Well here we are again what do you want from me this time
Remember what you did about you made me feel last time
You're on the move again in bad need of a friend
Whose arms did you fall out of now
Well now what you gonna do how long you gonna stay this time
Well now what you gonna prove that I'll die a little more each time
Cause dying's what I do it's something I'm used to
Whose arms did you fall out of now
By now I should be used to losing you
But if it's worst each time I see you coming back again
This won't be the end and here we go again this time
And I know it's gonna be a real bad time for me like the last time
I'd never hear from you tell you no one to turn to
When I see the water come and clear beside a shore
When all the guns are silent and the sky is clear once more
When the bugles fill the air with victory's swet song
That's when I'll come back home where I belong
Then I'll come home again then I'll come home again
When I have done my duty in this foreign land
When I have fought and done my job for Uncle Sam
Then I'll come home again then I'll come home again
[ piano ]
When I see the flag of freedom flying o'er this land
When the people here are free to live their lives again
When the Captain tells me the battle has been won
Tell all my friends then I'll be coming home
Then I'll come home again...
Well I've heard your stories about your fast trains
But now I'll tell you bout one all the travelin' folks have seen
She's the beauty of the Southland listen to that whistle scream
It's that Pan American on her way to New Orleans
She leaves Cincinnati headed down that Dixie Line
When she passes the Nashville Tower you can hear the whistle whine
Stick your hand right out the window and feel that southern breeze
You're on that Pan American on her way to New Orleans
If you're ever in the Southland and you want to see the scenes
Just get yourself a ticket on that Pan American Queen
There's Louisville Nashville Montgomery the capitol of Alabam
You pass right through them all when you're New Orleans bound
[ guitar ]
If you're ever in the Southland...
Well, everybody's going out and having fun
I'm just a fool for staying home and having none
I can't get over how she set, set me free
Oh, lonesome me
A bad mistake I'm making by just hanging 'round
I know that I should have some fun and paint the town
A lovesick fool that's blind and just can't see
Oh, lonesome me
I'll bet she's not like me, she's out and fancy free
Flirtin' with the boys with all her charms
But I still love her so and brother don't you know
I'd welcome her right back here in my arms
Well, there must be some way I can lose these lonesome blues
Forget about the past and find somebody new
I've thought of everything from A to Z
Oh, lonesome me
Well, I'll bet she's not like me
Oh, lonesome me
Standing on the road
Walking down the highway
Ain't going nowhere
But that's my way of life
I never had a lot of ambition
But I always made my own way
By turnin' a couple of jobs in some ladies backyard
I averaged about a dollar a day
I wake up early each morning
And before I started on my way
I get some cigarettes and a couple of cups
Of coffee sweepin' the local city cafe
Standing on the road
Walking down the highway
Ain't going nowhere
But that's my way of life
I've never had no one to love me
Never've girl to call my own
I never would take a chance or fool with romance
I guess I'm too used to being alone
Nobody wants a drifter
And I gotta keep moving on
There's nothing to tie me down
When I wanna leave town
Nobody to miss me when I'm gone
Standing on the road
Walking down the highway
Ain't going nowhere
From the dark and lonely part of town comes a man nobody wants around
Dressed in black I cry across the land it's a hurt it's a pain it's lonely man
I am lonely man lonely and blue you'll never know I never did get over you
My longing for you is the best kept secret in the land
It's a hurt it's a pain it's lonely man
Nobody knows my true identity they'll never know how much you're hurting me
A smile is my disguise and that's my plan it's a hurt it's a pain it's lonely man
I am lonely man...
If you wonder why I always look so bad and even when I smile I still look sad
Well it's just because I've lost the only love I've ever had
Now I'm livin' in tumble down shack on shabby little street on the hill in Lonelyville
If you think I'm livin' pretty well it's true
But there's nothing else that's left for me to do
She packed my clothes showed me the door and then she said we're through
Now I'm livin' in tumble down shack on shabby little street on the hill in Lonelyville
Well Lonelyville is not a happy place but now I'm forced to live here in disgrace
I heard her slammed the door behind me tight and I realized I didn't treat her right
So I'll have to face the sadness and the sorrow every night
In my tumble down shack on shabby little street on the hill in Lonelyville
I'm looking for that Lonely Street I've got a sad sad tale to tell
I need a place to go and weep where's this place called Lonely Street
A place where there's just loneliness where dim lights bring forgetfulness
Where broken dreams and mem'ries meet where's this place called Lonely Street
Perhaps upon that Lonely Street there's someone such as I
Who came to bury broken dreams and watch an old love die
If I could find that Lonely Street where dim lights bring forgetfulness
Where broken dreams and mem'ries meet where's this place called Lonely Street
Perhaps upon that Lonely Street...
