1.Illegal Smile
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
When i woke up this morning, things were lookin' bad
Seem like total silence was the only friend i had
Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down... and won
And it was twelve o'clock before i realized
That i was havin' .. no fun
Chorus：
But fortunately i have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man i didn't kill anyone
No i'm just tryin' to have me some fun
Last time i checked my bankroll,
It was gettin' thin
Sometimes it seems like the bottom
Is the only place i've been
I chased a rainbow down a one-way street... dead end
And all my friends turned out to be insurance salesmen
Repeat chorus：
Well, i sat down in my closet with all my overalls
Tryin' to get away
From all the ears inside my walls
I dreamed the police heard
Everything i thought... what then？
Well i went to court
And the judge's name was hoffman
Ah but fortunately i have the key to escape reality
And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while
Won't you please tell the man i didn't kill anyone
No i'm just tryin' to have me some fun
Well done, hot dog bun, my sister's a nun
2.Spanish Pipedream(Aka Blow Up Your Tv)
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And i was just a soldier on my way to montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke
Chorus：
Blow up your t.v. throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find jesus on your own
Well, i sat there at the table and i acted real naive
For i knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do
Repeat chorus：
Well, i was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as i was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said 'you must know the answer.'
'she said, 'no but i'll give it a try.'
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why
We blew up our t.v. threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found jesus on their own
3.Hello In There
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
We had an apartment in the city,
Me and loretta liked living there.
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and linda live in omaha,
And joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost davy in the korean war,
And i still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.
Chorus：
Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, 'hello in there, hello.'
Me and loretta, we don't talk much more,
She sits and stares through the back door screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen.
Someday i'll go and call up rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what could i say if asks 'what's new？'
'nothing, what's with you？ nothing much to do.'
Repeat chorus：
So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, 'hello in there, hello.'
4.Sam Stone
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Sam stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.
Chorus：
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus christ died for nothin' i suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....
Sam stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
Repeat chorus：
Sam stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the g, i. bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill
Repeat chorus
5.Paradise
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
When i was a child my family would travel
Down to western kentucky where my parents were born
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn.
Chorus：
And daddy won't you take me back to muhlenberg county
Down by the green river where paradise lay
Well, i'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister peabody's coal train has hauled it away
Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the green river
To the abandoned old prison down by adrie hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our
pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill.
Repeat chorus：
Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.
Repeat chorus：
When i die let my ashes float down the green river
Let my soul roll on up to the rochester dam
I'll be halfway to heaven with paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever i am.
Repeat chorus：
6.Donald And Lydia
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Small town, bright lights, saturday night,
Pinballs and pool halls flashing their lights.
Making change behind the counter in a penny arcade
Sat the fat girl daughter of virginia and ray
(spoken：)
Lydia
Lydia hid her thoughts like a cat
Behind her small eyes sunk deep in her fat.
She read romance magazines up in her room
And felt just like sunday on saturday afternoon.
Chorus：
But dreaming just comes natural
Like the first breath from a baby,
Like sunshine feeding daisies,
Like the love hidden deep in your heart.
Bunk beds, shaved heads, saturday night,
A warehouse of strangers with sixty watt lights.
Staring through the ceiling, just wanting to be
Lay one of too many, a young pfc：
(spoken：)
Donald
There were spaces between donald and whatever he said.
Strangers had forced him to live in his head.
He envisioned the details of romantic scenes
After midnight in the stillness of the barracks latrine.
Repeat chorus：
Hot love, cold love, no love at all.
A portrait of guilt is hung on the wall.
Nothing is wrong, nothing is right.
Donald and lydia made love that night.
(spoken：)
Love
The made love in the mountains, they made love in the streams,
They made love in the valleys, they made love in their dreams.
But when they were finished there was nothing to say,
'cause mostly they made love from ten miles away.
