| Disc 1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
| 3:32 | 
|
|||
|
On a warm summers evening on a train bound for nowhere, I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep. So we took turns a staring out the window at the darkness til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak. He said, son, Ive made a life out of reading peoples faces, And knowin what their cards were by the way they held their eyes. So if you dont mind my saying, I can see youre out of aces. For a taste of your whiskey Ill give you some advice. So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow. Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression. Said, if youre gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right. You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you are sitting at the table. There'll be time enough for counting when the dealing has done. Now every gambler knows that the secret to surviving Is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep. cause every hands a winner and evry hands a loser, And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep. So when hed finished speaking, he turned back towards the window, Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep. And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even. But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep. You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when youre sittin at the table. Therell be time enough for countin when the dealins done. You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you are sitting at the table. There'll be time enough for counting when the dealing has done. |
||||||
| 2. |
| 3:54 |
|
|||
|
Lady I'm your knight in shining armor and I love you You have made me what I am and I am yours My love there's so many ways I want to say I love you Let me hold you in my arms forever more You have gone and made me such a fool I'm so lost in your love And oh we belong together Won't you believe in my song Lady for so many years I thought I'd never find you You have come into my life and made me whole Forever let me wake to see you each and every morning Let me hear you whisper softly in my ear In my eyes I see no one else but you There's no other love like our love And yes oh yes I'll always want you near me I've waited for you for so long Lady your love's the only love I need And beside me is where I want you to be Cause my love there's something I want you to know You're the love of my life you're my lady |
||||||
| 3. |
| 3:42 |
|
|||
|
Just look at you sitting there
You never looked better than tonight And it would be so easy to tell you I'd stay Like I've done so many times I was so sure that this would be the night You'd close the door and wanna stay with me And it'd be so easy to tell you I'd wait Like I've done so many times Don't fall in love with a dreamer 'Cause he'll always take you in Just when you think you've really changed him He'll leave you again Don't you fall in love with a dreamer 'Cause he'll break you every time Put out the light and just hold on Before we say goodbye Now it's morning, the phone rings And you say you've gotta get your things together You just gotta leave before you change your mind And if you knew what I was thinking girl I'd turn around if you'd just ask me one more time Don't fall in love with a dreamer 'Cause he'll always take you in Just when you think you've really changed him He'll leave you again Don't fall in love with a dreamer 'Cause he'll break you every time Put out the light and just hold on Before we say goodbye Before we said goodbye Goodbye |
||||||
| 4. |
| 2:51 |
|
|||
|
You've painted up your lips
And rolled and curled your tinted hair Ruby are you contemplating Going out somewhere The shadow on the wall Tells me the sun is going down Oh Ruby Don't take your love to town It wasn't me That started that crazy Asian war But I was proud to go And do my patriotic chore And yes, it's true that I'm not the man I used to be Oh, Ruby I still need some company It's hard to love a man Whose legs are bent and paralyzed That my wants and needs of a woman of your age Ruby, I realized Oh Ruby Don't take your love to town She's leaving now cause I just heard the slamming of the door The way I know I've heard it Some 100 times before And if I could move I'd get my gun And put her in the ground Oh Ruby Don't take your love to town Oh Ruby for God's sake turn around |
||||||
| 5. |
| 4:13 |
|
|||
|
While she lays sleeping, I stay out late at night and play my songs And sometimes all the nights can be so long And it's good when I finally make it home, all alone While she lays dreaming, I try to get undressed without the light And quietly she says how was your night? And I come to her and say, it was all right, and I hold her tight And she believes in me, I'll never know just what she sees in me I told her someday if she was my girl, I could change the world With my little songs, I was wrong But she has faith in me, and so I go on trying faithfully And who knows maybe on some special night, if my song is right I will find a way, find a way... While she lays waiting, I stumble to the kitchen for a bite Then I see my old guitar in the night Just waiting for me like a secret friend, and there's no end While she lays crying, I fumble with a melody or two And I'm torn between the things that I should do And she says to wake her up when I am through, God her love is true... And she believes in me, I'll never know just what she sees in me I told her someday if she was my girl, I could change the world With my little songs, I was wrong But she has faith in me, and so I go on trying faithfully And who knows maybe on some special night, if my song is right I will find a way, while she waits... while she waits for me for me! |