Some folks call me a laughin' boy some say I'm a clown
But till you've tried my way of life don't ever put it down
And if it feels good do it if it hurts just let it lie
Now there's no mistery to it just a better way to look at life
Some folks worry bout growin' old but that don't bother me
Old age is one thing I hope that I live long enough to see
Forget your disappointments pretend they wasn't there
But when they pass out happiness be sure you get your share
And if it feels good...
[ guitar ]
One day when I'm old and gray lookin' back at what I've done
I can face the world and say that livin' sure was fun
And if it feels good...
I've journeyed over the mountains just like that famous bear
I didn't realize it wouldn't get me anywhere
And now I'm tired of roaming this life is not much fun
I'd like to go home, if I had one
I've known all kinds of women, the rowdy and the nice
I've even thought of marriage, but I've never thought of that twice
And now, I feel the loneliness with every setting sun
I'd love to see my baby, if I had one
I've made a lot of money, I've also spent a lot
I've thought a man was judged by the money that he got
But money will not take me back to days when I was young
I guess my heart would break, if I had one
Oh I'm so surprised to see me here sittin' all alone
It's late and everybody's gone to their respective homes
I could go home I should go home but it's so dark and still
Well look at me I'm looking back oh I have been through the mill
I've been through the mill oh ain't I I have been through the mill
The hunter is now hunted and time moves in for the kill
Oh stranger do pull up a chair and listen if you will
It's purely biographical but I have been through the mill
There was a time I'd come in here and the folks would wave and smile
Do you remember what's her name oh she was such a lovely child
But times will change and towns will change oh you know how they will
Oh look at me I'm looking back and I have been through the mill
Well where did you get those beautiful eyes honey
Yeah where did you get those beautiful eyes baby
Where did you get those beautiful eyes I can't hide such beautiful lies
Oh honey oh honey babe
Well I'm a takin' you down to the country store honey
Yeah I'm a takin' you down to the country store baby
I'm takin' you down to the country store
Gonna spend all my money and go and work and get some more oh honey oh honey babe
You've got my heart now lend me your hand baby
You've got my heart now lend me your hand honey honey baby
You got my heart now lend me your hand
You can have my house and all of my land oh honey oh honey babe
Well I got a ring that'll fit you fine honey yeah I got a ring that'll fit you fine baby
Well I got a ring that'll fit you fine go get married sure enough this time
Got my heart patched up my goodnight sleep and my dancin' slippers on
I'm diggin' up where I left off when lovin' you went wrong
You'll notice I'm all smiles again and out of hibernation
Gonna hit those moonlit lanes again I'm back in circulation
Don't play the blues for me I want the sunny side of life
Tell all the gang to meet me here we're gonna swing the night
Hunt for everything that's wet and start the celebration
Gonna have myself a ball tonight I'm back in circulation
[ guitar ]
Put my cryin' towel away sunshine just peeped through the clouds
Gettin' out my little black book checkin' upon my ole crowd
Tell Mr Moon to shine tonight and make this observation
I just bounced back from being hurt and I'm back in circulation
It's just a small cafe I'm here most everyday at the junction of heartbreak road
I guess it's very clear it's you that put me here at the junction of heartbreak road
At the junction where losers and weepers meet and if you'd never been there before
They say if you stay at that junction long enough
Honey everybody walks into that door
I'll have a drink or two then I'll have one for you and another for anyone I know
There are roads out of here for all those who leave to tears
I'm at the junction with no place to go I'm at the junction with no place to go
I'm letting go up what used to be when there was love just you and me
It's like you said it all went wrong what's left to say I'll be moving along
Too bad too bad for me for you we planted love seed but nothing grew
Too soon to know where I belong can't stay here I'll be moving along
I'll be moving along it wasn't all bad the memory makes me a little bit sad
It had to be said I wasn't that strong you found the words I'll be moving along
If I talk too much I won't mean what I say but I'll tell you this before you go away
