Come From The Heart lyrics - Guy Clark

When I was a young man my daddy told me
A lesson he learned, it was a long time ago
If you want to have someone to hold onto
You're gonna have to learn to let go

[Chorus]
You got to sing like you don't need the money
Love like you'll never get hurt
You got to dance like nobody's watchin'
It's gotta come from the heart if you want it to work

Now here is the one thing that I keep forgetting
When everything is falling apart
In life as in love, what I need to remember
There's such a thing as trying too hard

[Chorus]

The Indian Cowboy lyrics - Guy Clark

If you ever go out to the circus
Where the Wallendas walk on the wire
I'll tell you a tale to remember
When the white horses leap rings of fire

It was a cold night in Oklahoma
The show was about to begin
The animals they were all restless
When the star horse she broke from her pen

She was a mare of high spirit
Just like a whore on Saturday night
She's kickin' and buckin' past the men who were brushin'
The elephants lyin' on their sides
Next to the tent sat some lanterns
They were dangerously close to the hay
That mare headed straight for those lanterns
Some fool had put there by mistake

Then up stepped some Indian Cowboy
His lasso went whirlin' throught the air
In the full dead middle of danger
He roped that runaway mare

Then the elephants raised up their trumpets
Two of them broke from their chains
Stampeded that Indian Cowboy
Who had saved the big top from flames
So if you ever go out to the circus
Where the Wallendas walk on the wire
You just remember that Indian Cowboy
When the white horses leap rings of fire

To Live Is To Fly lyrics - Guy Clark

Won't say I love you babe
Won't say I need you babe
But, I'm gonna get you babe
And I will not do you wrong
Livin's mostly wastin' time
I waste my share of mine
But it never feels too good
So let's don't take too long
You're soft as glass
And I'm a gentle man
We got the sky to talk about
And the world to lie upon.

Days up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don't turn none away
Everything is not enough
Nothin' is to much to bear
Where you been is good and gone
All you keep is the gettin' there
To live is to fly
Low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes

It's goodbye to all my friends
It's time to go again
Think on all the poetry
And the pickin' down the line
I'll miss the system here
The bottom's low and the treble's clear
But it don't pay to think to much
On things you leave behind
I may be gone
But it won't be long
I will be a-bringin' back the melody
And the rhythm that I find

We all got holes to fill
Them holes are all that's real
Some fall on you like a storm
Sometimes you dig your own
But choice is yours to make
And time is yours to take
Some dive into the sea
Some toil upon the stone
To live is to fly
Low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes

Watermelon Dream lyrics - Guy Clark

The sun was hot and the dust rose up like smoke
So we hid beneath the elm tree and watched the watermelons float
There in a big 'ol tub of ice
And we'd split em open with a kitchen knife
And everybody had a slice it was a watermelon dream

[Chorus]
Ain't nothin' sweeter than a watermelon dream
'Cept sittin on the front porch eatin' that peach ice cream
When life is really sweeter than it seems
That's what you've got to call a watermelon dream

With sticky hands and and faces we fought the yellow-jackets to a draw
Then we used the rind for second base and played a little hard ball
I don't know how much we ate
But we all got the belly-ache
And everybody stayed up what too late
It was a watermelon dream

[Chorus]

Then a little after sundown we'd be runnin out of steam
So we'd light a roman candle and try to hold on tho the dream
Maybe slip out behind a car
Take a little tastes from a jar
Then just lay back and count the stars
That's called a watermelon dream

Doctor Good Doctor lyrics - Guy Clark

I was feelin' depressed I was feelin real low down
I felt so bad I could not get my butt up off the grounds
I was mopin' around the house I was bumpin' into walls
I was cryin' at the Andy Griffith show and I was snappin' and the dog
I was startin' to fear for my sanity
I could not find my ego with both hands

So I decided professional help was the only hope for me
So I called up this number which I'd gotten of T.V.
They said "Are you havin' marital problems Are you emotionally impaired
Are you sure you're bein' followed or Are you just scared of bein' scared?
Well if so you better come on in have a little talk with the doc"

So I did

I said doctor good doctor I got trouble on my mind
Listen to me doc I don't have too much time
I got a feelin' down inside me and it will not go away
You know it hangs on and bangs on my soul every day
Doctor good doctor I'm grabbin' at loose ends
And I haven't felt like I used to since I don't know when
Yesterday go past me today is all the same
And tomorrow really scares me I just can't play the game

He said quit whinin'
He said straighten up and fly right
He said life is not a piece of cake
He wanted to know if my insurance was paid up
Well I'm O.K. You're O.K. if the check's O.K.
Second best hundred dollars I ever spent

"Better Days" (1983)

Blowin' Like A Bandit lyrics - Guy Clark

Lawdy mercy land of goshen shades of gray out on the ocean
Don't you dare take that boat out to sea
For the high seas are runnin' you will sure enough be done in
If you dare take that boat out to sea

Cause out there in the gulf the wind is blowin' like a bandit
And I'm talkin' bout a hurricane and your riggin' will not stand it
There's an ill wind a blowin' you better get back to your moorin'
Don't you dare take that boat out to sea
You better take a weather warnin' you'll be shark bait in the mornin'
If you dare take that boat out to sea

You better give up on that shrimpin' you just might come home a limpin'
If you dare take that boat out to sea
You better not make one more drag you're gonna wind up in a bag
If you dare take that boat out to sea

Cause out there in the gulf the wind is blowin' like a bandit
And I'm talkin' bout a hurricane and your riggin' will not stand it
Lawdy mercy land of goshen shades of gray out on the ocean
Don't you dare take that boat out to sea
For the high seas are runnin' you will sure enough be done in
If you dare take that boat out to sea

Better Days lyrics - Guy Clark

Standing at the window her face to the glass
As far as she can see the time has come to pass
As far as she can see the sky is all ablaze
And this looks like the first of better days

She's takin' charge of her life for a change
She's takin' it back that she's lost
It's just as clear as the window pane
She'll survive at all cost

See the wings unfolding that weren't there just before
On a ray of sunshine she dances out the door
Out into the morning light where the sky is all ablaze
This looks like the first of better days

Homegrown Tomatoes lyrics - Guy Clark

Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin' out in the garden

Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one
Plant 'em in the spring eat 'em in the summer
All winter with out 'em's a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin' & diggin'
Everytime I go out & pick me a big one

Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love & homegrown tomatoes

You can go out to eat & that's for sure
But it's nothin' a homegrown tomato won't cure
Put 'em in a salad, put 'em in a stew
You can make your very own tomato juice
Eat 'em with egss, eat 'em with gravy
Eat 'em with beans, pinto or navy
Put 'em on the site put 'em in the middle
Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle

If I's to change this life I lead
I'd be Johnny Tomato Seed
'Cause I know what this country needs
Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see
When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cemetary
Out in the garden would be much better
I could be pushin' up homegrown tomatoes

Supply And Demand lyrics - Guy Clark

What is that sound what is that noise
I cannot figure it out for the life of me boys
Is it the coast guard or is it the wind
Is it the mother ship comin' again

Convicted on charges of supply and demand he was unloadin' the American Dream
Caught in the middle of a bigger plan it was a South American scheme
He is no smuggler he is a fisherman all of his debts they are owed to the sea
Some call it justice but it just ain't right this ain't live and let live and let be
He sing what is that sound...

