Miller, Roger - Vance Lyrics






He was born one mornin' it was cold and it was snowin'
And from the start he never had a chance
And though the doctors said he couldn't live his mama had some faith to give
And they brought him to her and his mama named him Vance
He was sick a long time then I used to sit by him
I'd rub his head he would squeeze my hand
But he never cried he'd grit his teeth and smile at me cause he couldn't speak
And that's when I began to respect the little man
And I think Vance was three right about then
He started school and one day he came home and at the doorway
I could tell the little man didn't want to come inside
He'd met a girl but her boyfriend Smitty
Had caught him walkin' home with her and nearly killed Vance
But then Vance never cried and the only thing that Smitty hurt was pride
And he said papa do you become a man when you're twenty one
And I said age doesn't make a man a man my son
He looked at me so puzzled with eyes so young and kind
And I think Vance was seven about that time

I guess they say that first love is the very best
At least it was with Vance cause he'd scratched Becky on his desk
But Becky went with Smitty and Vance was very small
And he used to dream what it'd be like to be tall
And then a few years later Vance came in one day
And told me and his mama that he had to go away
To be fitted for a uniform and though his mama shed a tear
He kissed her and said he'd see us in two years
And he looked at me and said papa I'm gonna be a man
Well two years to the day Vance came walkin' in the driveway
And I didn't recognize him from his size till he got near
He came in and he hugged his mama
And said hey papa little man wanna go with me somewhere and grab a beer
So we're sittin' at this table when this fella at the bar started buggin' Vance
Callin' him soldier but Vance kept his cool
And he said papa that guy is Smitty and he's to be pitied now
Cause that's the same guy that used to bully me in school
Then Smitty said the wrong thing when he brought up Becky's name
And Vance finally stood and said boy what did you say
And it did my heart so much good when Vance hit ole Smitty
And it took two of Smitty's friends to carry him away
Well Vance left the very next mornin' and it was cold and it was snowin'
And from the first life hadn't been much fun
But he had finally made a stand and he'd become a self made man
And incidentally he had just turned twenty one





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Miller, Roger Vance Comments
  1. K.... V....

    Was he related to the Vance family or is it a different name because miller is my grandmother's maiden name.

  2. M.... R....

    This was Roger's last record from 1968 to reach the Hot 100.
    Roger Miller
    "Vance"
    #80 Pop, #15 A/C, December 1968.

  3. w.... J....

    Roger had so many songs. One Dying and a Burying was my favorite. Old Toy Trains too. Thanks for this one. I had never heard this.

  4. a.... ....

    Bobby Russell really did have a way with his song lyrics. Great story.........makes me feel good whenever I hear this one. It's on an a 1990 Australian CD issued by Polygram in their Startrax series - 27 songs - "Roger Miller - The Country Singer" (Mercury 846941-2).

  5. V.... C....

    I was named after this song. I was born in 69 and my dad loved this song. I really miss him.

  6. V.... -....

    My mom named me after this song
    True story :)

  7. M.... ....

    Pure genius.

  8. C.... L....

    Sentimental tosh.

  9. H.... ....

    Did they just re-use the backing track from "Honey"?

  10. A.... F....

    this song teaches you loads of life lessons.

  11. D.... A....

    love this song brings tears to my eyes.I had childhood cancer at age 5 and my dad used to sing this to me.I also was bullied at comprehensive school and college lost my dad in 2009 but this brings back happy memories. I am a happy man aged 47 now

  12. H.... ....

    Bob Vance from Vance Refrigeration.

  13. s.... ....

    Nice song. But I enjoy the flip side more.

  14. W.... W....

    This is the first time I ever heard this song and it really touched me. I guess its a combination between Rogers voice and the lyrics and the story he is telling us. Regardless that Roger didnt write it . . . he sang it as if he had.

  15. C.... C....

    Roger Miller didn't write this song.

    C.... C....

    Ok.... don't leave us songwriting completists hanging - who wrote this master piece? Not that Roger didn't make it his own when he stood behind that mic though.

    C.... C....

    Bobby Russell wrote this song. Miller's recording hit #80 on the Billboard charts in 1968. He also wrote "Little Green Apples" which Roger also recorded, hitting #12 on the Billboard year end Hot 100 in 1968.

    C.... C....

    Thanks Nathan! I should've known it was Bobby Russell - he left in his wake a ton of great Country songs.

    C.... C....

    So what? He sure sang it well. And you might have added the name of the songwriter instead of appearing to diss Roger Miller.

  16. c.... k....

    Vance was born with challenges, grew up, became a soldier, served his country, smacked down a bully for disrespecting a woman and became a "self-made" man by the age of 21 in his dad's eyes... Far from being a loser or a hard luck case, my friend. There are many like him in our world.. Listen to the lyrics, enjoy and think about it

    c.... k....

    carl kirby classic good tale

  17. S.... ....

    vance sounds like a real loser hard luck case

    S.... ....

    Sounds like YOU are the loser...

  18. d.... ....

    indeed Roger was a genius a very talented man. My dad had several of his record albums in the sixties I was the skinny little Hispanic kid singing Kansas city star that's what I are.

