Daddy sits on the front porch swingin'
Lookin' out on a vacant field
Used to be filled with burly tobacco
Now he knows it never will

My brother found work in Indiana
Sister's a nurse at the old folks home
Momma's still cookin' too much for supper
And me I've been a longtime gone

Been a longtime gone
No I ain't hoed a row since I don't know when
Longtime gone
And it ain't comin' back again

Delia plays that ol' church piano
Sittin' out on her daddy's farm
She always thought that we'd be together
Lord I never meant to do her harm

Said she could hear me singing in the choir
Me I heard another song
I caught wind and hit the road runnin'
And Lord I been a longtime gone

Been a longtime gone
Lord I ain't had a prayer since I don't know when
Longtime gone
And it ain't comin' back again

Now me I went to Nashville
Tryin' to be the big deal
Playin' down on Broadway
Gettin' there the hard way
Livin' from a tip jar
Sleepin' in my car
Hockin' my guitar
Yeah I'm gonna be a star

Now me and Delia singin' every Sunday
Watchin' the children and the garden grow
We listen to the radio to hear what's cookin'
But the music ain't got no soul

Now they sound tired but they don't sound haggard
They got money but they don't have cash
They got junior but they don't have hank
I think, I think, I think...
The rest is...
A longtime gone
No I ain't hit the roof since I don't know when
Longtime gone
And it ain't comin' back I said
A longtime gone
No I ain't honked the horn since I don't know when
Longtime gone
And it ain't comin' back again

I said a longtime longtime longtime gone
Oh it's been a longtime

Longtime longtime longtime gone
Oh it's been a long time gone

Longtime longtime longtime gone
Yeah, yeah