If you destroy my world just leave the pieces where you drop 'em
And if you don't mind I'd rather be forgotten
I'd rather be forgotten like a style gone out of style
Then do know you think of me once in a while
So go your way be free your opportunity is knockin'
But as for me I'd rather be forgotten
(Forgotten forgotten)
Remember not to remember me at all what's a mem'ry if that's bitterly recall
I'm headin' for a heartbreak and there won't be any stoppin'
Do this for me I'd rather be forgotten
I know you're tired of being all I ever wanted
You'll no longer feel the love I have for you
What happens now what will I do with all these mem'ries
And the dreams of all the things we'll never do
But I won't mention it again I won't think about tomorrow
Just let it happen live each hour day by day
But let me tell you before you go how much I love you
Then I won't mention it again I won't mention it again
I feel my life has reached an early sign of autumn
In my heart the leaves are falling love is cold
And everything that once was warm and new is gone now
Leaving nothing but this hunger in my soul
Kiss me goodbye and write me while I'm gone goodbye my sweetheart hello Vietnam
America has heard the bugle call and you know it involves us one and all
I don't suppose that war will ever end there's fighting that will break us up again
Goodbye my darling hello Vietnam a hill to take a battle to be won
Kiss me goodbye and write me while I'm gone goodbye my sweetheart hello Vietnam
A ship is waiting for us at the dock America has trouble to be stopped
We must stop communism in that land
Or freedom will start slipping through our hands
Goodbye my darling...
I hope and pray someday the world will learn
That fires we don't put out will bigger burn
We must save freedom now at any cost or someday our own freedom will be lost
Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
Let's pretend that we're together all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go
Whisper to me darling do you love me true or is he holding you the way I do
Though love is blind make up your mind I've got to know
Should I hang up or will you tell him he'll have to go
You can say the words I wanna hear while you're with another man
So darling answer yes or no and I will understand
So put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone
Let's pretend that we're together all alone
I'll tell the man to turn the jukebox way down low
And you can tell your friend there with you he'll have to go
Have you ever been lonely?
Have you ever been blue?
Have you ever loved someone
Just as I love you
Can't you see that I'm sorry
For each mistake I've made?
Can't you see that I've changed, dear?
Can't you see that I've paid?
Be a little forgiving
Take me back in your heart
How can I go on living
Now that we're apart?
If you knew what I've been through
Then you'd know why I ask you
Have you ever been lonely?
Have you ever been blue?
If you knew what I've been through
Then you'd know why I ask you
Have you ever been lonely?
Have it your way have it your way you can make it you're ready today
Your face tells it all there's no more to say
You've got a brand new work so have it your way
It seems you think I'm not much more than nothing
So nothing has no reason now this day
I'd rather lose my pride before my mind goes
If that's the way it is have it your way
I've always tried to give you what you wanted and that included me everyday
I don't really know what changed your thinking
But if this is what you want have it your way
I've known so long what's going on behind your smiling eyes
But I don't leave cause all my pride is gone
It's not that you're deceiving me with all your pretty lies
Baby half a love is better than none
You don't know what it means to live in dreams you know have died
Our share love you don't dare to leave alone
But I have found my pride is drowned in tears I have to hide
And baby half a love is better than none
Half the time I know that I should leave
But I just can't convince myself to go cause I know
When passion's flame has died in shame you'll find your way back home
I was sittin' in the terminal waitin' for my load
When a greenhorn driver came in off of the road
I heard him tell that foreman get my little pink slip
This run's too tough and I'm gonna quit
Now the foreman that day happened to be old Joe
Man he was older than time
He said, "Son, how long you been drivin' this rig
You know I drove all shapes, forms, fashions and kinds
Here you are worried about this one little trip
Why I drove a million miles and then some"
He looked that greenhorn right in the eye and he said
?Boy there ain't no easy run?
