Author: Craig Market
Artist: Ronnie Bowman
Album: Starting Over (2002)

In an old folks home just off the well beaten path
I visit my grandma and learn of our past
One day as I walked down the hall I passed by
An old man with tears in his eyes

At a glace I could see he was gentle and sweet
I straightened his pillow and covered his feet
Then the old man reached out softly touching my hand
He smiled and these few words began

Chorus I:
If I don’t drink rye whiskey, rye whiskey I’ll die
I could see it meant something by the look in his eye
The old man just lay there repeating that line
If I don’t drink rye whiskey, rye whiskey I’ll die

Then they told me a story that’s sad but it’s true
Of how he’d no family or friends that they knew
In an old army jacket on the outskirts of town
That’s how the old man was found

They thought him a drunkard who just lost his mind
‘Cause All he would say were these words all the time
They brought him here ten years ago to this day
Still all the old man would say

Chorus I

When I walked in the room grandma instantly knew
She said my dear boy what’s been bothering you
So I told her the story of the man I just met
Grandma looked up and she said

If I don’t drink rye whiskey were the words to a song
I sang back when I was a kid
And it told of a solder who made it through war
And found out his true love was dead

Chorus II:
If I don’t drink rye whiskey, rye whiskey I’ll die
I knew it meant something by the look in his eye
Now I know why the old man just laid there and cried
If I don’t drink rye whiskey, rye whiskey I’ll die
His heart was still breaking after all of this time
If I don’t drink rye whiskey, rye whiskey I’ll die