I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am
Composer(s): Merle Haggard
First recording/First release by: Merle Haggard & The Strangers - 1968
Covered by multiple other artists



Things I learned in the hobo jungle
Were things they never taught me in a class room
Like where to find a hand out
While thumbin' through Chicago in the afternoon

Hey, I'm not braggin' or complainin'
I'm just talkin' to myself man to man
This old mental fat I'm chewin' didn't take a lot o' doin'
But I take a lot of pride in what I am

I guess I grew up a loner
Don't remember ever havin' any folks around
But I keep thumbin' through the phone books
And lookin' for my Daddy's name in ev'ry town

And I meet lots of people
But I always wind up leavin' on the lam
Hey, where I've been or where I'm going didn't take a lot o' knowin'
But I take a lot of pride in what I am

I never travel in a hurry
'Cause I got nobody waitin' for me anywhere
Home is anywhere I'm livin'
If it's sleepin' on some vacant bench in City Square

Or if I'm working on some road gang
Or just livin' off the fat of our great land
I never been nobody's idol, but at least I got a title
And I take a lot of pride in what I am

This old mental fat I'm chewin' didn't take a lot o' doin'
And I take a lot of pride in what I am
Oh, where I've been or where I'm going didn't take a lot o' knowin'
But I take a lot of pride in what I am