"I drove for Roadway, Interstate, Hopewell, Great Lakes
Overnight and Time, Mayflower and Freight Line
Specter, Yellow Transit, Western, and Gillette
Redball, Rider Northwestern, Big CF
Beaver & Bell, Hoover and McLeans
Gateway Motor Freight , Transport, Vikings
Dixie, Ohio, and Trans American Some
East Texas, Mason Dixon, Watkin and Transcon
Wilson Associate got all that drivin' done
And I'll tell you boy there ain't no easy runs"
"Now if you got a gal in Texas, they'll send you up to Maine
If you got a gal in New York, they'll send you out to the plains
I know what your problem is you got woman trouble, son
Well like I said there ain't no easy run"
"I drove for Navajo, Brady, Goose, DC
North American, Allied, Chicago Motor Freight & Pie
Bee Mac & Curtis, Eastern and NX
Garrett & Ace, Federal & ETM
And Neptune Hereon, Brinks and Sea Lab
Dudley, Dorsey Bekins and Cunningham
Cooper, Mc Roary, Jones and American too
Acme and Central & Standard and Boston Sue
And Yunhan and Buckingham got all that drivin' done
And I'll tell you, boy there ain't no easy run"
I went backward, forwards, uphill, downhill
Chills spills thrills and pills
And how about Atlas & Cramer
Alabama, Hiway Express, Murphy Line
And Long, and Harris, General Stickland, Eden & Key
How about that Nashville by-pass on a Friday afternoon
That'll blow yer shorts off
That's sumpin else
Tear apart a amountain hark the deepest sea
Pull the stars down from the skies so blue
Keep the day from dawning anything you say
I'm the greatest man alive when I'm with you
Swim the widest ocean stop to wind and rain
Move the clouds and make the sunshine through
Rearrange the moonlight so it shines your way
I'm the greatest man alive when I'm with you
Even though you tell me all the time tell me once again that you are mine
That's the way that it should always be I'm for you sweetheart and you're for me
I'll be the greatest lover the world has ever known
When I'm with you I know just what to do
Cause with my arms around you the whole world is brand new
I'm the greatest man alive when I'm with you
(You can dam out the water and shut the wind out)
But a man ain't been born who can destroy a drought
There's a hot screaming wind at my door but I just don't care anymore
There's a crop killing drought on the way and my good woman she left me today
Oh she stayed just as long as she could but then the farm has not treated us good
She begged me to pack up and go but then farming is all that I know
You can dam out the water...
She cried as if I were to blame but the Lord knows I can't make it rain
There's a hot screaming sun up in the sky it's so still I can hear the grass die
So I'll wait for the coolness of dark and bear up to this pain in my heart
And I'll pray with the coming of each dawn that this crop killing drought will be gone
What makes you think I'm just a weakly that I'll take you back from now until
You know I think that's kinda funny but I forget you know me pretty well
What do you mean you think I want you that I still need you you can tell
After the way you dropped it on me but I forget you know me pretty well
You told me to go that there was no more you called me your stuff so I call your bluff
Then you went to him now you're back again
And you think I'll go back out there on that lamb what do you think I am
Tell me that I'll go right back through your mill
You know I gotta hand it to you cause I forget you know me pretty well
You told me to go...
Cause I forget you know me pretty well
Get me back to Tennessee I'm homesick for my sunny overgrown country town
I thought I'd like to be a westcoast cowboy but I got lonely as the sun went down
The ladies living here sure are different
They took my hard earned money now they're gone
Never did they ever satisfy me like a hard lovin' country girl back home
Get me back to Tennessee I'm homesick for my sunny overgrown country town
Get me back to Tennessee I'm homesick I'll ride anything eastern bound
[ guitar ]
Hitchhikin' days get by over not many pickup strangers anymore
Shave my face and cut my hair this morning
Well maybe I'll have better luck than before
Mister thank you for the ride I'm glad to know you're goin' all the way to Alabam
Just let out on 65 in Nashville my sunny overgrown country town
Since I met you you my wheels're burnin' you really stepped up my face
My only thoughts of you and me one more time in place
Don't take this size a warnin' cause baby it's a fact
My love train is rollin' on your track
My love train is rollin' on your track
Big daddy's smokin' and there ain't no turnin' back
A choo choo choo a choo choo you're warmin' up my stack
Baby my love train is rollin' on your track
[ guitar ]
You started my engine steamin' with your first hello
And when I kissed your lips away you fired up my cost
So hang girl our destination is heavy and back
Cause my love train is rollin' on your track
My love train is rollin' on...
Baby my love train is rollin' on your track
Well that's railroad steamboat river and cannal
Yonder comes a sucker and he's got my girl
And she's gone gone gone gone gone gone gone I'll bid her my last farewell
I fell in love with a pretty little thing I thought that wedding bells would ring
She was as sweet as she could be till I found out what she did to me
Well that's railroad steamboatl...
I asked her mother to let her go she whispered mother just tell him no
Though he may think that I am true there's twenty more that think so too
Well that's railroad steamboat...
