I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am Merle Haggard

[Verse]
Things I learned in a hobo jungle
Were things they never taught me in a classroom
Like where to find a handout
While bumming through Chicago in the afternoon
Hey, I'm not bragging or complaining
I am just talking to myself man to man
This old mental fat I'm chewing didn't take a lot of doing
But I take a lot of pride in what I am

I guess I grew up a loner
I don't remember ever having any folks around
But I keep thumbing through the phone books
And looking for my daddy's name in every town
And I meet lots of friendly people
But I always wind up leaving on the lam
Where I've been or where I'm going
Didn't take a lot of knowing
But I take a lot of pride in what I am

I never travel in a hurry
Because I got nobody waiting for me anywhere
Home is anywhere I'm living
If it's sleeping on some vacant bench in city squares
Or if I'm working on some road gang
Or just living off the fat of our great land
I never been nobody's idol, but at least I got a title
And I take a lot of pride in what I am