Layin' in his cell and thinkin' bout Ulysses
How he picked up his oar and walked away from the sea
Until someone said you ain't from round here are you
And that's how far away he feels
He thinks of his wife and he thinks of his children
And thinks about 'em takin' his boat
He thinks about the killer in the bunk below
And he's tryin' to keep his hopes afloat
He sing what is that sound...
Singin' what is that sound...

The Randall Knife lyrics - Guy Clark

My father had a Randall knife
My mother gave it to him
When he went off to WWII
To save us all from ruin
If you've ever held a Randall knife
Then you know my father well
If a better blade was ever made
It was probably forged in hell

My father was a good man
A lawyer by his trade
And only once did I ever see
Him misuse the blade
It almost cut his thumb off
When he took it for a tool
The knife was made for darker things
And you could not bend the rules

He let me take it camping once
On a Boy Scout jamboree
And I broke a half an inch off
Trying to stick it in a tree
I hid it from him for a while
But the knife and he were one
He put it in his bottom drawer
Without a hard word one

There it slept and there it stayed
For twenty some odd years
Sort of like Excalibur
Except waiting for a tear

My father died when I was forty
And I couldn't find a way to cry
Not because I didn't love him
Not because he didn't try
I'd cried for every lesser thing
Whiskey, pain and beauty
But he deserved a better tear
And I was not quite ready

So we took his ashed out to sea
And poured 'em off the stern
And threw the roses in the wake
Of everything we'd learned
When we got back to the house
They asked me what I wanted
Not the lawbooks not the watch
I need the things he's haunted

My hand burned for the Randall knife
There in the bottom drawer
And I found a tear for my father's life
And all that it stood for

The Carpenter lyrics - Guy Clark

Let us now praise a carpenter and the things that he made
And the way that he lived by the tools of his trade
I can still hear his hammer singing ten penny time
Working by the hour till the day he died

Oh he was tough as a crowbar quick as a chisel
Fair as a plane and true as a level
He was straight as a chalkline and right as a rule
He was square with the world he took good care of his tools

Oh he worked his hands in wood from the crib to the coffin
With a care and a love you don't see too often
He built boats out of wood big boats working in a shipyard
Mansions on the hill and a birdhouse in the backyard
He was tough as a crowbar...

He said anything that's worth cuttin' down a tree for
Is worth doin' right don't the Lord love a two by four
Well they asked him how to do some he'd say just like Noah built the ark
You got to hold your mouth right son and never miss your mark
To be tough as a crowbar...

Uncertain Texas lyrics - Guy Clark

The crickets are singin' the bluegills been bitin'
The fireflies are flashin' with all of their might
Down on the river ol' Reagan went fishin'
He's layin' for a big one on a full moon lit night

We get high on the lake then we float down the river
Get off on the backroads get lost in the woods
Very deep in the heart of uncertain Texas
I tried hard to leave there but never did good

Tomorrow we're havin' the world's largest fish fry
Eat catfish and crappie till they come out our ears
Have it made in the shade of a sleepy pine thicket
Get covered up in chiggers and drink ten tubs of beer
We get high on the lake..

So give him his guitar and a long legged girl
Moonlight in Texas and a sixpack of Pearl

No Deal lyrics - Guy Clark

Now this man down at the used car lot
Tried to sell me four wheels and a trunk.
I said, "Man, there is no engine!",
He said, "The engine's just a bunch of junk.
You don't need no engine to go downhill
And I could plainly see, that that's the direction
You're headed in", and he handed me the keys.
(I said) No deal you can't sell this stuff to me
No deal, I'm going back to Tennessee
Well, I went to a doctor of the highest order,
He said I couldn't have a drink for a year.
One glass of wine on my birthday
If my birthday wasn't too very near.
Lord, he must have put me in a state of shock
'cause I made it for about two weeks
Then he sent me a bill
That knocked me flat off the wagon
And back down on my feet.
When true love knocked upon my door
She'd just barely turned fifteen
And I was a little bit nervous
If you know just what I mean.
But I've heard somewhere
That true love conquers all
And I figured that was that
Then I started having dreams 'bout
Being chased out of town
Wearing nothing but my cowboy hat.
Well, I come through this life a stumbler, my friends
I expect to die that way
It could be twenty years from now
It could be most any day.
But if there is no whiskey and women, Lord,
Behind them heavenly doors
I'm gonna take my chances down below,
And of that you can be sure.

Tears lyrics - Guy Clark

Who ever said the hand is quicker than the eye
Has never tried to brush away a tear
Quicker than a wink there’ll be something inf your eye
You can’t beat a tear if you try

Tears of joy have graced us all
Tears of sorrow sometimes and all
Some tears betray you just before you know
Some tears don’t ever show

Some tears are harder than stone
Some tears are better left alone
I’ve seen them kept in bottles
I’ve seen ‘em left to dry
You can’t beat a tear if you try

Fool In The Mirror lyrics - Guy Clark (aka Fool In A Mirror)

Well I wake up every morning Lord and what do I see
I got a fool in my mirror and he's lyin' to me
He says aw man she's comin' back you just hide and watch
That fool in my mirror singin' the same ol' song
But it still don't change the fact that my baby is gone

I got wrinkles round my eyes I got grey in my hair
I'm puttin' on a little bit of weight but I don't seem to care
Fool say hey slick you lookin' good lie lie lie
That fool in my mirror singin' the same old song
But it still don't change the fact that my baby is gone

Now I just figured out what she meant when she sid
And she was not comin' back so why don't I drop dead
Well I can't live with him I can't live without him
I can't believe a word he says but I don't dare doubt him

He says aw man she just went off to get a loaf of bread
Say you losin' a litle bitty weight aren't you
That fool in my mirror singin' the same old song
But it still don't change the fact that my baby is gone

Now I just figured out what she meant when she sid
And she was not comin' back so why don't I drop dead
Well I wake up every morning Lord and what do I see
I got a fool in my mirror and he's lyin' to me
He says oh man she's comin' back don't worry
That fool in my mirror singin' the same old song
But it still don't change the fact that my baby is gone
But it still don't change the fact that my baby is gone

"The South Coast Of Texas" (1981)




Who Do You Think You Are lyrics - Guy Clark

I like that word cosmic it’s just the way that people
Tend to use it that offends my sense of survival

I love the way you talk honey that’s very rock & roll
You said you come from Texas but I don’t believe so

Who do you think that you are
To be jivin’ me like that
Who do you think you are

Who do you think that you are
To be jivin’ me like that
Who do you think that you are

One leg at a time one leg at a time
Honey I’ll be you put your britches on one leg at a time
You can’t fool me no you can’t fool m
Cause I have been to Fort Worth and you can’t fool me

Who do you think that you are
To be jivin’ me like that
Who do you think you are

You know what the say ‘bout havin too much fun
Oh they tell you that it can’t be done
But I’m feelin’ real good I never have felt greater
I don’t believe you can put too much gravy on tomatoes

Who do you think that you are
To be jivin’ me like that
Who do you think you are

Crystelle lyrics - Guy Clark

That Crystelle, you temptress, you creature of back booths
So accomplished at dancin' when walkin' would do
There's a neon fire in your eyes reflecting off a rhinestone tear
Fixed upon your cheek to see who cares
And that's way too much for a country boy who stares

"Our life is just a private joke", she said it like that was the punch line
Me, I fell in love now, wouldn't you?
And here's a fine madness in the air it comes and goes like honeysuckle
Sent to you free from what to do
Oh, me I fell in love now, wouldn't you?