Now I won't cry my life away some other sucker will have to pay
And when he finds that she is gone I guess I'll hear him sing this song
Well they gave him his orders in Richmond Virginia
Sayin' Joe you're away behind time
Now this ain't no big roadranger but an old slow binder
You gotta put her into Memphis on time
He looked over to his ol' shotgun rider sayin' boy you better pray for your soul
For when we reach the top of old Mount Eagle you can see this ol' binder roll
But it's a mighty rough road around Chattanooga there's kerbs on a four mile grade
It was on that grade that Joe lost his average
You should see what a jump that he made
He was goin' down that road makin' ninety miles an hour
When the brakes on that old binder screamed
They were found in the wreck at the bottom of that mountain
Oh man what a terrible scene
[ ac.guitar ]
Now all you ladies better take their warnin' from now and this time on
Never speak harsh words to your truck drivin' baby
He may leave you and never come home
He was goin' down that road...
Far across the deep blue water lives an old German's daughter
By the banks of the old River Rhine
There I loved her and left her but I can't forget her I miss my pretty Fraulein
Fraulein Fraulein look up toward the heavens
Each night when the stars start to shine
By the same stars above you I swear that I love you you are my pretty Fraulein
When the memories wander away over yonder to the sweetheart that I left behind
In a moment of glory a face comes before me the face of my pretty Fraulein
Fraulein Fraulein walk down by the river pretend that your hand's holding mine
By the same stars above you I swear that I love you you are my pretty Fraulein
If I've ever been so blue I can't remember seems to me the walls are closing in
I still hear your footsteps fade away forever
Well for crying out loud I'm crying out loud again I'm crying out loud again
There's nothing like a room that's filled with blackness
And without you here it's blacker than it's been
You said goodbye as if you couldn't careless
Well for crying out loud I'm crying out loud again I'm crying out loud again
Staring at the red end of my cigarette
Where in the darkness two had always been
Now the hurt grows worse each night I'm trying to forget
This is Dave Dudley and I'd like to take a few seconds of your time
To add my sincerest appreciation for all the nice things you've done for me
And to kindly introduce this album personally
We've picked some of the old songs that have come down through the years
Then added a few new ones
Some of which I've helped write especially for this album
So I do hope it contains a good variety that you'll enjoy hearing
I've been looking forward to meeting you at all the new places
We plan to visit in the near future
So until then thank you very kindly for being my friend
Fools rush in where angels fear to thread
And so I come to you, my love my heart above my head
Though I know there's danger there
If there's a chance for me then I don't care
Oh, fools rush in where wise men never go
But wise men never fall in love so how are they to know?
When we met, I felt my life began
So open up your heart and let this fool rush in
When we met I felt my life began
Well I have a few hours to wait while they've loaded my trailer with freight
So I borrowed my buddy's old car and drove down to the dancehall and bar
Although I just went there to watch when I saw her my heart almost stopped
It was my girl in some stranger's arms while the truck driver's waltz played on
So drive drive my blues away and think of the love I have lost
Somewhere she's gay and the jukebox is playin'
The lonesome ole Truck Driver's Waltz
[ ac.guitar ]
Now she doesn't know that I know but wherever my old rig may go
I'll recall with each bridge that I cross her love and the truck driver's waltz
So drive drive my blues away...
Well I'm a travelin' man made a lotta stops all over the world
And in every port out Omaha I at least got lovely girl
Got a pretty senorita a waitin' for me out down in old Mexico
If you're ever in Alaska stop and see my cute a little Eskimo
Oh my sweet Fraulein down in Berlin town makes my heart start to yearn
And my China doll down in old Hong Kong waits for my return
Pretty Polynesian baby over the sea I remember the night
When we walked in the sands of Waikiki and I held her oh so tight
[ guitar ]
Oh my sweet Fraulein...
