I was in a country band in the 1970s
One night we had a flat on the van on the way out to Tennessee
Asked this old mechanic, name of Johnson, for some air
Everybody called him Socrates
Hey what's goin' on Not much of nothin' how 'bout you
That's the way it's done in our hometown
He could talk a stream of nonsense just as pretty as you please
Everybody called him Socrates
He said fame and fortune are easily confused as are luck and destiny
Are you bein' loved boys or bein' used runnin' wild or bein' free
He said the answers to your questions are more questions such as these
Everybody called him Socrates
I got to know him well I even worked for him a while
He had an old guitar we'd pass around once in a while
I never will forget the last few words he said to me
When I finally quit old Socrates
Do you know what you are capable of knowing
Do your hands son ever touch the soil
And do you love all that you are capable of lovin
Do you wnat me to check that oil
Everybody called him Socrates
Yea the Christians called him crazy
And the derelicts agreed
But everybody called him
Socrates