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1. |
This Old Wheel
04:04
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6 a.m. in Alvarado
it’s a long way back to the coast I know
if you’re behind me you must not be close
should I leave a light on when I go
now it’s high noon in Amarillo
ask around and they’ll say I’ve been through
I may not leave word the next place I’m going
some promises were not meant to come true
we had rhythm, we had soul
but now it’s time for this old wheel to roll
if I see you again
will you know me for a friend
on that high road
midnight someplace in New Mexico
another state line is coming up soon
i’ll lose all memory of the sound of your voice
sometime before tomorrow afternoon
10 miles of coal trains
5 foot of mountain rain
never saw any such thing before
where the cotton ends
where the snow begins
couldn’t say where I am anymore
if I don’t make the other side
tell them that I tried
only you could know for sure
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2. |
The Second
01:45
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you can serve it up in smaller bites
you can break it down to black and white
without a choice there is no life
you cannot trust the ones who make
keep an eye for the ones who break
turn your eyes they all just take
so came come and take if you can
take it from my cold dead hand
this is the ground where I stand
you can’t tread but I’ll lend a hand
freedom is no reprimand
don’t you tell me what to trust
I don’t care who lust what
when it’s time, i’ll do what I must
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3. |
Bottom Of The Brazos
04:04
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her story starts in Texas
where the Brazos ends some old broken road
her mama's heart was salted earth
her daddy's just a picture in Momma's bottle drawer
he got crossed with the wrong men
took their money south of Mexico
ain't worth the bullet that'll find him
said mama when she took the bottle from the drawer
sometimes she sits in the evening by the river
water takes her dreams as far as they could
but they’d always end at the
bottom of the Brazos
buried underneath that Texas river mud
years go slow in a small town
tonight she works a double at the old truck and go
there he was at table 12
the man from the picture in mamas bottle drawer
I came here to see your face
I had to stay away too long
darlin' I'm going to make this right
but she turned him away and he walked out the door
but those men found him
on a bridge on the River, he said
I threw your money as far as i could
so they put them at the bottom of the Brazos
buried under that Texas river mud
oh that bastard left again
she cursed herself; she cursed the thought of him
oh she needed a place to cry
she needed her place on the riverside
oh how was she to know
until she saw the money
until she saw the note
(P.S. Darlin’ -- All my love)
so she left that river far away behind her
she drove and drove as far as she could
she left that town down by the Brazos
buried underneath that Texas river mud
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4. |
Amanda Lee
02:46
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i sing your song Amanda Lee
Lord i wish you’d let me be
i said goodbye and i drank my fill
when i left you up on Red Bird Hill
sitting on the porch with an aching head
something cold got in my bed
nothing grows in the yard outside
you leave a little poison where you stand all night
i had a little woman for a week or more
but she took off down the rolling shore
i don’t know what she saw that day
but i know she won’t be back this way
i quit drinking for 15 days
i wrote you lines and i sang you praise
the bottle came back but the song did too
and i got saved but not by you
i bought you a bed for to lay you down
under 59 buckets of Red Bird ground
i know it was you and nobody else
i buried you there all by myself
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5. |
Old Soul
07:03
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you say I’m an old soul
my fire's all dead and gone
but in the cold of the night
you sleep in my embers just to keep warm
you say I’m an old soul
there’s a whole new world outside my door
but in the dead of the night
you come to my door when you need a home
now you sing your song
you sing for the days long gone
(now you sing your song
you sing for days that you long)
when I hear your cries in the night
you know they make me feel so young
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6. |
Opening Day
02:50
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she feels it in her bones on a summer day
the winter bird will soon pass our way
I see it in her eyes what words can’t say
I promise I won’t die on opening day
let’s sit my friend and scan the sky
our quarry is afoot, I’m content to let them lie
I wish this moment never goes away
I’m sitting with you on opening day
I know the years won’t let go of you
these precious moments it seems but few
don’t you worry, she seemed to say
I promise I won’t die on opening day
now she waits at her place by the campfire
waiting for tales from her favorite liar
she never judges what I have to say
she says I won’t die on opening day
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7. |
Selling The Farm
03:27
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sun is rising, light up the coals
we’re making a stand all day
a cold case of lone star, my old over/under
and 700 secondhand clays
run the dogs to the northwest corner
by the creek if the water ain’t down
season comes we’ll find someplace to hunt ‘em
Lord they’re gonna miss this ground
