Rough On The Living

His picture was in all the papers They said that a legend had passed The late evening news did a special report And swore that his memory would last They're playing his records all weekend Praising the life that he lived Nashville is rough on the living But she really speaks well of the dead The wife that they interviewed cried Is the same one who left him last fall And the record producer who called him a hero Is the one who wouldn't answer his calls The ladies they sit over coffee Bragging bout sharing his bed They didn't want him around when he's living But he's sure a good friend when he's dead They observed twenty seconds of silence At the Opry on Saturday night And they're searching the bars and the basements For some souvenir of his life They're planning a book for September Showing his plain country roots Any they're selling the rights to the movie And the Hall of Fame's getting his boots At the funeral somebody recited a poem That told how he suffered and bled Nashville is rough on the living But she really speaks well of the dead Yeah Nashville is rough on the living But she really speaks well of the dead