Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded. He performed with his son Merle for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985, in an accident on the family farm.
Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina. According to Watson on his three-CD biographical recording Legacy, he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.
An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. Despite this, he was taught by his parents to work hard and care for himself. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, The Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Life on display
Get out of my face
You want to know my every step
Where I've been
It's not your place
Where I rest my head
Who's my foe, who's my friend
If you see me keeping distance
It's because you don't mind your business
If you see me keeping distance
It's because you don't mind your business
I can't escape
The prying eyes
Of the bored who I hate
You can't relate
Don't bother asking
And just be on your way
You can't relate
Don't bother asking
Just be on your fucking way
Dragging
this ball and chain,
mirrors and razor blades
When all of this dust clears,
can you recognize your face?
Pulling all your dead weight,
not willing to cut away
I'm losing my fucking grip
You've got to help yourself and quick
I'm losing my grasp(I lost my grasp!)
I'm losing my grip! (I lost my grip)
You've got to help yourself and quick
Dragging this ball and chain
Mirrors and razor blades
When all of this dust clears
can you recognize your face
pulling all your dead weight
I can't help you,
How can I help you,
If I can not help myself?
The questions that you have are ages old,
The answers that I've found are mine alone,
Now you're faced with one thousand faces,
All your own, each one alone,
Time is what you're wasting,
Looking for answers in the wrong places,
Taken over by thoughts of what's above and below,
If you're looking for something, look in front of you.
Don't look to the sky for the truth,
Don't look to the sky for the proof,
My feet stand on solid ground,
That's the only certainty I've found
I look down at the bricks for the proof,
It doesn't matter how you read them, we'll always be on different pages
A big mistake so just erase them, tear them out and burn them
"Please forget because I've forgotten."
Say these words and I'll leave
I promise. We'll always be on different pages
Go ahead and turn them
We used to share our smiling faces but honestly those were only phases
I've been grinding my teeth because I had something to say
I said, "nevermind."
You said, "typical."
Lies lies manifesting in my head. don't believe a fucking word that i have ever said. i've been dealt a cruel hand. cant wait to deal it back. ace, queen, jack, king. i stripped them from he pack. i can't let myself forget. you came into this world alone. leave the same - dead and cold. open your eyes, face the facts. you're blind to think friendships intact. i'll do anything to steer you off your track. what you lack. you'll ever have. i'll tel you what you want to hear and take it all back. i have trusted one too many i'm telling you now, i'm throwing it out. never place your trust in me
You take the truth i know i speak. and make me think i lied. you take the life i lead and make me think i died. it seems we're living just too well. find a way to hurt ourselves. you find my faults and exploit them all. see sickness in my health. infect the way i see the world. infect the way i see myself. we've won the right to lose. take our chance. steal the proof. take your time steal that too. i live without a pulse to you
Things look grim. time's running thin. it was on our side but now it's gone again. i guess it slipped away. sifting through the grains. if i had the time i would make it pay. time on my hands, but my hands are tied. deal with the knots that we never denied. tomorrow hit me and it woke me up. yesterdays grasp become unlocked. rubbed my eyes because it was today. i want to sleep my life away. tomorrow so distance. future so vague. yesterday is a memory. memories fade
I'd trade the earth for what it's worth. a corrupted bag of dirt. i'd rather live a life of hurt than fix a world that'll never work. guilt's something we'll never feel. maybe it's not real. losing sleep is for the weak. we see the signs but we don't read. ignorance is our bliss. no apologies for this mess. so now we rot. momentum is locked. the end can't be stopped. so give all you've got
In a falling house of cards. the of what we called ours. i never needed a clue, we had two. it was me and you. house of cards. what it drop. tried hard for another tier. what's the point in another year? we always knew the cards would drop. why put off what can't be stopped? can't say that i had enough. ash to ash and dust to dust. watching as our world collapsed. would we ever want it back? you want to know exactly just where i'm at? foundation dropped. the walls fall in. do i burn the past or rebuild again? on the floor picking up the pieces of what i never could have
I had a feeling (that was only once)
that my life had meaning, but that doesn't mean too much
I was going places then I never left
Reciting phrases that I never meant
That I never meant
That I never meant
I found myself then I threw it away.
Living in hell is a lot like today.
I changed my mind (but I can't spare change)
and what I was trying to find, but it still found me.
I had a feeling that was only once
that my life had meaning but that doesn't mean too much
I was going places that I never left
That I never meant
Reciting phrases that I
never meant
I need room to breathe
Can you give that me?
I need room to breathe
Can you give that to me?
Can you give that to me?
Can you give that?
Begin descension
Begin descension
Begin descension
Anxiety inside of me,
I'm starting to bust.
Friends turn foes so easily,
I need someone to fucking trust.
Can't you see I need room to breathe and space is a must?
Everything I know to be
crumbles to dust.
I can't stop
I can't stop this, it's beyond me.
I have tried,
I have tried are you not listening?
Reality and what's "real to me"
is what I cannot seperate.
Choosing one over the other is the reason why I'm fucking late.
A window of opportunity smashed to bits and worthless to me.
Constant inconsistancy -
My only consistancy.