Repeat chorus：
7.The Late John Garfield Blues
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Black faces pressed against the glass
Where rain has pressed it's weight
Wind blown scarves in top down cars
All share one western trait
Sadness leaks through tear-stained cheeks
From winos to dime-store jews
Probably don't know they give me
These late john garfield blues
Midnight fell on franklin street
And the lamppost bulbs were broke
For the life of me, i could not see
But i heard a brand new joke
Two men were standing upon a bridge
One jumped and screamed you lose
And just left the odd man holding
Those late john garfield blues
An old man sleeps with his conscience at night
Young kids sleep with their dreams
While the mentally ill sit perfectly still
And live through life's in-betweens
I'm going away to the last resort
In week or two real soon
Where the fish don't bite but once a night
By the cold light of the moon
The horses scream- the nightmares dream
And the dead men all wear shoes
'cause everybody's dancin'
Those late john garfield blues
8.Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Oh I get drunk most every night
Seems like all we do is fight
The more I drink
The less I feel blue
Sometimes I feel like an awful fool
Spendin' my life on an old bar stool
And yes I guess they oughta name a drink after you
If this date were to be our last
I'd never sit down this glass
It'd take all the booze in the world
To forget you
You've left my heart a vacant lot
I'll fill it with another shot
And yes I guess they oughta name a drink after you
Looks like I had my fill
Guess I better pay my bill
When I started out I only meant to have a few
Someone just said that you left town
I better get a double round
And yes I guess they oughta name a drink after you
9.The Great Compromise
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I knew a girl who was almost a lady
She had a way with all the men in her life
Every inch of her blossomed in beauty
And she was born on the fourth of july
Well she lived in an aluminum house trailer
And she worked in a juke box saloon
And she spent all the money i give her
Just to see the old man in the moon
Chorus：
I used to sleep at the foot of old glory
And awake in the dawn's early light
But much to my surprise
When i opened my eyes
I was a victim of the great compromise
Well we'd go out on saturday evenings
To the drive-in on route 41
And it was there that i first suspected
That she was doin' what she'd already done
She said 'johnny won't you get me some popcorn'
And she knew i had to walk pretty far
And as soon as i passed through the moonlight
She hopped into a foreign sports car
(repeat chorus)
Well you know i could have beat up that fellow
But it was her that had hopped into his car
Many times i'd fought to protect her
But this time she was goin' too far
Now some folks they call me a coward
'cause i left her at the drive-in that night
But i'd druther have names thrown at me
Than to fight for a thing that ain't right
(repeat chorus)
Now she writes all the fellows love letters
Saying 'greetings, come and see me real soon'
And they go and line up in the barroom
And spend the night in that sick woman's room
But sometimes i get awful lonesome
And i wish she was my girl instead
But she won't let me live with her
And she makes me live in my head
(repeat chorus)
10.Sweet Revenge
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I got kicked off noah's ark
I turn my cheek to unkind remarks
There was two of everything
But one of me
And when the rains came tumbling down
I held my breath and i stood my ground
And i watched that ship go sailing
Out to sea.
Chorus：
Take it back
Take it back
Oh no, you can't say that
All of my friends
Are not dead or in jail
Through rock and through stone
The black wind still moans
Sweet revenge
Sweet revenge
Without fail.
I caught an aisle seat on a plane
And drove an english teacher half insane
Making up jokes about bicycle spokes
And red balloons
So i called up my local deejay
And he didn't have a lot to say
But the radio
Has learned all of my favorite tunes.
Chorus：
The white meat is on the run
And the dark meat is far too done
And the milkman left me a note yesterday
Get out of this town by noon
You're coming on way too soon
And besides that
We never liked you any way.
Chorus：
11.Please Don't Bury Me
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Woke up this morning
Put on my slippers
Walked in the kitchen and died
And oh what a feeling!
When my soul
Went thru the ceiling
And on up into heaven i did ride
When i got there they did say
John, it happened this way
You slipped upon the floor
And hit your head
And all the angels say
Just before you passed away
These were the very last words
That you said：
Chorus：
Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, i'd druther have 'em' cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size
Give my stomach to milwaukee
If they run out of beer
Put my socks in a cedar box
Just get 'em' out of here
Venus de milo can have my arms
Look out! i've got your nose
Sell my heart to the junkman
And give my love to rose
Repeat chorus
Give my feet to the footloose
Careless, fancy free
Give my knees to the needy
Don't pull that stuff on me
Hand me down my walking cane
It's a sin to tell a lie
Send my mouth way down south
And kiss my ass goodbye
Repeat chorus
12.Christmas In Prison
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
It was christmas in prison
And the food was real good
We had turkey and pistols
Carved out of wood
And i dream of her always
Even when i don't dream
Her name's on my tongue
And her blood's in my stream.
Chorus：
Wait awhile eternity
Old mother nature's got nothing on me
Come to me
Run to me
Come to me, now
We're rolling
My sweetheart
We're flowing
By god!
She reminds me of a chess game
With someone i admire
Or a picnic in the rain
After a prairie fire
Her heart is as big
As this whole goddamn jail
And she's sweeter than saccharine
At a drug store sale.