Oh that Crystelle, she's barely a woman
Oh that Crystelle, she's hardly a child
Oh that Crystelle, I know she saw me comin'
But doesn't Crystelle have a beautiful smile

She's a reason to be reckless, she's the right to Rock 'n' Roll
She's exactly what they meant when they told you not to go
And her breath's as sweet as chewing gum
And her heart's a gold as kingdom come
She's heaven sent and hell bent to run
Oh, me I fell in love now, wouldn't you?

Oh that Crystelle, she's barely a woman
Oh that Crystelle, she's hardly a child
Oh that Crystelle, I know she saw me comin'
But doesn't Crystelle have a beautiful smile

Oh that Crystelle, she's barely a woman
Oh that Crystelle, she's hardly a child
Oh that Crystelle, I know she saw me comin'
But doesn't Crystelle have a beautiful smile

Oh me, I fell in love now, wouldn't you?

New Cut Road lyrics - Guy Clark

Coleman Bonner was a fiddle playin’ fool
A backwoods rounder and a breaker of mules
Coleman Bonner’s got a wore out bow
He’s been playin two days down the new cut road

Coleman’s little sister said you better act right Coleman
Daddy;s gone to Louisville He’ll be back tonight
He’s gonna get another wagon and a good pair of mules
And we gonna move to Texas we just waitin’ on you

Coleman’s daddy he pulled up in the yard
He said pack up you lives kids it’s gettin’ to hard
Kentucky’s alright but there’s too many people
Just the other day I thought I saw a church steeple

Coleman said daddy you don’t neet to worry ‘bout me
I’m gonna stay here in Kentucky till the day I d.
I’m gonna drink that sourmash and race that mare
I got me a woman with the fox red hair

Y’all been movin’ west since the day you go married
Well I’m gettin’ off the wagon daddy I’m too old to be carried
I’m gonna stay here in Kentucky where the bluegrass grows
And I’m gonna play it all night down the new cut road

Coleman’s daddy said now what’s it all comin’ to
Young people these days are as stubborn as mules
You can’t make him go he’s too old for that
It’s that damned old fiddle and that bowler hat

Coleman’s mama said le the boy stay cause
He’s raised up right and he can find his own way
But as for me honey I’m with you
I always thought Kentucky was just passin’ through

Coleman’s little sister started in a crying
And his daddy shook his head for the very last time
Coleman’s mama said somebody’s gotta do it
There wouldn’t be no Kentucky unless you didn’t stick to it Coleman

Coleman Bonner stood on the porch of that cabin
And watched em all go to Texas in a covered wagon
He pulled out his fiddle and rosined up his bow
And played a little tune called the New Cut Road

South Coast Of Texas lyrics - Guy Clark

The south coast of Texas is a thin slice of life
It' s salty and hard it it stern as a knife
Where the wind is for blwon' up hurricanes for showin'
The snakes how to swim and the trees how to lean

[Chorus]
The shrimpers and their ladies are out in the beer joints
Drinkin' em down for they sail with the dawn
They're bound for the Mexican Bay of Campche
And the deck hands are singin' adios Jole Blon

There's snowbirds in search of that sunshine and night life
And fond of greasin' palms down the beach as they're goin'
This livin' on the edge of the waters of the world
Demands the dignity of whooping cranes and
The likes of Gilbert Roland

[Chorus]

In the cars of my youth how I tore thru those sand dunes
Cut up my tires on them oyster shell roads
But nothin' is forever say the old men in the shipyards
Turnin' trees into shrimp oats Hell I guess they ought to know

[Chorus]

Heartbroke lyrics - Guy Clark

Who wouldn't notic the fire in your eyes
Or the bitter direction of impending goodbyes
I'm fallen and folded and wilted in place
At the sight of you standing with streaks down your face

[Chorus]
Heartbroke and runnin' from the reason
Heartbroke Don't give up on believin' in me
Heartbroke Who kept me from leavin' with my
Heartbroke
Pride is a bitch and a bore when your lonely
Sheer madness prevails upon reason to yield
But all is not lost it is only mistaken
That's small consolation but I know just how you feel

[Chorus]

Nobody said it was goin' to be easy
We all have feelings that need a softer touch
But nobody said that it would not be worth it
The human condition continues as such

[Chorus]

The Partner Nobody Chose lyrics - Guy Clark

She’s a melody in search of the words I love you
She’s a rose with rose with no room to grow
She’s a light in the night with nowhere to shine
She’s the partner that nobody chose

She’s tried and she’s tried
And she’s tried to keep on lovin’
But every man she loved broke her heart

She’s a melody in search of the words I love you
She’s a rose with no room to grow
She’s a light in the night with nowhere to shine
She’s a refuge where nobody goes

She’s fallen and stumbled
And stumbled and fallen
And no one picked her up when she fell

She’s stood up with hope up
That someone would show up
Someday you never can tell

She’s a melody in search of the words I love you
She’s a rose with rose with no room to grow
She’s a light in the night with nowhere to shine
She’s the partner that nobody chose

She’s a melody in search of the words I love you
She’s a rose with no room to grow
She’s a light in the night with nowhere to shine
She’s a refuge where nobody goes

She’s lonesome and nobody knows

She's Crazy For Leavin' lyrics - Guy Clark

Well the bus pulled away
In a roaring black cloud
I stood in the road
Honey I hollered right out loud

Hey Darlin’ I love ya
Hey bus driver whoa
But you can’t stop a woman who is out of control

She’s crazy for leavin’
I told her so
And the boys at the bus stop
Just said man let her go
She’s crazy for leavin’
I told her so
But you can’t stop a woman
Who is out of control

I punched out my truck
On a telephone pole
She never looked back
She just said go driver do

I know I could of stopped her
But I ran out of lock
She was long gone to Lufkin
But the time they got me out of the truck

She’s crazy for leavin’
I told her so
And the boys at the bus stop
Just said man let her go
She’s crazy for leavin’
I told her so
But you can’t stop a woman
Who is out of control

So I kicked and I cussed
That old east Texas road
I throwed rocks at my truck
Which had busted my nose