||||||
| 6. |
| 4:21 |
|
|||
|
Ev'ryone considered him the coward of the county. He'd never stood one single time to prove the county wrong. His mama named him Tommy, the folks just called him yellow, But something always told me they were reading Tommy wrong. He was only ten years old when his daddy died in prison. I looked after Tommy 'cause he was my brother's son. I still recall the final words my brother said to Tommy: "Son, my life is over, but yours is just begun. Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done. Walk away from trouble if you can. It won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek. I hope you're old enough to understand: Son, you don't have to fight to be a man." There's someone for ev'ryone and Tommy's love was Becky. In her arms he didn't have to prove he was a man. One day while he was workin' the Gatlin boys came callin'. They took turns at Becky.... There was three of them! Tommy opened up the door and saw his Becky cryin'. The torn dress, the shattered look was more than he could stand. He reached above the fireplace and took down his daddy's picture. As his tears fell on his daddy's face, he heard these words again: "Promise me, son, not to do the things I've done. Walk away from trouble if you can. It won't mean you're weak if you turn the other cheek. I hope you're old enough to understand: Son, you don't have to fight to be a man." The Gatlin boys just laughed at him when he walked into the barroom. One of them got up and met him halfway 'cross the floor. When Tommy turned around they said, "Hey look! ol' yellow's leavin'." But you coulda heard a pin drop when Tommy stopped and blocked the door. Twenty years of crawlin' was bottled up inside him. He wasn't holdin' nothin' back; he let 'em have it all. When Tommy left the barroom not a Gatlin boy was standin'. He said, "This one's for Becky," as he watched the last one fall. And I heard him say, "I promised you, Dad, not to do the things you done. I walk away from trouble when I can. Now please don't think I'm weak, I didn't turn the other cheek, and Papa, I sure hope you understand: Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man." Ev'ryone considered him the coward of the county. |
||||||
| 7. |
| 3:41 |
|
|||
|
In a bar in Toledo, across from the depot, on a barstool she took off her ring. I thought I'd get closer, so I walked on over, I sat down and asked her the name. When the drinks fin'lly hit her, she said "I'm no quitter, but I fin'lly quit living on dreams. I'm hungry for laughter, and, here ever after, I'm after whatever the other life brings. In the mirror I saw him, and I closely watched him, I thought how he looked out of place. He came to the women who sat there beside me, he had a strange look on his face. The big hands were calloused, he looked like a mountain, for a minute I thought I was dead. But he started shakin', his big heart was breakin', he turned to the woman and said: You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille, with four hungry children and a crop in the field. I've had some bad times, lived through some sad times, but this time your hurting won't heal. You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille! After he left us, I ordered more whiskey, I thought how she'd made him look small! From the lights of the barroom to a rented hotel room, we walked without talking at all. She was a beauty, but when she came to me, she must have thought I'd lost my mind. I couldn't hold her, 'cause the words that he told her kept coming back time after time. You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille... (twice |
||||||
| 8. |
| 3:40 |
|
|||
|
All my life was a paper once plain, pure and white Till you moved with your pen changin' moods now and then Till the balance was right Then you added some music, ev'ry note was in place And anybody could see all the changes in me by the look on my face And you decorated my life, created a world where dreams area apart And you decorated my life by paintin' your love all over my heart You decorated my life Like a rhyme with no reason in an unfinished song There was no harmony life meant nothin' to me, until you cam along And you brought out the colors, what a gentle surprise Now I'm able to see all the things life can be shinin' soft in your eyes And you decorated my life, created a world where dreams are a part And you decorated my life by paintin' your love all over my heart You decorated my life |
||||||
| 9. |
| 2:41 |
|
|||
