One Piece At A Time Uke tab by Johnny Cash

A|-0-0-0---1-1-1---1-1-1---0-0-0-0-|
E|11-111---111-1---000-0-011-111-1-|
C|-000-00122-2222100-0002--000-000-|
G|-2-2-2---3-3-3---0-0-0---1-1-1-1-|

[Intro]
F Bb C F

Same pattern throughout the song.

[Verse 1]
Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
And went to Detroit, working on assembly line
The first year, they had me putting wheels on Cadillacs

Every day, I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes, I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black

One day, I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand

Now, getting caught meant getting fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand

[Chorus]
I'd get it one piece at a time
And it wouldn't cost me a dime
You'd know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around

[Verse 2]
So the very next day, when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friend
I left that day with a lunchbox full of gears

I've never considered myself a thief
But GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years

The first day, I got me a fuel pump
And the next day, I got me an engine and a trunk
Then I got me a transmission and all the chrome

The little things I could get in my big lunchbox
Like nuts and bolts and all four shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home

Now, up to now, my plan went alright
'Til we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong

The transmission was a '53
And the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts, all the holes were gone

So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help from an adaptor kit
We had that engine running just like a song

Now the headlights, they was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch, all three of 'em come on

The back end looked kind of funny too
But we put it together and when we got through
Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tail fin

About that time my wife walked out
And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts
But she opened the door and said, "Honey, take me for a spin"

So we drove up town just to get the tags
And I headed her right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughing for blocks around

But up there at the courthouse, they didn't laugh
'Cause to type it up, it took the whole staff
And when they got through, the title weighed sixty pounds

[Chorus]
I got it one piece at a time
And it didn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around

[Outro]
Uh, yeah, Red Ryder?
This is the Cotton Mouth in the Psycho-Billy Cadillac, come on
Huh? This is the Cotton Mouth
And negatory on the cost of this machine, there, Red Ryder
You might say I went right up to the factory and picked it up
It's cheaper that way
Uh, what model is it?
Well, it's a '49, '50, '51, '52, '53, '54, '55, '56, '57, '58, '59 automobile
It's a '60, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70 automobile