Chorus：
The search light in the big yard
Swings round with the gun
And spotlights the snowflakes
Like the dust in the sun
It's christmas in prison
There'll be music tonight
I'll probably get homesick
I love you. goodnight.
Chorus：
13.Dear Abby
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Dear abby, dear abby ...
My feet are too long
My hair's falling out and my rights are all wrong
My friends they all tell me that i've no friends at all
Won't you write me a letter, won't you give me a call
Signed bewildered
Bewildered, bewildered...
Chorus：
You have no complaint
You are what your are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood
Dear abby, dear abby...
My fountain pen leaks
My wife hollers at me and my kids are all freaks
Every side i get up on is the wrong side of bed
If it weren't so expensive i'd wish i were dead
Signed unhappy
Unhappy, unhappy...
Repeat chorus
Dear abby, dear abby...
You won't believe this
But my stomach makes noises whenever i kiss
My girlfriend tells me it's all in my head
But my stomach tells me to write you instead
Signed noise-maker
Noise-maker, noise-maker
Repeat chorus
Dear abby, dear abby...
Well i never thought
That me and my girlfriend would ever get caught
We were sitting in the back seat just shooting the breeze
With her hair up in curlers and her pants to her knees
Signed just married
Just married, just married...
Repeat chorus
14.Blue Umbrella
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Feelings are strange
Especially when they come true
And i had a feeling
You'd be leaving soon
So i tried to rearrange
All my emotions
But it seems the same
No matter what i do.
Chorus：
Blue umbrella
Rest upon my shoulder
Hide the pain
While the rain
Makes up my mind
Well, my feet are wet
From thinking this thing over
And it's been so long
Since i felt the warm sunshine
Just give me one good reason
And i promise i won't ask you any more
Just give me one extra season
So i can figure out the other four.
Day time
Makes me wonder why you left me
Night time
Makes me wonder what i said
Next time
Are the words i'd like to plan on
But, last time
Was the only thing you said.
Chorus：
15.Common Sense
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
You can't live together
You can't live alone
Considering the weather
Oh my, how you've grown
From the men in the factories
To the wild kangaroo
Like those birds of a feather
They're gathering together
And feeling
Exactly like you
They got mesmerized
By lullabies
And limbo danced
In pairs
Please lock that door
It don't make much sense
That common sense
Don't make no sense
No more
Just between you and me
It's like pulling
When you ought to be shovin,
Like a nun
With her head in the oven
Please don't tell me
That this really wasn't nothing
One of these days
One of these nights
You'll take off your hat
And they'll read you
Your rights
You'll wanna get high
Every time you feel low
Hey, queen isabella
Stay away from that fella
He'll just get you
Into trouble, you know？
But they came here by boat
And they came here by plane
They blistered their hands
And they burned out their brain
All dreaming a dream
That'll never come true
Hey, don't give me no trouble
Or i'll call up my double
We'll play piggy-in-the-middle
With you
You'll get mesmerized
By alibis
And limbo dance in pairs
Please lock that door
It don't make much sense
That common sense
Don't make no sense
No more
16.Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
The last time that I saw her
She was standing in the rain
With her overcoat under her arm
Leaning on a horsehead cane
She said 'Carl, take all the money'
She called everybody Carl
'My spirit's broke'
'My mind's a joke,'
'And getting up's real hard'
Chorus
Don't you know her
When you see her？
She grew up
In your back yard
Come back to us
Barbara Lewis
Hare Krishna
Beauregard
Selling bibles at the airports
Buying Quaaludes on the phone
Hey, you talk about
A paper route
She's a shut in without a home
God save her, please
She's nailed her knees
To some drugstore parking lot
Hey, Mr. Brown
Turn the volume down
I believe this evening's shot
Repeat Chorus
Can't you picture her next Thursday？
Can you picture her at all？
In the Hotel Boulderado
At the dark end of the hall
I gotta shake myself and wonder
Why she even bothers me
For if heartaches were commercials
We'd all be on T.V.
