From the recording Daddy
My dad was never really a Buck Owens fan. My Grandma Barker remarried when I was about eight years old, and her husband Chet Riggins loved Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. Chet played Buck’s music for us on 8-Track tapes, and of course I saw him on the country variety show Hee Haw every Sunday night.
I thought it was funny then, but once I revisited Buck’s music as an adult, I came to truly appreciate it. Now he’s one of my all-time favorites! No classic country collection would be complete without a little Bakersfield influence.
This one’s for Chet.
Lyrics
He’s in some honky tonk tonight I know
Dancing where the music’s loud and lights are low
In a crowded bar he likes to hang around
And as long as there’s a honky tonk, he’ll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks, lock all the doors
Don’t let the one I love go there anymore
Close up the honky tonks, throw away the key
Then maybe the one I love will come back to me
Oh I wish I had the power to turn back the time
And live again the hours when he was all mine
It hurts to see him running with that crowd downtown
And as long as there’s a honky tonk, he’ll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks, lock all the doors
Don’t let the one I love go there anymore
Close up the honky tonks, throw away the key
Then maybe the one I love will come back to me