Add insult to injury
What do you get
A bust stop full honkys
That don’t never forget

She’s crazy for leavin’
I told her so
And the boys at the bus stop
Just said man let her go
She’s crazy for leavin’
I told her so
But you can’t stop a woman
Who is out of control

Calf-Rope lyrics - Guy Clark

The last time it snowed in Del Rio hell froze
I could not believe that I missed it
So far from the border so close to the line
Son I almost got down and kissed it

But it’s too far from home and it’s too late to look back
Two times a night make it tough
Bee Spears showed me the day that I met him
Too much ain’t never enough

Lord this old road she’s enough to make you holler
Holler Calf-Rope -- Make you holler Calf-Rope

Let me just say that the road to good intentions
Is paved with the fools I’ve been
You can get up or stay up, it’s all the same com sunup
All you got to do it is go again

Lord this old road she’s enough to make you holler
Holler Calf-Rope-- Make you holler Calf-Rope
Calf-Rope-- Make you your
Nose to the road grind runnin’ right on road time
Gone deaf dumb and road blind you can chalk it up to road crime

It’s a fool of the road kind tryin’ to make the road rhyme with
Calf-Rope -- Make you holler Calf-Rope

Lone Star Hotel lyrics - Guy Clark

The Lone Star Hotel Café is nothing but a
Dive, and Florence Smith showed up there,
Lord every day at five
Florence was a waitress
Have I mentioned that before?
Serving beer to strangers and to some she’d seen before

Florence used to ride a little Apaloosa mare
in the barrel race at the rodeo with all that beehive hair
There’s a picture of her on the wall, as you pay your check
Lord, didn’t she look good back in nineteen fifty six?

I was lovin’ Florence and she was ignorin’ me
Florence had experience, it was the first time out for me
Lord, I tried to tell her, but the only words I found
Were "Give me greasy enchiladas and a beer to wash it down"

Florence quit the Lone Star Hotel, and never was seen again
And me, I quit west Texas, and I ain’t been back since then
That was years ago, Lord, too many can I recall?
But I remember Florence and them pictures on the wall

So here’s to you west Texas, you old rodeo queen
How I miss your beer joints and shuffle board machines
Here’s to you west Texas, how I miss the smell
Of greasy enchiladas, at the old Lone Star Hotel

"Guy Clark" (1978)

Fool On The Roof lyrics - Guy Clark

Now don’t let the moon catch a fool on your roof
That is some aggravation I’m gonna tell you the truth
He’ll rattle your dishes and he’ll run off your dogs
And he’ll be dancin’ till dawn in the light of it all

Fool on the roof, he’s just foolin’ with you
Laughin’ it off is ‘bout the best you can do
Fool on the roof, he will not take no checks
You’ve got to pay by the dance and that’s a natural fact

Fool on the roof, he will not cut you no slack
He make you, mama, make you go ‘round back
He’s hidin’ behind that big ol’ chinaberry tree
I know he’s there ‘cause he’s chunkin’ ‘em at me

Fool on the roof, he’s just foolin’ with you
Laughin’ it off is ‘bout the best you can do
Fool on the roof, he will not take no checks
You’ve got to pay by the dance and that’s a natural fact

Don’t mind me, baby, I got a fool on my roof
How many times have you used that excuse
Might be something you said or maybe somewhere you’ve been
With someone you shouldn’t and never will again

Fool on the roof, he’s just foolin’ with you
Laughin’ it off is ‘bout the best you can do
Fool on the roof, he will not take no checks
You’ve got to pay by the dance and that’s a natural fact

You better look out below there’s a fool on your roof
That is some aggravation I’m gonna tell you the truth
He’ll rattle your dishes and he’ll run off your dog
And he’ll be dancin’ till dawn in the light of it all

Fools For Each Other lyrics - Guy Clark

Who walked out when the times got hard
When the truck broke down in the whole front yard
It wasn't me, it wasn't you
Who shot pool all night long
Wound up bettin' on the crack of dawn
That was you darlin', and that was me

[Chorus]
And we are fools for each other, me and you
We are lovers, in fact, we've gone crazy out back
Like only fools for each other would do

Now who gave up when the fire burned low
Who flew south when the wind blew cold
It wasn't me, it wasn't you
Who held on when the blues came down
Who took care when the tie was bound
That was you, darlin', and that was me

[Chorus]

Who took off when their heart got broke
Let the whole thing go up in smoke
It wasn't me and it wasn't you, oh no
And who showed up when the time was right
Laid a little mercy on a bad ol' night
That was you, darlin', and that was me

[Chorus twice]

Shade Of All Greens lyrics - Guy Clark

The blackbird she flies wherever she wants to
The mockingbird singin’, oh, any ol’ song
And the swallow she’s nestin’ in the rafters of my house
Summer is coming and the geese are all gone
You got to fly and let fly

Ah, the mower’s broke down and the yard’s run away with me
I’ve taken to sittin’ and just watchin’ it grow
And the rabbits are eatin’ like kings in the driveway
And I’ve just about found me no place to go
You’ve got to live and let live

Come sit by my side in the shade of all greens
It smells like the honeysuckle have gone to extremes
And I’ve found a reason and you’ve made it rhyme
And we can go crazy, tomorrow’s just fine

I’m gonna sit on the front porch till the lightnin’ bugs show up
And it really gets dark and there’s dogs in the trash
It's the first and the last time all rolled into this time
You make me feel like I just took a bath
You got to laugh and let laugh

Come sit by my side in the shade of all greens
It smells like the honeysuckle have gone to extremes
And I’ve found a reason and you’ve make it rhyme
And we can go laughin’ any old time
You got to love and let love
And we can go lovin’ any ol’ time
You got to fly and let fly


Voila, An American Dream lyrics - Guy Clark

I beg your pardon mama what did you say
My mind was drifting on a Martinque day
It's not that I'm not interested you see
Augusta Georgia is just no place to be

Just think Jamaica in the moonlight
Sandy beaches drinking rum every night
We've got no money mama but we can go
We'll split the difference and go to Coconut grove

Just keep on talking momma I can hear
Your voice it tickles down inside of my ear
I feel a tropical vacation this year
Might be the answer to that Hillbilly beer
Oh just think Jamaica...

Voila an American dream
We can travel girl without any means
When it's as easy as closing your eyes
And dream Jamaica is a big neon sign

Just keep on talking mama I like that sound
It goes so good with that rain pouring down
I feel a tropical vacation this year
Might be the answer to that Hillbilly beer
Oh just think Jamaica...

