I've turned sixteen, got a brand new six-string
Haggard and Hank, Sting and Springsteen
Peelin' the paint, every chance I got
Daddy said, 'You're pretty good but it's tough out there
Now stairway to heaven won't get you anywhere
Oughta cut your hair and get a real job'

So I started a band and we got out of dodge
In a dodge van with no exhaust
Got high on the fumes but we played our tunes
Ain't no one gonna say I can't
Yeah, I started a band, started a band

Started a band and I met a girl
Sang my songs and rocked her world
Goin' strong but out of the blue one day
She said, 'I can't love a music man'
So I dropped my dream and sold my amp
And I'll be damned if she didn't leave me anyway

So I stared a band with a couple new guys
We played those same old dives
Yeah, we never sold gold, okay, we never sold
Ain't no one gonna say I can't
Yeah, I started a band, yeah, started a band

But the lead picker always played too loud
And him and the drummer had a fallin' out
Bass man stayed out of it and just got drunk
I was Nashville bound, my dreams were bigger
I knocked 'em out they just couldn't pull the trigger
And that's Nashville speak for I stunk as a solo man

So I started a band, we play what we like
On a stage that's eight feet wide
But I got my pride and I got my van
I kept who I am

I started a band
Started a band
Can't get this guitar out my hand
Yeah, I started a band