You say you love me more than anything in this whole world
For my love you'd beg and borrow or steal
Then why don't you tell the one you look you love me more than him
If you're afraid to tell him I will
I'll tell him of the times we met in the shadows of the town
I'll tell him how many times I tried to tear his whole world down
For I love you more than the birds could love the flowers on the hill
And if you're afraid to tell him I will
Could it be you've been seeing me and my love has been at ease
It hurts to know that you may love him still
I've just got to know to ease this tickin' deep within my heart
Got an old slatch hat, got my roll on my shoulder
I'm as free as the breeze and I'll do as I please
Just a bummin' around
I got a million friends don't feel any older
I've got nothing to lose not even the blues
Just a bummin' around
Whenever worries start to botherin' me
I grab my coat my old slatch hat
Hit the trail again you see
I ain't got a dime don't care where I'm goin'
I'm as free as the breeze and I'll do as I please
Just a bummin' around
Whenever worries start to botherin' me
I grab my coat my old slatch hat
Hit the trail again you see
This ol' rig that I'm drivin' ain't the sharpest on the road
These ol' bulls that I'm haulin' ain't perfumed
But if it wasn't for a lot of those truck drivers just like me
Then who would bring those T-bone steaks to you
We're the bullshippers big bullshippers a haulin' them ol' bulls across the land
We're the bullshippers big bullshippers bullshippin' truck drivin' men
This ain't the best job in this world that I know
And some people may look down their nose at me
But I'd rather be a struggling with these ol' rowdy bulls then a haulin' a load of TNT
We're the bullshippers...
There's a lotta pretty wairesses that I always see every time I'm making my run
Well I tell 'em that I love 'em but they just laugh and say
You big bullshippin' son of a gun
We're the bullshippers...
I know just how great love can be I loved so much one time
I know how it hurts to see it end
I've had my share and if I live to be a hundred years
I hope I never love that much again
The bigger the love the harder the fall
And it takes a long time for a heart to mend
If there should ever come a time when I could love at all
I hope I never love that much again
I loved her more than life itself she was everything to me
For I believed in life and love back then
If I can just forget she's gone if her mem'ry sets me free
I hope I never love that much again
Oh you've got to cry girl then you'll know how I miss you
Well I've grown up girl I've learned how to be a man
I've cried tears felt the pain have memories when you hurt me
But now look at me I still know I can stand
Say are you listening girl do you hear what I'm saying
And do you know girl the reason that I walked out
Well you're young right now but tomorrow the world may find you
So learn from life and find what love's about
Oh you've got to cry girl before you can be a woman
And you've gotta hurt girl before you'll understand
You need tears and time and sad memories to complete you
What makes you think that you can turn your back and walk away
After I have tasted the sweetness of your world
If you think I'll take it all you've left layin' down
You've got another thought comin' to you girl
You've got another thought comin' if you'll think that I'll stand by
And let the best thing in my life walk out of my world
If you think that I won't find the way of keepin' us together
You've got another thought comin' to you girl
[ guitar - harmonica ]
I'd never find another that could keep me satisfied
I can't replace a diamond with an imitation pearl
So if you think that I won't mind then I'll just let you go
You've got another thought comin' to you girl
You've got another thought comin'...
If you think that I won't find the way of keepin' us together
We know we've had this feeling for sometime our feeling we no longer need to hide
You love him I love her we've wasted time just being kind
How come it took so long to say goodbye
We won't miss each other we both know it
And the past will soon be gone for you and I
We're wasting love and moments so go to him I'll run to her
How come it took so long to say goodbye
How come it took so long to say goodbye
All these years with promises and oh so many lies
And when we loved each other we were never satisfied
How come it took so long to say goodbye
My dearest mama, they just gave us time to write
I miss you and there's something on my mind tonight
At mail call, I received your letter here today
But I don't understand the things you say
You tell me there are people marching in our streets
The signs they carry say that we don't fight for peace
There's not a soldier in this foreign land, who likes this war
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for
Tell them that we're fighting for the old red, white and blue
Did they forget Pearl Harbor and Korea too
Another flag must never fly above our nation's door
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for
From Maine to California, there are many noble men
Who know the price of war and pray, we'd never fight again
But the world must learn, that we will fight, we will protect our shore
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for
Oh mama, tell them what we're fighting for
One time I spent a week inside a little country jail
I don't guess I'll ever live it down
I was sittin' at red light when these two men come and got me
And said that I was speedin' through their town
They said, "Tomorrow morning you can see the judge then go"
They let me call one person on the phone
I thought I'd be there over night so I'd just call my boss