I can't stop
i can't stop its beyond me
I have tried
I have tried are you not listening
are you not listening
So much wisdom in pain,
so many lessons in hurt.
You learn from a loss
so I'll take on your worse.
Nothing can hit harder than my own regret
so I live with what I've done and know that I can't forget.
live with what I've done and know that I can't forget
live with what I've done
and know
When you drop it hurts. it will leave you burned. fast and now you've crashed. and you still haven't learned. if you want to tempt the ice, you better think twice. when you fall through, your life is too. you can't stand up, you can't get up. living your life under the ice. you're slipping. momentum keeps you moving. you have no grip, you start to slip. you eventually fall
No comparison in our lives.
You've never lived a day in your life.
Where I've been and what I've seen.
You can say the same about me.
And I can live with that, can you?
We all have the choice to choose
What we do with our lives.
I've never lived a day in your eyes.
No you don't.
You might agree but no you don't relate.
No you don't.
You might agree but no you don't relate.
Sometimes I wish that I was in your shoes,
Doing all the things that you do.
That's how you know that I am human inside.
I'm not afraid to question my life.
And I can live with that, can you?
We all have the choice to choose.
What we do with our lives.
I've never lived a day in your eyes.
No you don't.
You might agree but no you don't relate.
No you don't.
You might agree but no you don't relate.
No you don't.
No you don't relate.
You've been caught this time, uncovered your disguise. the mask you wear, i see it clear. not worth my time. your motives were so simple but you'll get yours in the end. everyday i hate myself for thinking you're my friend. can't let you manipulate anyone this time. kindness is weakness, sometimes the biggest flaw. i wish that i had noticed before i took the hardest fall. set me up to knock me down. a puppet on a string. sever ties and realize pain you'll never bring. i'll destroy what we've built, cut you out of my life. no one said this would last. so easily pushed to the past. nothing between us. memories erased. i self inflict this amnesia. can't you do the same?
Dragged down into the depths of your mind. Hung from the gallows of time. Your thoughts tighten with weight. The hangman is you and now you have sealed your fate. Thoughts that dwell, no one to tell. Is this the end? No known graves. You drown in a sea of questioning. Flood gates released by your reckoning. Pulled by a hand so familiar. Reflections in water are as clear as a mirror.
I think i'm walking but i'm sinking. every move i make is so wrong. your helps not working, in fact it's worthless. what's taking me so long to lave everything behind me and choose my own path. our yesterdays were better but i can't look to the past. i know i have so far to go. i'm looking for answers that i'll never know. there's no way that i can ever stop. the ones who settle are the ones you've lost. you gave me the options. you gave me the tools, but you're walking blind in line amongst this world of fools. i have stumbled in trying times. i found a compass in the dirt and i left it behind. my only map went up in flames because your dead end life was the direction it gave. i'm not ashamed of the path i've taken. if you think i'm lost you must be mistaken. stumble but i never fall. some say courage you say gall. some things were just not built to fall. my backs against the wall
I am caught
There's no way out
of an endless existance;
created myself.
My days are aligned
none too defined.
Living and breathing are motions that lie.
Endless weeks,
end me please.
Hours that pass
ours to bleed.
I see no end
the end sees me.
He knows my face;
I'm waiting to meet.
Endless weeks
End me please
Hours that pass
Ours to bleed
This is a cycle
so familiar, one that I cannot break.
Every time that it starts over
all this pressure
increases in weight.
increases in weight
increases in weight
endless weeks
end me please
hours that pass
ours to
Time flies by and you're the only thing that stays on my mind.
I can't lie.
Forget your face, every day I try.
Life in shambles can we agree this is too much to handle?
Life in shambles over fighting this losing battle.
You can try to analyze...
I won't lie to myself,
It's been so long since I felt strong.
Anger's not strength,
it's a different defense,
insanity is where I'm walking the fence.
You wear masks because there's nothing left. an empty shell to crumble and fall. first you play some parts and fill some roles. you'll know how it feels to crawl. you think you know just what it takes. everyday a different face. to take the world on day by day. to make you think that you're ok. losing everything you thought you knew and what you wanted. saw a future in a magazine and bought it. to take the world on day by day. to make you think that you're ok. i don't want to find the real. is it too hard to just show yourself and what you didn't steal?
I've been doing so much time inside my mind
My head is my cell behind the bars of my eyes
Tomorrow has a bitter fucking taste
Don't look me in the eyes
What's on my face is not what's inside
It's a picture you could never paint
You don't understand, you could never relate
It's heavy thoughts
Increasing weight, everything you were born to hate
Feeling lost and out of place
Insecurities consume my days
Who's against you?
Why would they care?
I don't have the answers
I just know they are there
Who's against you?
Why would they care?
