in Nashville.
And they can pick more notes
than the number of ants
on a Tennessee anthill.
Yeah, there's thirteen hundred 'n fifty two
guitar cases in Nashville,
and any one that unpacks 'is guitar
could play twice as better than I will.

Yes, I was just thirteen,
you might say I was a musical
proverbial knee-high.
When I heard a couple
new-sounding tunes on the tubes
and they blasted me sky-high.
And the record man said
every one is a Yellow Sun
record from Nashville.
And up North there ain't nobody buys them,
and I said, 'But I will.'

And it was Nashville Cats, play clean as country water.
Nashville Cats, play wild as mountain dew.
Nashville Cats, been playin' since they's babies.
Nashville Cats, get work before they're two.

Well, there's sixteen thousand eight hundred 'n twenty one
mothers from Nashville.
All their friends play music,
and they ain't uptight
if one of the kids will.
Because it's custom made
for any mother's son
to be a guitar picker in Nashville.
And I sure am glad I got a chance to say a word
about the music and the mothers from Nashville.

And Nashville Cats, play clean as country water.
Nashville Cats, play wild as mountain dew.
Nashville Cats, been playin' since they's babies.
Nashville Cats, get work before they're two.

Pick it!

{guitar finale}