Merle Haggard — In My Next Life

The blood red sun beat down and baked the red clay ground Dust kicked up around his John Deere wheels No trace of rain in sight, again he'll lose the fight And have to watch his crops die in the fields They stood there, both in tears, his wife of many years Said, "John, you know I hate to lose our farm" He looked into her eyes, then looked up at the skies And told her as he held her in his arms "In my next life, I want to be your hero Somethin' better than I turned out to be I've lived this life behind the plow and harrow In my next life, I'll make you proud of me" The muscles in his arms, just like his run-down farm Soon withered up and slowly disappeared One hard-workin' man, two hard-workin' hands Were giving up after all these years His aging eyes grew dim and the lady that worshipped him Sat cryin' on a chair beside his bed Her hands caressed his brow, she said, "it's alright now" And as he slowly slipped away, he said "In my next life, I want to be your hero Somethin' better than I turned out to be I've lived this life behind the plow and harrow In my next life, I'll make you proud of me" "In my next life, I want to be your hero Somethin' better than I turned out to be I've lived this life behind the plow and harrow In my next life, I'll make you proud of me In my next life, I'll make you proud of me"