I got my first guitar when I was just a boy   I was playing the blues instead of playing with toys   Listening to the Opry and dreaming of the neon lights   So it was late to bed and early to rise   I worked the field all day and the crowd all night   My finger on the trigger and Nashville in my sights   I'm the real thing and I sing songs about real life      And I never heard a fiddle called a violin   Never really worried if I fit in   Country ain't what I sing it's what I am   This hat ain't something I wear for style   These boots have been around a while   Country ain't what I sing it's what I am      I learned to drive on a dirt road   Cruised the strip on rock and roll   And drove around on "Miles and Miles of Texas"   And as I grew Daddy showed me now   To earn a living by the sweat of my brow   But he never made me follow in his steps   He said work hard and let the good Lord do the rest      And I never heard a fiddle called a violin   Never really worried if I fit in   Country ain't what I sing it's what I am   This truck ain't something I drive for style   These boots have been around a while   Country ain't what I sing it's what I am      And I never heard a fiddle called a violin   Never really worried if I fit in   Country ain't what I sing it's what I am   This hat ain't something I wear for style   These boots have been around a while   Country ain't what I sing it's what I am