One Paper Kid lyrics - Guy Clark

Cowboys and Indians and trees he could climb
Tomorrow came too fast but he didn't mind
Ah the distance was short so light it again
It don't take no time to get where I am
But one paper kid wasn't really so mean
Just a little bit scared and a little bit green
And he'd heard of a place it was legal to dream
So he sat with his coffee in a blue Texas wind
And he wrote on a rock the one paper kid is rolling again

Ah the driver was drunk or he just didn't see
The future was there it'll happen to me
And all the time that he wasted was his once again
Ah it never gets long to get where you've been
The broken hearts scattered all over the past
Old glad memories trying to last
Whiskey and women and growing up fast
Fussing and loving and itching like grass
Hell that one paper kid wasn't really so mean
Just a little bit weird cause times were so lean
Now he's gone to a place where it's legal to dream
No Camels no coffee no cold morning winds
It was wrote on a rock the one paper kid he's rolling again
Ah the one paper kid he's rolling again

In The Jailhouse Now lyrics - Guy Clark

I had a friend named Bill Campbell
He used to rob, steal and gamble
And on the side he'd beg
So he mopped up

Well, I told ol' Billy shouldn't do it
And ol' Bill said that he knew it
So he started beggin' with a bucket
Instead of a cup

He's in the jailhouse now
He's in the jailhouse now
Now ol' Bill fluffed his dove
When he wrote a tuxedo to the country club
He's in the jailhouse now

Now Bill had a gal named Sadie
And she said have you seen Billy lately
No I don't believe that he's about

But ol' Sadie went down to the jail
It was just to pay his bail
Then she whispered
Sheriff please don't let him out

He's in the jailhouse now
He's in the jailhouse now
It was while ol' Bill's away
Sadie's with the sheriff everyday
He's in the jailhouse now

Oh, you remember the last election, yeah
The prohibitionists was in action
Tryin' to elect themselves a president

And Bill Campbell and John Austin
They rode from New Orleans to Boston
[?] bottle in every settlement

They're in the jailhouse now
They're in the jailhouse now
Lord they caught them down by the railroad track
Stealin' a train to haul it back
They're in the jailhouse now

Comfort And Crazy lyrics - Guy Clark

Now you have got the best years of my life and I got yours
Who else could you trust to hold your own
"No one" is the answer to that question I’m quite sure
So treat ‘em nice and easy to the bone

Comfort and crazy’s a smooth combination
And that’s how it feels lovin’ you
Using stumbling blocks for stepping stones
And anything that works as long
As we are bound to split this life in two

So when it’s lookin’ like cartoon time down in Texas
And you’re feelin’ like some shot-up old tin can
Hell, I’ll be the one who’ll come runnin’ to get you
I think you got me last so I’m your man

Comfort and crazy’s a smooth combination
And that’s how it feels lovin’ you
Using stumbling blocks for stepping stones
And anything that works as long
As we are bound to split this life in two

Comfort and crazy’s a smooth combination
And that’s how it feels lovin’ you
Using stumbling blocks for stepping stones
And anything that works as long
As we are bound to split this life in two

Don't You Take It Too Bad lyrics - Guy Clark

Well don't you take it too bad if you're feelin' unlovin'
If you're feelin' unfeelin' if you're feelin' alone
Don't take it too bad cause it ain't you to blame babe
Well it's some kind of game babe
Out of all of this living that we've got left to do

If you go searching for rhyme or for reason
Then you won't have the time that it takes just for talkin'
About the places you've been babe and the faces you've seen babe
How soft the time flies past your window at night

And we just can't have that girl cause it's a sad lonesome cold world
And a man needs a woman just to stand by his side
And whisper sweet words in his ears about daydreams
And roses and playthings
And the sweetness of springtime and the sound of the rain

Houston Kid lyrics - Guy Clark

Now the Houston Kid’s got a new pair of jeans
But he’s got no soap, he got no washing machine
Now the Houston Kid he’s feelin’ tight and he’s mean
And he’s tryin’ to figure out how his pants got clean

Well, he’s doin’ his wash in a tub full of whiskey
Hangin’ his threads on a very thin line
Tryin’ to tell the man in charge of the dryers
What a great job he’s doin’ fakin’ sunshine

Now the Houston Kid he seems hard pressed
’Cause he hit the world naked, now he’s headed back dressed
As the Houston Kid, no more and no less
If your dice fit your pocket then your pants pass the test

Well, he’s doin’ his wash in a tub full of whiskey
Hangin’ his threads on a very thin line
Tryin’ to tell the man in charge of the dryers
What a great job he’s doin’ fakin’ sunshine

Now some say the Houston Kid is bent
But if you’ve got to do your wash
Then you’ve got to pay some rent
So the Houston Kid he just up and he went
And love could buy back the dimes that he’d spent

Well, he’s doin’ his wash in a tub full of whiskey
Hangin’ his threads on a very thin line
Tryin’ to tell the man in charge of the dryers
What a great job he’s doin’ fakin’ sunshine

"Texas Cookin'" (1976)

Texas Cookin' lyrics - Guy Clark

Well I'm going down to Austin, Texas
I'm going down to save my soul
Get that barbeque and chili
Eat my fill then come back home

I'm gonna take my baby with me
We gonna have a high ol' time
We gonna eat till we get silly
Sho' do make a beer taste fine

Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' something
Oh my, momma it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'
Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' good
Oh my, momma eat it everyday if I could alright

I know a man that cook armadillo
Tastes so sweet he calls it pie
I know a woman makes pan Dulce
Tastes so good it gets you high

Get them enchiladas greasy
Get them steaks chicken fried
Sho' do make a man feel happy
To see white gravy on the side

Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' something
Oh my, momma it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'
Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' good
Oh my, momma eat it everyday if I could

I know a place that got fried okra
Beat anything I ever saw
I know a man that cook cabrito
It must be against the law

We gonna get a big ol' sausage
A big ol' plate of ranch style beans
I could eat the heart of Texas
We gonna need some brand new jeans

Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' something
Oh my, momma it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'
Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' good
Oh my, momma eat it everyday if I could

Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' something
Oh my, momma it'll stop yo' belly and backbone bumpin'
Oh my, momma ain't that Texas cookin' good
Oh my, momma eat it everyday if I could alright

Anyhow, I Love You lyrics - Guy Clark

I wish I had a dime for every bad time
But the bad times always seem to keep the change
You been all alone so you know what I'm sayin'
So when all you can recall is the pain

Just you wait until tomorrow when you wake up with me
at your side and find I haven't lied about nothin'
I wouldn't trade a tree for the way I feel about you
in the mornin', anyhow I love you

Everyday it gets just a little bit better
And half the gettin' there is knowin' where I been before
I'm sure you understand 'cause I ain't your first man
So when you feel like runnin' for the back door...don't

Just you wait until tomorrow when you wake up with me
at your side and find I haven't lied about nothin'
I wouldn't trade a tree for the way I feel about you
in the mornin', anyhow I love you

Virginia's Reel lyrics - Guy Clark

Now gents to the middle said a young girls fiddle
And you ain't got nothin' to lose
Allemande right she can play it all night
She can fiddle off the bottom of your shoes

Oh me, oh my, how she makes that bow hair fly
How she hangs that music in the air

Now promenade down to the lonesome sound
Of a whippoorwill in the night
Sashay back look at old mad Jack
Huggin' everything in sight, he said

"Oh me, oh my, how she makes that bow hair fly
How she hangs that music in the air"