Repeat Chorus
17.Saddle In The Rain
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I wish, i hope, i wonder
Where you're at sometimes
Is your back against the wall？
Or just across the line
Have you been standing in the rain
Reciting nursery rhymes？
Trying to recall
Some long lost kind of peace of mind
Peace of mind
Try spending the night sometime
All alone in a frozen room
Afterneath you've lain
Your saddle in the rain
I dreamed they locked god up
Down in my basement
And he waited there for me
To have this accident
So he could drink my wine
And eat me like a sacrament
And i just stood there like i do
Then i came and went
I came and went
Like a bird in a foreign sky
Couldn't even say good bye
Or come and share the pain
My saddle's in the rain
I saw a friend who doesn't know
If i'm his friend just yet
His eyes and mouth were widely open
And his jaw was set
Like he'd fell off a cliff
And hadn't hit the bottom yet
I wish he wouldn't pull those things on me
Without a net
Without a net
I had him up to the house one time
And we was having a real good time
Then he went and lain
His saddle in the rain
In a laundromat not too far
From the alamo
Sits a girl who stole my records
Very long ago
And she wishes, wants and washes
Out those dirty clothes
As she shuts her eyes and dreams
About her one eyed joe
One eyed joe
Car parked on a dirty road
Heaven knows the load she pulled
Couldn't take the strain
A saddle in the rain
18.He Was In Heaven Before He Died
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
There's a rainbow of babies
Draped over the graveyard
Where all the dead sailors
Wait for their brides
And the cold bitter snow
Has strangled each grassblade
Where the salt from their tears
Washed out with the tide
Chorus
And i smiled on the wabash
The last time i passed it
Yes i gave her a wink
From the passenger side
And my foot fell asleep
As i swallowed my candy
Knowing he was in heaven
Before he died
Now the harbor's on fire
With the dreams and desires
Of a thousand young poets
Who failed 'cause they tried
For a rhyme without reason
Floats down to the bottom
Where the scavengers eat 'em
And wash in with the tide
Repeat chorus：
The sun can play tricks
With your eyes on the highway
The moon can lay sideways
Till the ocean stands still
But a person can't tell
His best friend he loves him
Till time has stopped breathing
You're alone on the hill
Repeat chorus：
19.Fish And Whistle
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I been thinking lately about the people i meet
The carwash on the corner and the hole in the street
The way my ankles hurt with shoes on my feet
And i'm wondering if i'm gonna see tomorrow.
Father forgive us for what we must do
You forgive us we'll forgive you
We'll forgive each other till we both turn blue
Then we'll whistle and go fishing in heaven.
I was in the army but i never dug a trench
I used to bust my knuckles on a monkey wrench
Then i'd go to town and drink and give the girls a pinch
But i don't think they ever even noticed me.
Fish and whistle, whistle and fish
Eat everything that they put on your dish
And when we get through we'll make a big wish
That we never have to do this again again？ again？？？？
On my very first job i said thank you and please
They made me scrub a parking lot down on my knees
Then i got fired for being scared of bees
And they only give me fifty cents an hour.
20.That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I know a guy that's got a lot to lose.
He's a pretty nice fellow but he's kind of confused.
He's got muscles in his head that ain't never been used.
Thinks he own half of this town.
Starts drinking heavy, gets a big red nose.
Beats his old lady with a rubber hose,
then he takes her out to dinner and buys her new clothes.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.
You're up one day and the next you're down.
It's half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.
I was sitting in the bathtub counting my toes,
when the radiator broke, water all froze.
I got stuck in the ice without my clothes,
naked as the eyes of a clown.
I was crying ice cubes hoping I'd croak,
when the sun come through the window, the ice all broke.
I stood up and laughed thought it was a joke
That's the way that the world goes 'round.
21.Bruised Orange(Chain Of Sorrows)
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
My heart's in the ice house come hill or come valley
Like a long ago sunday when i walked through the alley
On a cold winter's morning to a church house
Just to shovel some snow.
I heard sirens on the train track howl naked gettin' nuder,
An altar boy's been hit by a local commuter
Just from walking with his back turned
To the train that was coming so slow.
You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder,
Throw your hands in the air, say 'what does it matter？'
But it don't do no good to get angry,
So help me i know
For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.
You become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there
Wrapped up in a trap of your very own
Chain of sorrow.
I been brought down to zero, pulled out and put back there.
I sat on a park bench, kissed the girl with the black hair
And my head shouted down to my heart
'you better look out below!'
Hey, it ain't such a long drop don't stammer don't stutter
From the diamonds in the sidewalk to the dirt in the gutter
And you carry those bruises to remind you wherever you go.
22.Sabu Visits The Twin Cities Alone
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
The movie wasn't really doing so hot
Said the new producer to the old big shot
Its dying on the edge of the great midwest
Sabu must tour or forever rest.