I don't have the answers
I just know they are there
Eyes that are constantly staring me down
Hands that are pulling me into the ground
Smiles are taunting me
I can't figure out
Why I'm running from someone not worth writing about
Heavy thoughts
Increasing weight
Everyting you were born to hate
Feeling lost
Out of place
I've been dragging your name in the dirt
I'm sorry if it hurt, but this year was the worst
It wouldn't be like this if it were up to me, but it's out of my hands
I've been swinging my moods over your head
They floated like a feather just to drop like lead Inside of me I had nothing left, but you reached in my chest and you pulled out the rest
Out of your mind. believe your own lies. fact or fiction, i would always listen. good for your word, fuck what you heard. just another lesson learned boundaries crossed and i got burned. i thought i knew you but i was a fool. neglect the aftermath of the path you choose
I can’t balance the world I’m going to drop it on you And
like me, you’ll run from it too I never believed the
world could turn on me But that’s just how the world
turns Rotations of hurt Steady rotations of hurt Once in
the palm of my hand Now just on my back Crushing me to
the ground until there’s nothing left I never believed
the world could turn on me But that’s just how the world
turns Rotations of hurt Steady rotations of hurt Once in
the palm of my hand Now just on my back Crushing me to
the ground until there’s nothing left I can’t balance the
One soul cold enough to crush mine Like glass I break
Don’t try to pick up the pieces You are too late Let them
fall and never touch another’s hands They will cut and
then will drop again This time just let them lay and walk
away The one I gave my all was the one who let them fall
And never touch another’s hands They will cut and then
will drop again They will cut your hands, then drop again
Don’t touch my past Shards of broken glass Shards of
You set your standards at forever No one lives at that
level A start so strong, you gave so much In no time you
were out of touch Do what you want, I could care less
Burn that bridge you hope to forget You knew you’d leave
too but that’s just life I can’t worry about you Faces
come and faces go I used to judge but now I don’t Faces
come and faces go I used to judge but now I don’t I
looked up to those destined to leave I respect change but
I still believe Faces come and faces go I used to judge
but now I don’t The ones who’ve settled are the ones
who’ve lost on second thought Well maybe not Who am I to
judge when you decide to go? What do I know? Nothing
So constructive in your misfortune The mastermind of your
own destruction Feeling so small They start to crawl to
the shelter of shadows Cast by those bound to fall What
they don’t know keeps them chained to ground Never
willing to leave or even look out The look in their eye
says ready to die Caught in a race for the casket to lie
I see their faces everyday One thousand words in one cold
face This is a vice for those who are viceless A way out
from the world for those without ways out Distraction for
some without ways to numb Everything that comes when
under the sun This is my vice amongst other vices A means
to ignore the whole world that surrounds us This is my
vice amongst other vices A means to ignore the whole
world I see their faces everyday One thousand words in
When your soul is trampled Life dismantled What was once
in your hands, now too much to handle You begin to
rethink everything that you are Inside yourself is a
constant war You don’t see the face that you saw before
Inside yourself is a constant war Too low to live Is this
my time? Been back and forth from the other side Pushing
me deeper into my black hole Twisting my world, spinning
out of control I’ll pull you from the bottom If you pull
me from the bottom We live amongst leeches We adapt to
survive “I’m not one of these creature” I say time after
time If I slip away slowly and I notice the fall Will
Labyrinth You can’t see, think, feel or hear Are you
trapped in there? Your mind’s moving so fast It’s
reality, you’ve lost your grasp Let us know if you’ll
ever come back Come Back Upside down and inside out Don’t
mind the labyrinth Nothing else seems to help Straight
All he ever wanted was a family Now it’s just one of many
broken dreams Nightmare to live Day or darkness So much
to give, no one giving to him Now he is broken Never to
be fixed He’s over throwing rocks Now he’s throwing
bricks Nightmare to live Day or darkness So much to give,
no one giving to him Now he’s lost it Look him in the
face, tell him that he’s okay The look in his eye say’s
his burning alive Burning alive So much to give, no one
Came into this world a vulture fighting for the scraps Like a dog beat one too many times, you start to bite back Sink your teeth in the hands of the weak, vengeance you seek on those who can't understand your pain The world will pay Can you blame him for the way he acts when he knows his future is as bleak as his past He would change it if he had the chance but at his first breath there was no chance left Not scared in the streets you roam Fear comes from the home Wondering where you fit in this world and lashing out at your own I can't blame you for the way you think I can't blame you Can you blame him for the way he acts when he knows his future is as bleak as his past He would change it if he had the chance but at his first breath there was no chance left Can you blame him for the way he thinks Your life was a pained experience Sometimes I wish that I could find your rage hidden in the roots of this family tree You've been dealt a cruel hand
Bound by chains Obey every word that they say to me Not only do they hold me down they manipulate the way I think Sometimes they let me free but still they hang from me Not for the world to see Trapped by the steal that holds me back Caught in the chains forever locked I'm bound they'll say is how that I was found Free me from the pain of lock and key I'm bound by chains so strong So strong I can't move on Keep me out in the pouring rain No shelter in your shade So cold and they made me too Not by choice but they choose you They'll be here when I am gone Trapped by the steal that holds me back Caught in the chains forever locked I'm bound they'll say is how that I was found Free me from the pain of lock and key If I wait for the sun to burn off this rain, then I'll be here for eternity Can't look to you to break my chains These chains are mine, for me to break Can't wait for the sun to burn off this rain Don't look to others to end your pain These chains are mine, for me to break