Now Banjo Bill he stopped stock still
As the notes came a rollin' by
And it filled his ears and eased his fears
And a tear come to his eye, he said

"Oh me, oh my, how she makes that bow hair fly
How she hangs that music in the air"

Now the old String Bass he lost his place
And his arms they felt like steel
And the guitar man dropped both his hands
And he swore it was not real, he said

"Oh me, oh my, how she makes that bow hair fly
How she hangs that crystal in the air"

Now it's golden strings on eagles wings
To the callin' of the squares
And there's fiddle tunes and there's fiddle tunes
But Virginia's splittin' hairs

Oh me, oh my, how she makes that bow hair fly
How she hangs that music in the air

Now she cast a spell no tongue can tell
No Prophet can reveal
And quiet as death, hold your breath
She played Virginia's real

Oh me, oh my, how she makes that bow hair fly
How she hangs that music in the air

And it's oh me, oh my, how she makes that bow hair fly
How she hangs that crystal in the air

It's About Time lyrics - Guy Clark

Hear that old tune come driftin' down the hall
Trying to put a stop to clocks on the wall
Free flowin', free flown, Lord, momma
How that old thief time carries on

Take off your old coat and let down your hair
Kick off them boots, hon', I don't care
It's only time and only time will tell

Looks like a chance with no reason, not to take it
Looks like our dance while the record player fakes it
Hold on, King's X, I think I'll be a captain
Standin' on a burnin' deck

Take off your old coat and let down your hair
Kick off them boots, hon', I don't care
It's only time and only time will tell

So come waltz you around this old room with me
As if we were some old pair of high degree
Round and round again don't let old fickle sickle
Catch you keepin' time with a friend

Take off your old coat and let down your hair
Kick off them boots, hon', I don't care
It's only time and only time will tell

Good To Love You Lady lyrics - Guy Clark

Now here comes Texas rolling through my mind
There ain't nothing to it, mama don't be crying
It's just one of those things that everyone goes through

Just an old time feeling, don't mean no harm
So roll me in your lovin' arms
Everybody needs a little help from time to time

If I could change anything then I wouldn't be me
And I wouldn't have you, it's plain to see
I need all of the help that I can get

Everybody's got 'em some kind of past now
And here comes that old snake in the grass now
Lord, it's good to be in Tennessee with You

It's good to have you lady, ooh on my side through it all
It's good to see you lady, ooh when that rain starts to fall
It's good to love you lady, Lord that's the best of all

Now here comes Texas rolling through my mind
There ain't nothing to it mama don't be crying
It's just one of those things that everyone goes through

Everybody's got 'em some kind of past now
And here comes that old snake in the grass now
Lord, it's good to be in Tennessee with You

It's good to have you lady, ooh on my side through it all
It's good to see you lady, ooh when that rain starts to fall
It's good to love you lady, Lord that's the best of all

Broken Hearted People lyrics - Guy Clark

Now broken hearted people always seem to drink
And tryin' to drown those sorrows ain't as easy as you think
But living with a liar is a hard old way to go
Laughin' just to keep from crying ain't no way to grow old

So take me to a barroom driver
Set me on a stool
If I can't be her man
I'm damned if I'll be her fool

They say that whiskey ain't the best way, but then I ain't too smart
To think I just found out she was lyin' from the start
So if this is nothing but a bad joke lookin' for a laugh
Hold on to your lampshade darlin' cause I'm looking for a hat

So take me to a barroom driver
Set me on a stool
If I can't be her man
I'm damned if I'll be her fool

So get this taxi movin' cause I got no time to lose
There's no time to be choosy, any old bar will do
Cause I'm lookin' to get silly and I'm lookin' to get loose
And if that don't get it done darlin', I'll come looking for you

So take me to a barroom driver
Set me on a stool
If I can't be her man
I'm damned if I'll be her fool

Black Haired Boy lyrics - Guy Clark

But he's a black haired boy of some confusion
He makes no excuse for the things that he's usin'
And he's gentle and wild, a child of the mountain
His words are for singing and his days are for countin'

He's looking for a home, he's scared to find
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine

But he's a devil in the morning and a savior at night
Tomorrow's a case of whatever is right
Lonesome and high are the things that he feels
And the cards that he plays are the ones that he deals

He's looking for a home, he's scared to find
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine

But he's one of the chances you're entitled to take
He's one of the hearts that it's too late to break
I've seen him be sad and never know why
Seen him fall down to laugh, seen him stand up to cry

He's looking for a home, he's scared to find
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine

He's looking for a home, he's scared to find
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine
Some lady beside him and he's drunk on white wine

Me I'm Feelin' The Same lyrics - Guy Clark

Hooray for the drinkin' warm red wine
On a day both bright and fair
Hooray for the layin' and playin' a tune
On the sunlight through your hair, your hair
The sunlight through your haur
Well I wish that I was a fiddle bow
Flyin across the strings
And you've takin me at hand these days
By making that fiddle sing to you,
Makin that fiddle sing

I wanna be felling that feelin, ood
I wanna be feelin' no pain
I wan to be feelin my love love me
Me, I'm feelin the same, the same
Me, I'm feeling the same

Now you lookin' like the mornin' side
Of the best day I've ever seen
You lookin' like hope to a hopeless fool
Like the end of an old bad dream, I mean
That it must've been an old bad dream

So let's go sailin from shore to sea
On a ship both bright and fine
And we'll run and hollar before the wind
To begin no wearin' time, oh time
With a fiddle and that wine

The Ballad Of Laverne And Captain Flint lyrics - Guy Clark

Here comes Martha runnin' down the pier
looks like Captain Flint is here
You get the bow and I get the stern
Lord would you look at that Laverne
Old Flint's got shrimp from the deep blue sea
and buckets of fish for you and me

Old Flint's boat is fine and she's called the Miss-Inclined
and there's no home port painted on her stern
and they say she's like a ghost up and down that Texas coast
but you saw him didn't you Laverne

Daddy says Flint is a weird old bird
and what's more I have heard
that his nets are charmed by a woman who knew
how to work that Louisiana voo-doo
Laverne get away from that boat you hear
your mama don't want you hangin' round here

Old Flint's boat is fine and she's called the Miss-Inclined
and there's no home port painted on her stern
and they say she's like a ghost up and down that Texas coast
but you saw him didn't you Laverne

Martha, Martha won't you tell me please
that it's not Laverne that I see
there on the deck of the Miss-Inclined
with Captain Flint I must be blind
Laverne girl what's the matter with you
old Captain Flint put a spell on you

Old Flint's boat is fine and she's called the Miss-Inclined
and there's no home port painted on her stern
and they say she's like a ghost up and down that Texas coast
but you saw him didn't you Laverne

The Last Gunfighter Ballad lyrics - Guy Clark


Now the burn of a bullet is only a scar
And he's back in his chair in front of the bar
And the streets are empty and the blood's all dried
And the dead are dust and the whiskey's inside
So buy him a drink and lend him an ear
He's nobody's fool and the only one here