Hey look ma
Here comes the elephant boy
Bundled all up in his corduroy
Headed down south towards illinois
From the jungles of east st. paul.
His manager sat in the office alone
Staring at the numbers on the telephone
Wondering how a man could send a child actor
To visit in the land of the wind chill factor.
Sabu was sad the whole tour stunk
The airlines lost the elephant's trunk
The roadie got the rabies and the scabies and the flu
They was low on morale but they was high on.
23.Automobile
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
February morning, my car won't start today
I turned the key at 8：03 and the battery passed away
Inside a' my automobile
I want my automobile
I want my automobile
I want to drive it all around this world
Bride's gettin' married in the springtime
Widow's gettin married in the fall
I got married in high school
Or i wouldn't of got married at all
I'd be drivin' my automobile
Be drivin' my automobile
Be drivin' my automobile
I wanna drive it all around this world
Everybody said to the new groom
Groom, what ya gonna be
I said i'm gonna be a symphony
Just as soon as i find a key
To my automobile
I want my automobile
I want my automobile
All around this world
Spoken：
Let's take a ride
Columbus sailed the ocean
Moses parted the sea
Dolores left me yesterday
Well, i think she took the key
To my automobile
I want my automobile
I want my automobile
Wanna drive it all around this world
Now i held a little bitty baby
I held a woman all night
Whenever i get the hiccups
I hold my breath 'til my head gets light
Then i drive my automobile
Yeah i drive my automobile
I drive my automobile
I'm want to drive it all around this world
February morning, my car won't start today
Yeah, i turned the key at 8：03
And the battery passed away
Inside a' my automobile
I'm drivin' my automobile
Wanna my automobile
Wanna drive it all around this world
Go on.
Spoken：
It is a beautiful day for a ride
Hey, get your head down i can't see anything
Someone give me a cigarette
I don't want to take my hands off the wheel
We ought to take the air filter off this sucker.
So we can see what it will really do.
Uh oh, it looks to me like a hos-pital zone
Everybody get quiet. shhhhhhhh.
Don't wake the dead up.
We're almost out. hang on. uh oh here we go.
Well, you can just hold it until we get to the next town.
24.Killing The Blues
Leaves were falling ..just like embers
In colors red and gold they set us on fire
Burning just like a moonbeam ..in our eyes
Chorus：
Somebody said they saw me
Swinging the world by the tail
Bouncing over a white cloud.
Killing the blues
I am guilty of something
I hope you never do because there is nothing
Sadder than losing .. yourself in love
Repeat chorus：
Repeat chorus：
Now, you ask me just to leave you
To go out on my own and get what i need to
You want me to find ..what i've already had
Repeat chorus：
Repeat chorus：
Repeat chorus：
Repeat chorus：
25.Down By The Side Of The Road
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Her father was a failure
Her mother was a comfort
To a doctor and lawyer and indian chief.
The shirt ran out of buttons
He lost all his marbles at a baseball game
And they went on relief.
The bank took away their diplomas
They locked them up inside of the chest
And she moved away to oklahoma
And got a tattoo on the side of her breast
'god-damn, my socks are still hard'
From lying on the sofa on the night she was over in my backyard
Yeah, we was shooting the breeze out amongst the trees
When a shot rang low
And left her standing down by the side of the road
Down by the side of the road
Father have mercy, whoo whoo
Get her a nurse please
She's almost alone
I saw her hand reaching out for the telephone
We rather see her locked up inside a home
Than see her standing down by the side of the road
Down by the side of the road
Headlights flashing on her skirt in the wind.
Yonder comes a truck it drove by two men.
Shotgun man leaned out and said do you want to take a ride？
Out in the pale moonlight light. light light lie lie lie lie
Too long in the hot sun
She could've be miss wisconsin a long time ago
Spent to much time inside of the early show
We'd bought her a ticket but she didn't want to go
She was standing down by the side of the road
Down by the side of the road
Headlights flashing, caught a skirt in the wind.
Yonder comes a truck it drove by two men.
Shotgun man leaned out and said do you want to take a ride？
Out in through the pale moonlight
Her father was a failure
Her mother was a comfort
To a doctor and lawyer and indian chief.
The shirt made out of buttons
He lost all his marbles at a baseball game
And they went on relief.
The bank took away their diplomas
They locked them up inside of the chest
And she moved away to oklahoma
And got a tattoo on the side of her breast
God-damn, my thoughts are still hard.
