Johnny Cash - I Love Country (1987) by Johnny Cash (보컬) on maniadb.com

My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out on Perenville barracks number 8
I've always done an honest job, honest as I could
Got a brother named Frankie, Frankie ain't no good

Ever since we were young kids, it's been the same come down
I'd get a call on the short wave, Frankie's in trouble downtown
Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But sometimes when it's your brother, you look the other way

Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria while the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother should
Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no good

Well, Frankie went into the army back in 1965
I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin', 'til it was like we's gettin' robbed
Frankie came home in '68, and me, I took this job

Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria while the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family ain't no friend of mine

The night was like any other, I got a call 'bout a quarter to nine
There was trouble at a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid on the floor, lookin' bad, bleedin' hard from his head
There was a girl cryin' at a table, it was Frankie, she said

I ran out and I jumped in my car, then I hit the lights
I must have done about a hundred and ten to Michigan County that night
It was down by the crossroads, out by willow bank
Seen the Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank

Well, I chased him through them county roads, 'til the sign said Canadian border five miles from here
Pulled over to the side out the highway, watched the taillights disappear

Yeah, me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria while the band played "The Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother should
Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no good

The Baron
by:
Johnny Cash

[CHORUS]
Wish I had a-known ya
When you were a little younger
Around me you might have learned a thing or two
If I had known you longer
You might be a little stronger
And maybe you'd shoot straighter than you do
Maybe you'd shoot straighter than you do

As he walked into the poolroom, you could tell he didn't fit
In his handmade boots, custom suits, and pearl handled shooting stick
Tonight there'd be a showdown, then everyone would know
Who shoots the meanest game around - The Baron or Billy Joe

Billy Joe looked edgy, about to lose his cool
But the Baron's hands were steady, as the two began to duel
Yeah, he was like a general on a battlefield of slate
And he'd say to Billy Joe each time he sunk the eight
He'd say...

[CHORUS]

Now Billy Joe was busted, but he hadn't felt the sting
And from the far end of the table, he threw his mother's wedding ring
And he said "you won my money, but it ain't gonna do the trick
I'll bet this ring on one more game against your fancy stick"

The Baron's eyes got foggy as the ring rolled on the felt
And he almost doubled over like he had been hit below the belt
Twenty years ago, it was the ring his wife had worn
And he didn't know before he left that a son would soon be born

It sounded just like thunder when the Baron shot the break
But it grew thickly quiet as he lined up the eight
Then a warm hand touched his shoulder and it chilled him to the bone
When he turned and saw the woman who had loved him for so long

The game was never finished; the eight ball never fell
The Baron calmly picked it up and put it on the shelf
Then he placed the ring in the hands that held him long ago
And he tossed that fancy shooting stick to his son Billy Joe
and he said...

[CHORUS]

Well, my daddy left home when I was three
And he didn't leave much to Ma and me
Just this ole guitar and an empty bottle of booze

Now, I don't blame him 'cause he run and hid
But the meanest thing that he ever did
Was before he left he went and named me Sue.

Well, he musta thought that it was quite a joke,
An' it got a lot of laughs from lots a folks
Seems I had to fight my whole life through

Some gal would giggle and I'd get red
And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head
I'll tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named Sue

Well, I grew up quick and I grew up mean
My fist got hard and my wits got keen
I roamed from town to town to hide my shame

But I made me a vow to the Moon and stars
I'd search the honky-tonks and bars
And kill that man that gave me that awful name

Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
And I'd just hit town and my throat was dry
I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew

In an old saloon on a street of mud
There at a table dealin' stud
Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me Sue

Well I knew that snake was my own sweet dad
From a worn out picture that my mother had
And I knew that scar on his cheek and his evil eye

He was big and bent and grey and old
And I looked at him and my blood ran cold, and I said
"My name is Sue! How do you do? Now you gonna die!"
Yeah! That's what I told him