To tell him I'd be off but not for long
They motioned me inside the cell with seven other guys
One little barred up window in the rear
My cell mate said if they had let me bring some money in
We ought to send the jailer for some beer
We had to pay him double 'cause he was the man in charge
And the jailer's job was not the best in town
Later on his wife brought hot bologna eggs and gravy
The first day I was there I turned it down
Next morning they'd just let us sleep but I was up real early
Wonderin' when I get my release
Later on we got more hot bologna eggs and gravy
By now I wasn't quite so hard to please
Two days later when I thought that I had been forgotten
The sheriff came in chewing on the straw
He said, "Where is this guy who thinks that this is Indianapolis
I'd like to talk to him about the law"
Well, I told him who I was and told him I was working steady
And I really should be a gettin' on my way
That part about me being who I was did not impress him
He said, "The judge will be here any day"
The jailer had his wife and let me tell you she was awful
But she brought that hot bologna every day
And after seven days she got to looking so much better
I asked her if she'd like to run away
Next morning that old judge took every nickel that I had
He said, "Son, let this teach you not to race"
The jailer's wife was smiling from the window as I left
All around the water tank waitin' for a train
A thousand miles away from home sleepin' in the rain
I walked up to a brakeman to give him a line of talk
He said if you've got money I'll see that you don't walk
I haven't got a nickel not a penny can I show
Get off get off you railroad bum and he slammed the boxcar door
[ guitar ]
He put me off in Texas it's a place I dearly love
With the wide open spaces all around me and the moon and stars up above
Nobody seems to want me or lend me a helpin' hand
I'm on my way from Frisco goin' back to Dixie Land
My pocketbook is empty and my heart is full of pain
I was out on the leave at the time just duckin' the fog nosin' around like a hungry dog
In that crazy place called Washington DC
I saw a crowd of people on the White House lawn all carrying signes about VietNam
So I went over to see what was goin' on
It was a strange looking bunch but then I never could understand some people
Oh a fellow came to me with a list in his hand he said we're gatherin' names to send
The telegram of sympathy then he handed me a pen
I said I reckon this is goin' to kids and wives
My friends over there who're givin' their lives
He said ah ah buddy this is goin' to Ho-Chi-Min
I said Ho-Chi who he said Ho-Chi-Min people's leader North VietNam
Oh I wasn't really sure I was hearin' him right
I though I'd better move before I got in a fight
Cause my ears were hurtin' and my ball started hit my lick
Then I thought of another telegram that I've just read
Tellin' my buddy's wife that her husband was dead
It wasn't too long till I was feelin' downright sick
Another held the sign that said we won't fight
I thought to myself boy ain't that right
To leave a lot of our soldiers die instead
I said it's a shame that every man who ever died up there that far off land
Was dyin' for that you wouldn't have to wake up dead
Course he looked at me like I was kinda crazy just another warmonger
Oh I left that place and I went downtown and hit first bar that I'd found
To cool myself off and pacify my brain
You see I was on orders to VietNam little old place just north to Saigon
Had about an hour to catch myself a plane
We stand alone on a quiet empty street
Just you and I and a love that's bitter sweet
On a corner where the street lamp's not so bright
That's where we meet under cover of the night
You belong to someone else, the same for me
But we try to forget that we're not free
So time is ours from dark till dawning light
That's when we meet under cover of the night
There is no chance to change what should have been
So until the darkness brings you back again
I'll be waiting on a corner out of sight
That's where we meet under cover of the night
There is no chance to change what should have been
So until the darkness brings you back again
I'll be waiting on a corner out of sight
That's where we meet under cover of the night
You took her love away from me but that was your mistake
She's gonna break your heart in two and she'll pick the time and place
You know the end has come an end how long will you have to wait
You'll suddenly fall surprised by at all and she'll pick the time and place
Remember she was once my love but she grew tired of me
She's so wild and reckless her mind changes with the breeze
Remember you were told about the way she operates
You'll suddenly think you're out of your mind and she'll pick the time and place
It's hard to know the fatal glow could come on anytime
When someone that you love so has another love in mind
The sweet success you took from me will leave the bitter taste
For out of the blue you're suddenly through and she'll pick the time and place
Where does a little boy go after he leaves his carefree life
Where does a little boy go he's a young man a looking for a wife
Where does a young man go with a woman and a family that really cares
Where does a young man go he goes suddenly to some silver in his hair
Where does the silver hair go when this grownup man has settled in his ways
Where does the silver hair go it just turns right into yesterdays
Where did those yesterdays go they just seemed to disappear into the past
Where did those yesterdays go they turned into memories so very fast
Where does a memory go will it stay around to last and to enjoy
Where does a memory go there'll be memories as long as there's our little boys