From lying on the sofa on the night she was overi n my backyard
Yeah, we was shooting the breeze out amongst the trees
When a shot rang low
And left her standing down by the side of the road
Down by the side of the road
Down by the side of the road
Down by the side of the road
26.Living In The Future
(originally named 'jumpin jehosaphat')
Jehosaphat the mongrel cat
Jumped off the roof today
Some would say he fell but i could tell
He did himself away
His eyes weren't bright like they were the night
We played checkers on the train
God bless his soul he was a tootsie roll
But he's a dead cat just the same
Chorus：
We are living in the future
I'll tell you how i know
I read it in the paper
Fifteen years ago
We're all driving rocket ships
And talking with our minds
And wearing turquoise jewelry
And standing in soup lines
We are standing in soup lines
Jake the barber's lonely daughter
Went down to her daddy's shop
She plugged herself to a barber pole
And took a little off the top
Pressure on the left. pressure on the right
Pressure in the middle of the hole
I'm goin' to maine on a forty foot crane
I'm gonna use it for a fishin' pole
Repeat chorus
Old sarah brown sells tickets down
At the all night picture show
Where they grind out sex
And they rate it with an 'x'
Just to make a young man's pants grow
No tops no bottoms just hands and feet
Screaming the posters out on the street
Strangling the curious and the weak
We give 'em what they want to see - o
Repeat chorus
27.It's Happening To You
Lyrics：John Prine／John Burns
Music：John Prine／John Burns
Well it's the same old song
Boy meets girl
And girl meets boy
They carry on
They close their eyes
And kiss until the world is gone
Oh yes it's true
It's happening to you
You know what they say
They pledge their love forever
Then they add a day
They hold their hands so tight
In the fear
That one might stray
Oh yes it's true
It's happening to you
I loved her
She loved me too
We had a lot of love
Now it's all through
And for a while
Their hearts beat one
As they match each other
Smile for smile
They dance away the night
As they praise
The others style
Oh yes it's true
It's happening to you
28.Storm Windows
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I can hear the wheels of the automobiles
So far away - just moving along through the drifting snow
It's times like these when the temperatures freeze
I sit alone just looking at the world through a storm window
And down on the beach - the sandman sleeps
Time don't fly - it bounds and leaps
And a country band that plays for keeps
They play it so slow
Chorus：
Don't let your baby down
Don't let your baby down
Don't let your baby down
Well, the spirits were high 'til the well went dry
For so long the raven at my window was only a crow
I bought the rights to the inside fights
And watched a man just beating his hand against a storm window
While miles away o'er hills and streams
A candle burns - a witch's dreams
And silence is golden till it screams
Right through your bones
Repeat chorus：
Storm windows - gee but i'm getting old
Storm window - keep away the cold
Don't let your baby down
Don't let your baby down
Don't let your baby down
29.One Red Rose
The rain came down
On the tin roof
Hardly
A sound was left
From the birthday party
The kitchen light
Fell asleep
On the bedroom floor
Me and her were talking softer
Than all the time
Before i lost her
Picture sat on top
Of the chest of drawers
Chorus：
One red rose
In the bible
Pressed between
The holy alphabet
Probably wouldn't believe you
If you told me
But what i never knew
I never will forget
Rainy nites
Get dark real early
Her dress was soft
And her hair was curly
We danced around the table
To the old banjo
Rainy nites
Were made for lovers
We lay there still
Beneath the covers
And i ain't never felt
Like that before
Chorus：
30.Souvenirs
Lyrics：John Prine／Steve Goodman
Music：John Prine／Steve Goodman
All the snow has turned to water
Christmas days have come and gone
Broken toys and faded colors
Are all that's left to linger on
I hate graveyards and old pawn shops
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my childhood souvenirs
Chorus：
Memories they can't be boughten
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Well it took me years
To get those souvenirs
And i don't know how they slipped away from me
Broken hearts and dirty windows
Make life difficult to see
That's why last night and this mornin'
Always look the same to me
I hate reading old love letters
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my sweetheart's souvenirs
(repeat chorus)
31.Aimless Love
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
He's just a small fry. a bit too gun shy.
To have his heart touched without a glove
He looks at strangers as potential dangers
Trying to steal his aimless love.
Love has no mind. it can't spell unkind.
It's never seen a heart shaped like a valentine
For if love knew him. it'd walk up to him
And introduce him to an aimless love
I been out walking. kinda pillow talking
To anyone that has the time for me
For there are some folks they think that love chokes.