  19. D.... C....

    I named my son after this song! So happy to have found this! Thank you:) 

  20. F.... B....

    I love this song.Always did.Came across it accidendally.as a lot of you did.I had my second son in 1979,and was running out of time to name him.(hospital rules at the time)
    and I thought back to this beautiful song.I figured.can't go wrong here,so I named him Vance Trevor.Today,Vance is "35",6"2 1/2,200+#,and has a boy which makes me a granddad again.(no prob) Vance has never regretted the name and is very proud of it.
    And,by the way,I have the "45".Thanks for listening.

  21. h.... ....

    I used to be bullied a lot in school when I was a kid, and I found this song back then on a reel to reel recorder that my dad traded for from a Viet Nam vet. I loved it, and related to it in a way that I never could anything else in music. Listening to Roger like listening to a big brother on this cut, and the beauty of it always made me cry, and it still does to this day.  He was a genius writer, and very brave to have put something like this out, especially on a single, back in those days.  I only wish someone would put out something like this now.  Sentimentality is completely gone now from Country Music, unfortunately for us all...

    h.... ....

    You are mostly right, but we still have true Country in the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Randy Travis, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Clint Black and Dwight Yoakam.

    h.... ....

    +CashPresley32 You are right about that of course. But listening to what's on the Top 40 these days is very depressing for most of us who lived back when this song "Vance" came out.

    h.... ....

    @hbbeverly I may be 26, but I do not like much Country past the 80s, and love the stuff from the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s, and most of the Rock N Roll I like is from the 50s to the mid 60s.

  22. J.... C....

    My wife used to have this but lost it you have made her happy with this upload.................thanks

  23. D.... M....

    Wow that is a great song. Roger had a serious side in music that was unbelievable but he really is only known for funny songs but he wrote and even recorded several extremely great songs like this one.

  24. E.... B....

    This is the very first song i remember hearing in my life. I was about 5. Wow.

  25. s.... ....

    been looking for this forever!! must be I had the title wrong! thankx for posting!

  26. d.... ....

    I had just turned 3 in '68-heard this song on this album growing up & got hung on it for some reason-I can say that Roger Miller may have had a few screws loose, but he could also do serious music as well-he has been missed, along with all the other talented people that we lost from a time when music was music & not the half-hearted noise they try to pass off as music today

  27. o.... ....

    There is no way to replace them, but we can share all of them. This will keep all of them alive!

  28. f.... s....

    absolute classic...takes me back to my childhood...

  29. K.... D....

    What a great song...I'm a big Miller fan, but I don't think I have ever heard this one. GREAT!

  30. j.... ....

    no great talent no more

  31. T.... ....

    Thank you for this. As much as I liked the music of the mid-late sixties I'm sad that so many great artists and so much great music fell out of ' favor' and just kind of faded away----

  32. b.... ....

    @rafhenlow I know my father passed down the music of Roger Miller Townes Van Zandt Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly to me adn I hope to pas them on down to my niece and children

  33. b.... ....

    @geebeeman1 another couple more you would probaly like would be england swings or me and bobby mcgee. Yes this is a very big difference from I'm a nut and you can't rollerskate in a buffalo herd.

  34. b.... ....

    Great Great Great song extremely wonderful.

  35. b.... ....

    I'm just a young child and I enjoy this music Roger Miller is great. If you like Roger Miller you might like these artists also search them here on youtube, Townes Van Zandt, Woody Guthrie, and Lead Belly. They are also great.

  36. T.... ....

    @wildcman For more chart info., check my video descriptions underneath the videos.

  37. j.... w....

    i remember very well..playing this song while I served as a DJ in armed forces radio in Japan. Back in the day I never thought I'd see a serious side to Roger Miller...well this one certainly hit me like a brick wall..something special! thx for uploading limepopsicle

  38. g.... ....

    I agree to all of the other positive comments! A touching song!...In spite of some of Roger Miller's other "silly" songs, this shows his sensitive side. (Other examples of his ,also, are "Husbands and Wives" and One Dying and a Burying".

  39. M.... ....

    What a great song - I haven't heard it in years and it broght back a lot of memories from back in the day.

    Thanks for posting the song.

  40. D.... ....

    this is my favorite of Roger, thanks for posting

  41. v.... ....

    i just found this song when listening to music its strange because my name is vance in real life so i found this kinda creepy

  42. M.... B....

    Roger was a truly gifted singer-songwriter that wrote novety tunes that make us laugh and sing along. When he got serious there is a different side of him that chills you to the bone. This song is a true gem and arguably his best song he's recorded that demenstrates his talent. None of us will ever see the talents like him again.

  43. D.... W....

    I had this album! why did I sell it?!

  44. T.... ....

    You're welcome! No one can replace the great singers of years gone by.

    T.... ....

    TheLimePopsicle what a beautiful song ! Thank you Lime Popsicle !

  45. A.... P....

    Had this on an L.P. Miss listening to this song. Man we have lost some talent over the last decade or so. What do we have to replace them?, flippin' boy/girl bands & no talent. Thanks for posting!

  46. J.... P....

    found this on a jukebox and liked it very much and the relative likeness of my growing up. Sleep good Roger. Thanks.

  47. t.... ....

    OK, so now I know what the folks named me after, the hard part is living up to it.

  48. T.... ....

    You're welcome, this is likely one of his hardest to find recordings.

  49. p.... ....

    Thanks so much for posting this, I haven't heard this song for over 30 years and had been searching for it on the net in the last few years but couldn't remember it was Roger Miller who sang it. Only just found out and checked youtube and here it is only days after you posted it!

  50. T.... ....

    You're welcome!