|
Reuben James, in my song you live again
And the phrases that I rhyme are just a footstep out of time From the time when I knew you, Reuben James Reuben James, all the folks around Hadison County Cussed your name You're just a no-count, sharecropping colored man You'd steal anything you can And everybody laid the blame on Reuben James Reuben James, for you still walk over fields of my mind Faded shirt, weathered brow, caloused hands upon the plow Loved you then and I love you now, Reuben James For a grave, the gossiper of Hadison County died with chid Although your skin was black You were the one that didn't turn your back On the hungry white child with no name, Reuben James Reuben James, with your mind on the soul And a bottle in your right hand You said turn the other cheek For there's a better world awaiting for the meek In my mind, these words remain from Reuben James Reuben James, for you still walk over fields of my mind Faded shirt, weathered brow, caloused hands upon the plow Loved you then and I love you now, Reuben James Reuben James, one dark cloudy day They brought you from the field And to your lonely pine box Came just a preacher, me and the rain Just to sing one last refrain to Reuben James Reuben James, for you still walk over fields of my mind Faded shirt, weathered brow, caloused hands upon the plow Loved you then and I love you now, Reuben James Reuben James, for you still walk over fields of my mind Faded shirt, weathered brow, caloused hands upon the plow Loved you then and I love you now, Reuben James |
||||||
| 10. |
| 3:13 |
|
|||
|
Every now and then when the world steps in
Stealin' all our time away It soon takes so much, we forget to touch That's when I know it's time for me to say Take my hand let's walk through loves door And be free from the world once more Here's my arms, we can hide today And love the world away Once again we'll be where our hearts are free And the time is ours to share Love will always stay just a touch away Come with me all the magic's waiting there Take my hand let's walk through loves door And be free from the world once more Here's my arms, we can hide today And love the world away We can love the world away |
||||||
| 11. |
| 3:03 |
|
|||
|
You want things your way And I want these mine And now we don't know Just where you draw the line How can love survive If we keep cheers and sights And who picks up the pieces Every time two fools collide You lay the blame on me And I put the balme on you But why do we keep finding faults In everything you do And how long can we keep right in wrongs So cut and cry And who picks up the pieces Every time two fools collide We can save our love We still have the time Oh, I know there must be a way But we still haven't tried To keep our hearts from breaking Every time two fools collide |
||||||
| 12. |
| 4:16 |
|
|||
|
In Cumberland Kentucky
On a cool hot evening Billy lay in love with Marrianne She was a rich judge's daughter He was a son of a miner But that night their love was more than they could stand The judge said to his daughter That son of that coal miner Is someone you'll go hell to leave alone She knew his dad so well She knew she couldn't tell But the truth was bound in show before too long Their love had started growing on its own You can't out run the long arm of the law No, you can't out run the long arm of the law Billy placed his hand on Mary And he felt the baby's moving Kissed her and said I'll see you when I can The judge had made a promise When he caught up with Billy He'd sent him far away from Marianne The whole town knew he'd do it Too many times he'd proved it To at least a hundred men behind the wall He'd smiled behind that frown And when he brought that gavel down He called himself the long arm of the law And he'd set his mind on seeing Billy fall In a hot humid mine shack A mid-white pulled the sheet back And placed cool damp towel on Marianne Billy's eyes were wide with wonder From the spell he was under When she placed the new born baby in his hands He didn't hear the siren Just a baby's crying That miracle of love was all he saw When the door came crashing down And Billy turned around He felt the heart and soul inside him fall He stood face to face With the long arm of the law You can't out run the long arm of the law No, you can't out run the long arm of the law You can hide out for a while He says with a smile But you can't out run the long arm of the law Seemed like everybody down in Cumberland Kentucky Came out that day to see poor Billy's trial The court was called to order There sat the judge's daughter She looked so proud Holding Billy's child When they brought Billy to him The judge just look right thru him As he held that Holy Bible in his hand And he smiled at his grandson Then his eyes cut back to Billy And said I think this time The law will understand Son, I sentence you to live with Marianne You can't out run the long arm of the law No, you can't out run the long arm of the law He said to Billy with a smile I know you hide out for a while Ah but you can't out run the long arm of the law No you can't out run the long arm of the law |
||||||
|
