When I Get to Heaven

Album: The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)
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  • When I get to heaven, I'm gonna shake God's hand
    Thank him for more blessings than one man can stand
    Then I'm gonna get a guitar and start a rock-n-roll band
    Check into a swell hotel, ain't the afterlife grand?

    And then I'm gonna get a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
    Yeah, I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
    I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
    'Cause this old man is goin' to town

    Then as God is my witness, I'm gettin' back into show business
    I'm gonna open up a nightclub called "The Tree of Forgiveness"
    And forgive everybody ever done me any harm
    Well, I might even invite a few choice critics, those syph'litic parasitics
    Buy 'em a pint of Smithwick's and smother 'em with my charm

    'Cause then I'm gonna get a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
    Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
    I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
    Yeah this old man is goin' to town

    Yeah when I get to heaven, I'm gonna take that wristwatch off my arm
    What are you gonna do with time after you've bought the farm?
    And then I'm gonna go find my mom and dad, and good old brother Doug
    Why I bet him and cousin Jackie are still cuttin' up a rug
    I wanna see all my mama's sisters, 'cause that's where all the love starts
    I miss 'em all like crazy, bless their little hearts
    And I always will remember these words my daddy said
    He said, "Buddy, when you're dead, you're a dead pecker-head"
    I hope to prove him wrong that is, when I get to heaven

    'Cause I'm gonna have a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
    Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
    I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
    Yeah this old man is goin' to town
    Yeah this old man is goin' to town Writer/s: JOHN E PRINE
    Publisher: Downtown Music Publishing
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • D. Davis from Kalamazoo, MiThe line should read "Buy 'em a pint of Smithwick's". The proper Irish pronunciation is "Smih-dick's" which fits right into the song.
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