Well, I hit him hard right between the eyes
And he went down but to my surprise
Came up with a knife an' cut off a piece o' my ear

I busted a chair right across his teeth
And we crashed through the wall and into the street
Kickin' and a gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer

I tell ya, I've fought tougher men
But I really can't remember when
He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile

Well, I heard him laugh and then I heard him cuss
He went for his gun but I pulled mine first
He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile

And he said, "Son, this world is rough
And if a man's gonna make it he's gotta be tough
And I know I wouldn't be there to help you along

So I gave you that name and I said good-bye
I knew you'd have to get tough or die
And it's that name that helped to make you strong"

Yeah! He said, "Now you just fought one hell of a fight
And I know you hate me and ya got the right
To kill me now and I wouldn't blame you if you do

But you oughta thank me before I die
For the gravel in your gut and the spit in the eye
'Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you Sue"
Yeah, what could I do? What could I do?

I got all choked up and threw down my gun
Called him my Pa and he called me his son
And I came away with a different point of view

And I think about him now and then
Every time I try and every time I win
And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name him
Bill or George, anything but Sue! I still hate that name!

. And I'd like to dedicate this to John and June, who helped show me how to beat the devil.

It was winter time in Nashville, down on music city row.
And I was lookin' for a place to get myself out of the cold.
To warm the frozen feelin' that was eatin' at my soul.
Keep the chilly wind off my guitar.

My thirsty wanted whisky; my hungry needed beans,
But it'd been of month of paydays since I'd heard that eagle scream.
So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams,
I left my pride and stepped inside a bar.

Actually, I guess you'd could call it a Tavern:
Cigarette smoke to the ceiling and sawdust on the floor;
Friendly shadows.

I saw that there was just one old man sittin' at the bar.
And in the mirror I could see him checkin' me and my guitar.
An' he turned and said: "Come up here boy, and show us what you are."
I said: "I'm dry." He bought me a beer.

He nodded at my guitar and said: "It's a tough life, ain't it?"
I just looked at him. He said: "You ain't makin' any money, are you?"
I said: "You've been readin' my mail."
He just smiled and said: "Let me see that guitar.
"I've got something you oughta hear."
Then he laid it on me:

"If you waste your time a-talkin' to the people who don't listen,
"To the things that you are sayin', who do you think's gonna hear.
"And if you should die explainin' how the things that they complain about,
"Are things they could be changin', who do you think's gonna care?"

There were other lonely singers in a world turned deaf and blind,
Who were crucified for what they tried to show.
And their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time.
'Cos the truth remains that no-one wants to know.

Well, the old man was a stranger, but I'd heard his song before,
Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door.
When no-one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor,
And lonesome was more than a state of mind.

You see, the devil haunts a hungry man,
If you don't wanna join him, you got to beat him.
I ain't sayin' I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing.
Then I stole his song.

And you still can hear me singin' to the people who don't listen,
To the things that I am sayin', prayin' someone's gonna hear.
And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about,
Are things they could be changin', hopin' someone's gonna care.

I was born a lonely singer, and I'm bound to die the same,
But I've got to feed the hunger in my soul.
And if I never have a nickle, I won't ever die ashamed.
'Cos I don't believe that no-one wants to know.

Ira Hayes,
Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Gather round me people there's a story I would tell
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indian, a proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land

Down the ditches for a thousand years
The water grew Ira's peoples' crops
'Till the white man stole the water rights
And the sparklin' water stopped

Now Ira's folks were hungry
And their land grew crops of weeds
When war came, Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man's greed

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill,
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived
to walk back down again

And when the fight was over
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Ira returned a hero
Celebrated through the land
He was wined and speeched and honored
Everybody shook his hand

But he was just a Pima Indian
No water, no crops, no chance
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done
And when did the Indians dance

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Then Ira started drinkin' hard
Jail was often his home
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
like you'd throw a dog a bone

He died drunk one mornin'
Alone in the land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died