I first heard this sung by Walt Roberson wa-a-a-ay back (early Fifties), then he recorded it on his Folkways record, "American Northwest Ballads." Later, I actually learned the song from Rolf Cahn, who had a very close, but slightly different set of words and a slightly different tune. Interesting chords! Gave it a sort of melancholy, almost modal feel. These are the words I use, which are pretty much an amalgam of Walt's and Rolf's versions, plus, perhaps a little inadvertent "folk processing:"

I been a moonshiner for seventeen long years,
I spent all my money on whiskeys and beers.
I'll go to some holler and set up my still,
And I'll sell you a gallon for a two dollar bill.

I'll go to some grocery and drink with my friends;
No woman to foller and see what I spends.
God bless those pretty women, I wish they were mine,
Their breath smells as sweet as the dew on the vine.

Now it's meat when I'm hungry, moonshine when I'm dry,
It's greenbacks when I'm hard-up, and religion when I die.
Now the whole world's a bottle, and life's but a dram.
When a bottle gets empty, it ain't worth a damn.

Then a guitar break, playing the tune of the first two lines, and ending by singing the final two lines, but dropping the last phrase, so:

Now the whole world's a bottle, and life's but a dram.
When a bottle gets empty. . . .

and trail off with the melody on the guitar.

Great song! I often pair it with "Copper Kettle," singing "Copper Kettle" first, then going right into "Moonshiner." Makes a nice combination.

Don Firth