“God, I learned more about songwriting from Mickey than I did any other single human being. To me he was a songbird. He comes out with amazing words and music... I’m sure that I never would have written Bobby McGee, Sunday Morning Coming Down... if I had never known Mickey. He was my hero and still is.”

Kris Kristofferson

Mickey Newbury's songs have been covered by hundreds of  artists. Over 1000 covers! Plus, he recorded 25 albums in 35 years. His songs are worth a long study. Here is one of my many favorites.

The Future is Not What it Used To Be

Mickey Newbury

I left Decatur hell bent to forget
Bought a ticket back to Skowhegan Maine
I would up in Seattle so drunk and so rattled
Lord I caught the wrong train

I found some fast easy women and some hard drinkin' men
Swore I'd drown the sorrow in me
Oh I once had a lot
But the future was not not what it used to be

Ah the years they went by I went steadily downhill
til I had no place left to go
Made the missions by mornin' made the dives every night
til I made a wreck of my body and soul

And then I met a lady
In time she made me forget her love set me free
Oh we didn't have a lot
But the future was just not what it used to be

I never thought I would live to get old
For the past cut a hole deep in me

But there was the chance 

To be here a while longer at least I wanted to be

Somebody told me she was in town
I found out today
Lord how it hurts me to hear that she's down
But what else can I say

I know her sorrow I know her pain I know her need
 I once loved her a lot
But the future just not not what it used to be