That remembers the smell of the black powder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
Oh remember the smell of the black powder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

He said I stood in that street before it was paved
I learned shoot or be shot before I could shave
And I did it all for the money and fame
And noble was nothing but feeling no shame
And nothing was sacred 'cept stayin' alive
And all that I learned from a Colt 45

Was to curse the smell of the black powder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
Oh curse the smell of the black powder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

Now he's just an old man that no one believes
And he says he's a gunfighter and the last of the breed
But there's ghosts in the street and they're seeking revenge
And they're calling him out to the lunatic fringe
Now he's out in the traffic and he's checking the sun
And he gets killed by a car as he goes for his gun

So much for the smell of the black powder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke
So much for the smell of the black powder smoke
And the stand in the street at the turn of a joke

"Old No. 1" (1975)

Rita Ballou lyrics - Guy Clark

She could dance that slow Uvalde
Shuffle to some cowboy hustle
How she made them trophy buckles shine, shine, shine
Wild-eyed and Mexican silvered,
Trickin' dumb ol' cousin Willard
Into thinkin' that he's got her this time

Hill country honky-tonkin' Rita Ballou
Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin' barrel ridin' Rita Ballou
Ain't a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you

She's a rawhide rope and velvet mixture
Walkin' talkin' Texas texture
High-timin' barroom fixture kind of a girl
She's the queen of the cowboys
Look at old Willard grinnin' now, boys
You'd of thought there's less fools in this world

Hill country honky-tonkin' Rita Ballou
Every beer joint in town has played the fool for you
Backslidin' barrel ridin' Rita Ballou
Ain't a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you

So good luck Willard and here's to you
And here's to Rita and I hope she'll do ya right all night
Lord I wish I was the fool in your shoes

Hill country honky-tonkin' Rita Ballou
Every beer joint in town has played the fool for you
Backslidin' barrel ridin' Rita Ballou
Ain't a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you

Hill country honky-tonkin' Rita Ballou
Every beer joint in town has played the fool for you
Backslidin' barrel ridin' Rita Ballou
Ain't a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you

L.A. Freeway lyrics - Guy Clark

Pack up all your dishes.
Make note of all good wishes.
Say goodbye to the landlord for me.
That son of a bitch has always bored me.
Throw out them LA papers
And that moldy box of vanilla wafers.
Adios to all this concrete.
Gonna get me some dirt road back street

If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without getting killed or caught
I'd be down that road in a cloud of smoke
For some land that I ain't bought bought bought

Here's to you old skinny Dennis
Only one I think I will miss
I can hear that old bass singing
Sweet and low like a gift you're bringing
Play it for me just one more time now
Got to give it all we can now
I believe everything your saying
Just keep on, keep on playing

If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without getting killed or caught
I'd be down that road in a cloud of smoke
For some land that I ain't bought bought bought

And you put the pink card in the mailbox
Leave the key in the old front door lock
They will find it likely as not
I'm sure there's something we have forgot
Oh Susanna, don't you cry, babe
Love's a gift that's surely handmade
We've got something to believe in
Don't you think it's time we're leaving

If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without getting killed or caught
I'd be down that road in a cloud of smoke
For some land that I ain't bought bought bought.

Pack up all your dishes.
Make note of all good wishes.
Say goodbye to the landlord for me.
That son of a bitch has always bored me.

She Ain't Goin' Nowhere lyrics - Guy Clark

Standin' on the gone side of leavin'
She found a thumb and stuck it in the breeze
She'll take anything that's goin' close to somewhere
She can lay it down and live it like she'd please

But she ain't goin' nowhere, she's just leavin'
And she ain't goin' nowhere she can't breathe in
And she ain't goin' home and that's for sure

She's not sittin' down and cryin' on her suitcase
She has no second thoughts by the road
But she's got feelings than need some reparin'
And she did not give a damn that it showed

But she ain't goin' nowhere, she's just leavin'
And she ain't goin' nowhere she can't breathe in
And she ain't goin' home and that's for sure

And the wind had it's way with her hair
And the blues have a way with her smile
And she had a way of her own
Like prisoners have a way with a file

She ain't goin' nowhere, she's just leavin'
And she ain't goin' nowhere she can't breathe in
And she ain't goin' home and that's for sure

She ain't goin' nowhere, she's just leavin'
She ain't goin' nowhere she can't breathe in
She ain't goin' home and that's for sure
And she ain't goin' home and that's for sure

A Nickel For The Fiddler lyrics - Guy Clark

Well, it's a nickel for the fiddler, it's a nickel for his tune
It's a nickel for the tambourine kind of afternoon
And it's a high holiday on the 21st of June
And it's country music in the park and everybody's ruined

Well, it's fountains full of dogs and kids, and it's freaky apple pie
And it's the ones that's come to play and the ones just passin' by
And it's coats of many colors and it almost makes me cry
Lord, it's ice cream on a stick and it's somethin' you can't buy

Well, it's a fiddler from Kentucky who swears he's 83
And he's fiddled every contest from here to Cripple Creek
And it's old ones and it's young ones and it's plain they have agreed
That it's country music in the park as far as they can see

Well, it's a nickel for the fiddler, it's a nickel for his tune
It's a nickel for the tambourine kind of afternoon
And it's a high holiday on the 21st of June
And it's country music in the park and everybody's ruined

That Old Time Feeling lyrics - Guy Clark

And that old time feeling goes sneakin' down the hall
Like an old gray cat in winter, keepin' close to the wall
And that old time feeling comes stumblin' up the street
Like an old salesman kickin' the papers from his feet

And that old time feeling draws circles around the block
Like old women with no children, holdin' hands with the clock
And that old time feeling falls on its face in the park
Like an old wino prayin' he can make it till it's dark

And that old time feeling comes and goes in the rain
Like an old man with his checkers, dyin' to find a game
And that old time feeling plays for beer in bars
Like an old blues-time picker who don't recall who you are

And that old time feeling limps through the night on a crutch
Like an old soldier wonderin' if he's paid too much
And that old time feeling rocks and spits and cries
Like an old lover rememberin' the girl with the clear blue eyes

And that old time feeling goes sneakin' down the hall
Like an old gray cat in winter, keepin' close to the wall

Texas - 1947 lyrics - Guy Clark

Bein' six years old, I had seen some trains before
So it's hard to figure out what I'm at the depot for
Trains are big and black and smokin', steam screamin' at the wheels
Bigger than anything there is, at least that's the way she feels

Trains are big and black and smokin', louder'n July four
But everybody's actin' like this might be somethin' more
Than just pickin' up the mail, or the soldiers from the war
This is somethin' that even old man Wileman never seen before

And it's late afternoon on a hot Texas day
And somethin' strange is goin' on, and we's all in the way

Well there's fifty or sixty people, just sittin' on their cars
And the old men left their dominoes and come down from the bars
And everybody's checkin', old Jack Kittrel check his watch
And us kids put our ears to the rails to hear 'em pop.

