Technically, when Jimmy Fallon showed up at the University of Texas at Austin and started singing John Denver’s 1974 “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” he was not — as his modified version of the song says — actually on Dirty Sixth (the street known for being kind of the college’s dive bar row).
But still, there was a lot of authenticity in Fallon’s cold open for The Tonight Show’s special night on campus: he had some real Texas Longhorn cheerleaders, the real Showband of the Southwest marching band, real Longhorn Hellraisers, and real Silver Spurs handlers of Bevo XV. Oh, and a special appearance from Tariq Luqmaan Trotter.
Here are the full lyric’s the Fallon’s cover of the Denver song:
Well life here in Austin is kinda laid back
Got drunk on Dirty Sixth ‘fore I even unpacked
Let’s drink another beer before we head back
Thank God I’m a country boy
Well a Texas kinda life got a real kinda charm
Met a dude named Bevo on a Longhorn farm
Bled burnt orange when he poked me in the arm
Thank God I’m a country boy
Gimme brisket and ribs, a side of fried pickles
Suck down queso, get thick in the middle
Ate hot sauce till it came out my nipples
Thank God I’m a country boy
When my work’s all done and I got a couple bucks
I grab a Bird scooter and I hit the food trucks
Top of my lungs screamin’ “O-U sucks!”
Thank God I’m a country boy
Got a giant belt buckle, boots made of leather
Hot-ass weather, I don’t need a sweater
The hats are all big here, and bigger is better
Thank God I’m a country boy
Gimme brisket and ribs, a side of fried pickles
Drink a Lone Star, pass out by the griddle
Playin’ my guitar counts as workin’ out a little
Thank God I’m a country boy
Gimme brisket and ribs, a side of fried pickles
Drink a Lone Star, pass out by the griddle
Get my stomach pumped at the county hospital
Thank God I’m a country boy
Now it’s time for the show, gotta pick up the pace
Got a roomful of Longhorns, I can’t make ‘em wait
So let’s hear it: “Come early, be loud, stay late!”
Thank God I’m a country boy
Well it’s time to start the show, gonna be a big night
Gotta party with a crowd
Full of lit Austinites
So when I say “Texas!”
You say “Fight!”
Thank God I’m a country boy
The heart of the Southwest
Is deep like Texas
I went to South-by
And saw two of my exes
The Lone Star State
That you best not mess with
They’re barbecuing cowboy steaks for breakfast
Big Bossin’ in the land you could get lost in
I get love from Stubb’s
To the Limits of Austin
Even though I’m a city boy
I bring the Philly noise
Here comes an episode
Everybody will enjoy
Gimme brisket and ribs, a side of fried pickles
I’m a cowboy, now boy, little by little
So I raise up my hand in the Hook ‘em Horns symbol…
Thank God I’m a country boy.
Yeah, back in New York where the lights are all bright
Got city folks tellin’ me, “Hop the next flight.”
But I tell you what, Austin is:
Alright, alright, alright
Thank God I’m a country boy