we’re selling the farm in the morning
all the woods and the fields and the fence
and I wish somebody could tell me
in a way that it all made sense
oh we’re raising hell tonight
even if it’s the very last time
so long to the good days
cousin Ruby’s been taking it hard
been 15 years since she cried
I hear ol’ Bert Young who looks after the land
went to sleep last night and he died
adios to the farm in the morning
all the roads that we made in the mud
we’re leaving a lifetime behind us
a generation of Texas blood
oh we’re raising hell tonight
even if it’s the very last time
so much for the good days
there’s a new bunch of deer in the bottom
I promised to my daughters and sons
I don’t how I can make up the memories
but i’ll never stop til I’m done
I don’t know what time we gotta leave tomorrow
I don’t know what I’m gonna say
it’s too damn hot for a bonfire tonight
but we’re gonna be burning one anyway
we’re selling the farm in the morning
all the bucks and the snakes and the hogs
it’s a life that’s passing from memory
except a couple of sad old songs
oh we’re raising hell tonight
even if it’s the very last time
don’t give up on the good days
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8. |
The Burn
03:17
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remember the days, my love
we walked hand in hand through the grove
where I was led, you one step ahead
to our place down by the burn
‘twas spring in the year ‘45
the year that i was to make you my wife
but along came our king, the Stuarts, the claim
and I left you down there by the burn
My heart is back in the Highlands my love
I sway with you in my arms
i’ll see you soon when Bonnie’s our king
i’ll meet you down there by the burn
in Culloden we make our stand
with targe and dirk in our hand
our feet in the moor
Cumberland’s cannon they roared
no more will I dance by the burn
with my brothers I lay in the ground
under the flag and tartan they found
but be not afraid I’m miles away
waiting for you by the burn
my heart is back in the Highlands my love
I sway with you in my arms
i’ll see you soon when Bonnie’s our king
i’ll meet you down there by the burn
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9. |
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he was a hawknose bastard and he never grinned
in fact if he did try to smile his eyes didn’t join in
cold blooded and scary, that’s worse than mean
killed eight men before he was seventeen
there are some roads you don’t want to go down…
he grew up alone and came to like it that way
unless you dodge his eyes you’re bound to pay
he’d sooner cut you down than spit across your path
he sees his anger as God’s own righteous wrath
there are some roads you don’t want to go down…
every now and then
you’ve got to take the long way round
walk away, live another day
keep your loved ones safe and sound
he’s bad in his bones, in his marrow; he’ll never give in
when it comes to his kind turning coward no sin
if you see him coming better walk the other way
if he sees you coming he’ll stare you down and say
there are some roads you don’t want to go down…
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10. |
Falling Tide
03:45
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the key to life by luck or by design
my feet in the mud, my hands testing the line
if you want to dance you gotta be at the school
come too late you’ll be lonely fool
fortune comes as easy as it goes
respect the kill, learn to love your foes
gun grey sky, cold November day
the ghosts appear, the woods come into life
draw one back, pick your mark
fly it true, it’s not fair to lay overnight
fortune comes as easy as it goes
respect the kill, learn to love your foes
my daddy always said
hunt with the wind in your face
always fish the falling tide
if you’re caught with a smoking gun in hand
it’s better than if you lied
ceiling shimmers fire, the quakies showing gold
bugle cuts the silence and melts away the cold
when you see the king take your bow
he gave more to hand over the crown
fortune comes as easy as it goes
respect the kill, learn to love your foes
my daddy always said
hunt with the wind in your face
always fish the falling tide
if you’re caught with a smoking gun in hand
it’s better than if you lied
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11. |
Honest Man
04:31
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lights are lit, folks are drinking
the guitars are in tune
all in white you catch the light
i’m shined up like my shoes
i reckon what they say is true
you make the perfect bride
but i wonder if they’ve spent much time
on your hellraising side
each night night i’d fall in love with you
it’s no surprise to me
you were talking trash and making eyes
to get our drinks for free
i’d be bumming smokes all night
cause i quite three years ago
the bears they threw us out of
are the ones i’ll miss you know
lay your head down here beside me darling
keep me for your own
we’ll walk this world hand in hand
and just a little stoned
i thank God for the honest man
you’re making out of me
but when we kiss i hope you miss
how bad we used to be
i wasted so much time alone
it took so long to find
a woman who don’t take no shit
is the only worthy kind
i’m better with a sad old song
than a pool cue any day
but scheming, dreaming, starting fires
i’m with you all the way
we never robbed as many banks
as we always used to say
but for every night we lived through
i recall a damn good day
we may not con those millionaires
and bleed their fortunes dry
but as long as you stay close to me
our dreams won’t have to die
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