So we already knowed it, when they finally said "train time"
You'd a-thought that Jesus Christ his-self was rollin' down the line
'Cause things got real quiet, mama jerked me back
But not before I'd got the chance to lay a nickel on the track

Look out, here she comes, she's comin'
Look out, there she goes, she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone
Big and red and silver, she don't make no smoke
She's a fast-rollin' streamline, come to show the folks

I said, look out, here she comes, she's comin'
Look out, there she goes, she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone

Lord, she never even stopped

But she left fifty, sixty people still sittin' on their cars
Wonderin' what it's comin' to and how it got this far
But me, I got a nickel smashed flatter than a dime
By a mad dog, runaway red-silver streamline train

Look out, here she comes, she's comin'
Look out, there she goes, she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone
Big and red and silver, she don't make no smoke
She's a fast-rollin' streamline, come to show the folks

I said, look out, here she comes, she's comin'
Look out, there she goes, she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone
Look out, here she comes, she's comin'
Look out, there she goes, she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone
Look out, here she comes, she's comin'
Look out, there she goes, she's gone
Screamin' straight through Texas like a mad dog cyclone

Desperados Waiting For The Train lyrics - Guy Clark

And I played the Red River Valley
And he'd sit in the kitchen and cry
Run his fingers through seventy years of livin'
And wonder, "Lord, has every well I've drilled gone dry?"
We was friends, me and this old man
Was like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

Well, he's a drifter and a driller of oil wells
And an old school man of the world
He taught me how to drive his car when he was too drunk to
And he'd wink and give me money for the girls
And our lives was like some old western movie
Like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

From the time that I could walk, he'd take me with him
To a bar called the Green Frog Cafe
And there was old men with beer guts and dominoes
Lying 'bout their lives while they played
And I was just a kid, but they all called me "sidekick"
Was like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

And one day I looked up and he's pushin' eighty
And has brown tobacco stains all down his chin
Well, to me, he's one of the heroes of this country
So why's he all dressed up like them old men
Drinkin' beer and playin' Moon and Forty-two
Just like a desperado waitin' for a train
Like a desperado waitin' for a train

And then the day before he died I went to see him
I was grown and he was almost gone
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen
And sang another verse to that old song
Come on, Jack, that son-of-a-bitch is comin'
We're desperados waitin' for a train
Was like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

Like A Coat From The Cold lyrics - Guy Clark

I found comfort and courage from bottles of whiskey
I swear to you friends these old high times sure seem risky
I have backed away gently from those who tried to burn me
And blocked up my ears that no one should learn me

But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold

I have flown like a bird from every cage that confined me
And broken every one of the ties that bind me
I have danced me around some sad ol' sad ol' situations
And taken my share of those sweet invitations

But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold

Instant Coffee Blues lyrics - Guy Clark

He washed all the road dirt from his face and from his neck
And sat down at her table and she picked up his check.
And she took him home for reasons that she did not understand.
And him, he had the answers but did not play his hand.
For him he knew the taste of this wine very well.
It all goes down so easily but the next day is hell.

Morning - "Man was I drunk," she wispered in the shower.
While he lay there and smoked his way there through the final hour.
And she felt wholly empty like she'd felt it every time.
And he was feelin' just the same, 'cept he was tryin' to make it rhyme.
Time was of the essence so they both did their best,
to meet up in the kitchen feelin fully dressed.
She just had to go to work, and he just had to go.
And she knew where and he knew how to blow it off and so.

They shot the breeze quite cavalier to the boilin' of the pot.
And sang the Instant Coffee Blues and never fired a shot.

And him he hit the driveway with his feelin's in a case.
And her she hit the stoplight and touched up her face.
So you tell them the difference between caring and not.
And that it's all done with mirrors, lest they forgot.

I said it's all done with mirrors, of which they have none.
To blend the instant coffee blues into the morning sun

Let Him Roll lyrics - Guy Clark

He's a wino, tried and true.
Done about everything there is to do.
He worked on freighters, he worked in bars.
He worked on farms, 'n he worked on cars.

It was white port, that put that look in his eye
That grown men get when they need to cry
And he sat down on the curb to rest
And his head just fell down on his chest

He said "Every single day it gets
A little bit harder to handle and yet..."
And he lost the thread and his mind got cluttered
And the words just rolled off down in the gutter

Well he was elevator man in a cheap hotel
In exchange for the rent on a one room cell
He's old in years beyond his time
Thanks to the world, and the white Port wine

So he says "Son," he always called me son
He said, "Life for you has just begun"
And he told me a story that I heard before
How he fell in love with a Dallas whore

Well he could cut through the years to the very night
When it ended, in a whore house fight
And she turned his last proposal down
In favor of being a girl about town

Now it's been seventeen years right in line
And he ain't been straight none of the time
Too many days of fightin' the weather
And too many nights of not being together

So he died...

Well when they went through his personal affects
In among the stubs from the welfare checks
Was a crumblin' picture of a girl in a door
An address in Dallas, and nothin' more

The welfare people provided the priest
A couple from the mission down the street
Sang Amazing Grace, and no one cried
'Cept some woman in black, way off to the side

We all left and she was standing there
Black veil covering her silver hair
And 'ol One-Eyed John said her name was Alice
And she used to be a whore in Dallas

Let him roar, Lord let him roll
Bet he's gone to Dallas Rest his soul
Lord, let him roll, Lord let him roar
He always said that heaven
Was just a Dallas whore.

Let Him Roll lyrics - Guy Clark

He's a wino, tried and true.
Done about everything there is to do.
He worked on freighters, he worked in bars.
He worked on farms, 'n he worked on cars.

It was white port, that put that look in his eye
That grown men get when they need to cry
And he sat down on the curb to rest
And his head just fell down on his chest

He said "Every single day it gets
A little bit harder to handle and yet..."
And he lost the thread and his mind got cluttered
And the words just rolled off down in the gutter

Well he was elevator man in a cheap hotel
In exchange for the rent on a one room cell
He's old in years beyond his time
Thanks to the world, and the white Port wine

So he says "Son," he always called me son
He said, "Life for you has just begun"
And he told me a story that I heard before
How he fell in love with a Dallas whore

Well he could cut through the years to the very night
When it ended, in a whore house fight
And she turned his last proposal down
In favor of being a girl about town

Now it's been seventeen years right in line
And he ain't been straight none of the time
Too many days of fightin' the weather
And too many nights of not being together

So he died...

Well when they went through his personal affects
In among the stubs from the welfare checks
Was a crumblin' picture of a girl in a door
An address in Dallas, and nothin' more

The welfare people provided the priest
A couple from the mission down the street
Sang Amazing Grace, and no one cried
'Cept some woman in black, way off to the side

We all left and she was standing there
Black veil covering her silver hair
And 'ol One-Eyed John said her name was Alice
And she used to be a whore in Dallas

Let him roar, Lord let him roll
Bet he's gone to Dallas Rest his soul
Lord, let him roll, Lord let him roar
He always said that heaven
Was just a Dallas whore.