Old Doc Brown Lyrics - Hank Snow

(Spoken) 

He was just an old country doctor 

In a little Kentucky town 

Fame and fortune had passed him by 

But we never saw him frown 

As day by day in his kindly way 

He served us one and all 

Many a patient forgot to pay 

Altho' doc's fees were small 

But Old Doc Brown didn't seem to mind 

He didn't even send out bills 

His only ambition was to find 

It seems, sure cures for aches and ills 

Why nearly half the folks in my home town 

Yes, I'm one of them too 

Were ushered in by Old Doc Brown 

When we made our first debut 

Tho' he needed his dimes and there were times 

That he'd receive a fee 

He'd pass it on to some poor soul 

That needed it worse than he 

But when the depression hit our town 

And drained each meager purse 

The scanty income of Old Doc Brown 

Just went from bad to worse 

He had to sell all of his furniture 

Why, he couldn't even pay his office rent 

So to a dusty room over a Livery stable 

Doc Brown and his practice went 

On the hitchin' post at the curb below 

To advertise his wares 

He nailed a little sign that read 

'Doc Brown has moved upstairs' 

There he kept on helpin' folks get well 

And his heart was just pure gold 

But anyone with eyes could see 

That Doc was gettin' old 

And then one day he didn't even answer 

When they knocked upon his door 

Old Doc Brown was a-lyin' down 

But his soul - was no more 

They found him there in an old black suit 

And on his face was a smile of content 

But all the money they could find on him 

Was a quarter and a copper cent 

So they opened up his ledger 

And what they saw gave their hearts a pull 

Beside each debtor's name 

Old Doc had (*writ) these words, 'Paid in full' 

It looked like the potter's field for Doc 

That caused us some alarm 

'Til someone 'membered the family graveyard 

Out on the Simmons farm 

Old doc had brought six of their kids 

And Simmons was a grateful cuss 

He said, Doc's been like one of the family 

So, you can let him sleep with us 

Old Doc should have had a funeral 

Fine enough for a king 

It's a ghastly joke that our town was broke 

And no one could give a thing 

'Cept Jones, the undertaker 

He did mighty well 

Donatin' an old iron casket 

That he'd never been able to sell 

And the funeral procession, it wasn't much 

For grace and pomp and style 

But those wagon loads of mourners 

They stretched out for more than a mile 

And we breathed a prayer as we laid him there 

To rest beneath the sod 

This man who'd earned the right 

To be on speaking terms with God 

His grave was covered with flowers 

But not from the floral shops 

Just roses and things from folks' garden 

And one or two dandelion pots 

For the depression had hit our little town hard 

And each man carried a load 

So some just picked the wildflowers 

As they passed along the road 

We wanted to give him a monument 

Kinda figured we owed him one 

'Cause he'd made our town a better place 

For all the good he'd done 

But monuments cost money 

So, we did the best we could 

And on his grave we gently placed 

A monument - of wood 

We pulled up that old hitchin' post 

Where Doc had nailed his sign 

And we painted it white and to all of us 

It certainly did look fine 

Now the rains and snow has washed away 

Our white trimmings of paint 

And there ain't nothin' left but Doc's own sign 

And that is gettin' faint 

Still, when southern breezes and flickering stars 

Caress our sleeping town 

And the pale moon shines through Kentucky pines 

On the grave of Old Doc Brown 

You can still see that old hitchin' post 

As if an answer to our prayers 

Mutely telling the whole wide world 

Doc Brown has moved up stairs