It ties and keeps them from being free
Love has no mind. it can't spell unkind
It's never seen a heart shaped like a valentine
For if love knew you. it'd walk up to you
And introduce you to an aimless love
Do you look at strangers as potential dangers
Trying to steal your aimless love.
Love has no mind. it can't spell unkind
It's never seen a heart shaped like a valentine
For if love knew you. it'd walk up to you
And introduce you to an aimless love
And introduce you to an aimless love
32.The Oldest Baby In The World
Lyrics：John Prine／Don Fritts
Music：John Prine／Don Fritts
She's got the mind of a child
And a body peaking over the hill
Well, she would if she could
And she should but nobody will
With her nails painted red
And her hair so unnaturally curled
Well i think that she may be
The oldest baby in the world
She's tasted the night life
But it's left her with nothing but hunger
And all the available men
Seem to think that they want something younger
But youth is a costume
And the beauty within lies unfurled
And i think that she may be
The oldest baby in the world
Fast horses win races
And royal flushes beat aces
And everyone's playing to keep
So let's turn out the lights
And rock that old baby to sleep
She loves the sound of the rain
But you know she's still afraid of the thunder
She keeps a head full of hope
And a heart that's so full of wonder
She may look like a woman
But she's still some daddy's little girl
And i think that she may be
The oldest baby in the world
Yes, i think that she may be
The oldest baby in the world
33.People Puttin' People Down
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
People who are sad - sometimes they wear a frown
And people who are kings - sometimes they wear a crown
But all the people who don't fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin' people down
People puttin' people down
People without love - sometimes build a fence around
The garden up above - that makes the whole world go 'round
But all the people who don't fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin' people down
People puttin' people down
So cold, sometimes it gets so cold
You may love your wife - you may lose your family
You may lose you mind - just to keep your sanity
But the people who don't fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin' people down
People puttin' people down
People that are glad - sometimes they wear a smile
And people without dreams they walk the extra mile
But all the people who don't fit
Get the only fun they get
From people puttin' people down
People puttin' people dwn
From people puttin' people down
People puttin' people down
So cold, sometimes it gets so cold
34.Unwed Fathers
Written：John Prine／Bobby Braddock
In an appalachian, greyhound station
She sits there waiting, in a family way
'goodbye brother, tell mom i love her
Tell all the others, i'll write someday'
Chorus：
From an teenage lover, to an unwed mother
Kept undercover, like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered
They run like water, through a mountain stream
In a cold and gray town, a nurse say's 'lay down'
'this ain't no playground, and this ain't home'
Someone's children, out having children
In a gray stone building, all alone
On somewhere else bound, smokey mountain greyhound
She bows her head down, hummin' lullabies
'your daddy never, meant to hurt you ever'
'he just don't live here, but you've got his eyes'
Repeat chorus：
Well, they run like water,
Through a mountain stream
35.Angel From Montgomery
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that's grown old
If dreams were lightning thunder was desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago
Chorus：
Make me an angel that flies from montgom'ry
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that i can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go
When i was a young girl well, i had me a cowboy
He weren't much to look at, just free rambling man
But that was a long time and no matter how i try
The years just flow by like a broken down dam.
Repeat chorus：
There's flies in the kitchen i can hear 'em there buzzing
And i ain't done nothing since i woke up today.
How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say.
Repeat chorus：
36.Linda Goes To Mars
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I just found out yesterday that linda goes to mars
Every time i sit and look at pictures of used cars
She'll turn on her radio and sit down in her chair
And look at me across the room, as if i wasn't there
Chorus：
Oh my stars! my linda's gone to mars
Well i wish she wouldn't leave me here alone
Oh my stars! my linda's gone to mars
Well, i wonder if she'd bring me something home.
Something, somewhere, somehow took my linda by the hand
And secretly decoded our sacred wedding band
For when the moon shines down up on our happy, humble home
Her inner space gets tortured by some outer space unknown.
Repeat chorus：
Now i ain't seen no saucers 'cept the ones upon the shelf
And if i ever seen one i'd keep it to myself
For if there's life out there somewhere beyond this life on
earth
Then linda must have gone out there and got her money's worth.
Repeat chorus：
Yeah, i wonder if she'd bring me something home.
37.Bad Boy
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I been a bad boy
I been long gone
I been out there
I never phone home
I never gave you not one little clue where i'd been
I've been a bad boy again.
I got a way of
Fallin' in love
With angels that don't shove
You into thinkin' that you are committing a sin
I've been a bad boy again.
