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Well, they gave me this old coat
Said "It'll keep you mighty warm
It'll see you through the winter
It's your by God uniform!"
So I wear it every day
And I sleep in it at night
Now it's twenty shades of gray
And the waist is shrunk too tight
And the bottom's caked and muddy
And the buttons are half gone
But just like you and me
This old gray coat wears on
And when I die in this gray coat
I'm gonna march through heaven's door
I'm gonna walk up to St. Peter
And tell him, "Send me back for more"
Cause I'll be damned if I'll just sit around
While you boys win the war
'Cause even when I'm dead
Shot full of Yankee lead
There'll be part of me keeps hangin' by a thread
Of this old gray coat
When I think of all the places
This old coat and me have been
Through the fat and lean and in-between
Double quick through thick and thin
From the ballrooms down in Richmond
To the top of Marye's heights
From Manassas to the Wilderness
And a hundred other fights
Now the collar's torn and tattered
And the elbow's worn clean through
But, buddy, in a pinch
This old gray coat will do
And when I die in this gray coat
And when they come to bury me
If they commence to speech-afyin'
And singin' "Nearer, Lord, to thee"
Well, be damn sure I ain't just sleepin'
'Cause I flat out guarantee
That even when I'm dead
Shot full of Yankee lead
That the toughest part lives on in every shred
Of this old gray coat
You can cut my throat
You can sink my boat
But you can never stop this old gray coat
When my bones you tote
When that's all she wrote
I'll fight on inside this old gray coat
'Cause when I die in this gray coat
I'm gonna march through heaven's door
I'm gonna walk up to St. Peter
And tell him "Send me back for more"
'Cause I'll be damned if I'll just sit around
While you boys win the war
Even when I'm dead
Shot full of Yankee lead
There ain't nothin' that I'd rather wear instead
Of this old gray coat
This old gray coat
I'll go down in this old gray coat
This old gray coat
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