Well, they gave me this old coat Said "It'll keep you mighty warm It'll see you thruogh the winter It's your 'By God' uniform!" So I wear it everyday And I sleep in it at night Now it's twenty shades of ray 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 Cuase 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 inbetween 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 sheechafyin' 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 caot 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 gate 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 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