His daddy said, "Son
You ought to quit dreaming
Put your feet on the ground
And your future in the hands of the Lord"
But the boy said, "No
That ain't enough, dad
All you got here is a ceiling
Four walls and a floor"
He left his home
In Buckalou County
He went thumbing and sleeping on the roadside
Living in jeans
Along about Pittsburgh
He got him a good job
Bought him a brand new Malibu Chevy
That was part of his dreams
He met a pretty girl
She was thinking of a family
He bought a lot of tapes for his Malibu Chevy
But he didn't want more
And the pretty girl said
"Boy you ought to slow down"
He said, "Who needs a ceiling
Four walls and a floor?"
He did a little drinking
He did a little gambling
Shot a little nine ball
Bet a little money on the football games
He picked up a habit
He got it on the sidewalk
His habit got bigger
But his weekly paycheck
Stayed the same
His daddy wrote letters
But he never answered
The pretty girl begged him
To give up the habit
And to work on a change
It was a real small gun
And a real small robbery
They locked him up
And they traded him a number
For his name
It ain't no big news
It ain't no big story
You didn't see it in the paper
So I guess we ought to put it in a song
The boy got hooked
And he couldn't get unhooked
And it's happening somewhere now
And maybe that's what's wrong
His daddy said, "Son
You ought to quit dreaming
Put your feet on the ground
And your future in the hands of the Lord"
But the boy said, "No
That ain't enough, dad
All you got here is a ceiling
Four walls
And a floor"