I've been a bad boy again
Now i've been a bad boy again
And all the trouble that i'm in
Makes me a bad boy again
I've been a bad boy again
Now i've been a bad boy again
And all the trouble that i'm in
Makes me a bad boy again
I must have walked 'round
In a real fog
I was your best friend
Now i'm a real dog
I never thought that now
Would ever catch up with then
I've been a bad boy again.
I've been a bad boy
I sung a wrong song
I took a left turn
I stayed too long
As you were thinkin' that i wasn't
Just like all other men
I've been a bad boy again.
I've been a bad boy again
Now i've been a bad boy again
And all the trouble that i'm in
Makes me a bad boy again
I've been a bad boy again
Now i've been a bad boy again
And all the trouble that i'm in
Makes me a bad boy again
38.Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
You come home late and you come home early
You come on big when you're feeling small
You come home straight and you come home curly
Sometimes you don't come home at all
Chorus：
So what in the world's come over you
And what in heaven's name have you done
You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness
You're out there running just to be on the run
Well i got a heart that burns with a fever
And i got a worried and a jealous mind
How can a love that'll last forever
Get left so far behind
Repeat chorus：
It's a mighty mean and a dreadful sorrow
It's crossed the evil line today
Well, how can you ask about tomorrow
We ain't got one word to say
Repeat chorus：
Ending：
You're out there running just to be on the run
You're out there running just to be on the run
You're out there running just to be on the run
39.It's A Big Old Goofy World
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
Up in the morning
Work like a dog
Is better than sitting
Like a bump on a log
Mind all your manners
Be quiet as a mouse
Some day you'll own a home
That's as big as a house
I know a fella
He eats like a horse
Knocks his old balls
Round the old golf course
You oughta see his wife
She's a cute little dish
She smokes like a chimney
And drinks like a fish
There's a big old goofy man
Dancing with a big old goofy girl
Ooh baby
It's a big old goofy world
Now elvis had a woman
With a head like a rock
I wished i had a woman
That made my knees knock
She'd sing like an angel
And eat like a bird
And if i wrote a song
She'd know ever single word
Kiss a little baby
Give the world a smile
If you take an inch
Give 'em back a mile
Cause if you lie like a rug
And you don't give a damn
You're never gonna be
As happy as a clam
So i'm sitting in a hotel
Trying to write a song
My head is just as empty
As the day is long
Why it's clear as a bell
I should have gone to school
I'd be wise as an owl
Stead of stubborn as a mule.
40.The Sins Of Memphisto
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
From the bells of st mary
To the count of monte cristo
Nothing can stop
Nothing can stop
Nothing can stop
The sins of memphisto
Sally used to play with her hula hoops
Now she tells her problems to therapy groups
Grampa's on the front lawn staring at a rake
Wondering if his marriage was a terrible mistake
I'm sitting on the front steps drinking orange crush
Wondering if it's possible if i could still blush
Uh huh oh yeah
A boy on a bike with courduroy slacks
Sleeps in the river by the railroad tracks
He waits for the whistle on the train to scream
So he can close his eyes and begin to dream
Uh huh oh yeah
The hands on his watch spin slowly around
With his mind on a bus that goes all over town
Looking at the babies and the factories
And listening to the music of mister squeeze
As if by magic or remote control
He finds a piece of a puzzle
That he missed in his soul
Uh huh oh yeah
Adam and eve and lucy and ricky
Bit the big apple and got a little sticky
Esmeralda and the hunchback of notre dame
They humped each other like they had no shame
They paused as they posed for a polaroid photo
She whispered in his ear 'exactly odo quasi modo'
41.All The Best
Lyrics：John Prine
Music：John Prine
I wish you love and happiness
I guess i wish you all the best
I wish you don't do like i do
And ever fall in love with someone like you
Cause if you fell just like i did
You'd probably walk around the block like a little kid.
But kids don't know they can only guess
How hard it is to wish you happiness
I guess that love is like a christmas card
You decorate a tree you throw it in the yard
It decays and dies and the snowmen melt
Well i once knew love i knew how love felt
Yeah i knew love love knew me
And when i walked love walked with me
And i got no hate and i got no pride
Well i got so much love that i cannot hide
Say you drive a chevy say you drive a ford
You say you drive around the town till you just get bored
Then you change your mind for something else to do
And your heart gets bored with your mind and it changes you
Well it's a doggone shame and it's an awful mess
I wish you love i wish you happiness
I wish you love i wish you happiness
I guess i wish you all the best
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