Ry Cooder - I, Flathead (2008) by Ry Cooder (보컬) on maniadb.com

You told everybody that I couldn't drive
You didn't even want me around
You knocked my love and you know that's a lie
'Cause I'm a good man when the flag goes down

I'm gonna drive like I never been hurt
Down the road like you never lied
I'll find my way like I never been lost
And you never laughed and I never cried

I'll say goodbye to all my friends
That won't take too very long
They'll be real big men someday
Never gonna miss me when I'm gone

I'm gonna drive like I never been hurt
I'll be long gone like you never lied
l'll find my way like I never been lost
And you never laughed and I never cried

I'm in the road I'm in the right
I got a mind to drive all night
When I get there they'll know my name
My head's blowin' loose all over again
Fuel's gettin' hot sun's gettin' high
Salt is burnin' in my eyes
My brain's still good my tires are fair
lf my drag chute fails baby I don't care

Chorus

I was just a boy in school 1954
I heard Johnny singin' on my Sears radio
I wouldn't do my schoolwork then nor join in schoolyard games
I'd sit there by the radio so I could hear him sing

Hey porter, hey porter would you tell me the time
I want to get on board John I want to ride your train
I don't care where you're goin' long as it ain't where I been
There ain't nothin' in this little town that a boy like me can do
So if you're goin' to Folsom Prison I want to go there too

I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die

I tried to learn the guitar blues to ease my troubled mind
But Johnny kept a movin' and I kept wastin' time
He was somewhere down Big River but all that I could see
Was west Pico Boulevard and that's what tortured me

And I followed you Big River when you called

Johnny Cash will never die buddy can't you see
He's up there with the Tennessee Two for all eternity
But sometimes in the dark of night his voice still calls to me
Hey porter hey porter was what I heard him say
On my Sears and Roebuck radio Pasadena KXLA.

I want to go to steel guitar heaven
That's the only resting place for me
I want to go to steel guitar Heaven
There's a lot of swinging cats I been wanting to see
Like Joaquin Murphy and Jimmy Day
Shake hands with Speedy and shout hooray
That's steel guitar heaven to me
I heard about steel guitar heaven
I'm going when I die
I heard Paul Bixby's been waiting
He's got something new that he wants me to try
lt turns itself on and tells you a joke
Lights you a drink and pours you a smoke
Paul I don't think it's ready!
That's steel guitar heaven to me

Well, folks, I think the good Lord must love steel players, He's made so many of them
Matter of fact, He's still trying.
But the good Lord knows that the steel player's life on Earth isn't often easy,
So He's set aside a little corner of Heaven, custom made, just for you.
First thing you'll notice, there's always plenty of courteous free parking
And don't it just seem like that old triple-neck ain't near as heavy as it used to be?
Step inside, and you'll find the walls are covered in real knotty pine,
And just take a gander at all that luxurious hi-lo shag, continuous filament,
Nylon-pile, wall-to-wall carpeting. Our Lord chose green-and-gold, my personal favourite.
The tables and chairs are upholstered in genuine naugahyde, and here our Lord chose red, I think it's appropriate.
There's always a lot of cowboy carrying on up on the bandstand, and you're bound to hear some old familiar voices calling, man, look who's here, come on up and sit on in. It's C6th day again.

You can't get fired up in Heaven
Your union card's all paid
There ain't no bosses up in heaven
I heard Spade Cooley didn't make the grade
Everybody's got a Story up in Heaven
Some we all know well
All steel players go to Heaven
Some just go through hell
But the Good Lord loves each and every one
When your ragtime cowboy days are done
Come up to steel guitar Heaven with me
That's steel guitar Heaven to me.

I'm recording again and you know why
I need money and that's no lie
Fernando sez my car is trash and he wants cash

My car is old but it's still good
I wouldn't change it baby if I could
I really like that old Cadillac
Fernando sez he won't give it back

Never liked no Jap Cars ain't startin' up now
The whole world's gone crazy anyhow
Public transportation gets me down
Might end up in a bad part of town

Fernando sez it's understood
No offense your credit ain't good
You white folks had it it's all gone now
Never had no rhythm anyhow
Fernando sez take a clue Fernando sez you're overdue
Fernando sez take in mind Fernando sez it's cash on the line

I got a dog in this fight I got troops on the ground
His name is old Spayed Kooley he's the meanest dog in town
If you think I'm foolin' try bustin' in through the door
He'll tear you a whole brand new one and you won't come back no more

Spayed's a good dog he's really bad
He's the best pal this poor boy ever had

Now Spayed might get suspicious when first you chance to meet
So if you come a callin' you better wipe your feet
Empty out your pockets let him see your hands
Be sure to talk good English so he can understand

Spayed likes mariachis he loves to hear 'em croon
I know he'lI be watchin' if the fiddles ain't in tune
When you come 'round to our table you better play it sweet
Or it's adios muchachos down on Olivera Street

Spayed's a good dog he's really fine
So if you want to be a friend of mine
Pledge allegiance to our flag try to sing on key
And you won't have no problem with my dog Spayed Kooley

When the evening shadows fall I'm dreaming
Of a certain smile a secret rendezvous
When the day is past and gone I'll come creeping
Down the dark end of the street again to you
In a dimly lit cafe as we go dancing
I try to smile and hide a love that's true
Then they play a lovely tune as we're romancing
And I can't pretend no matter what I do

Dark and different so they tell me
lt's forbidden so they say
But l just tell them we're so happy
She's my Filipino dance halt girl

Good friends have all withdrawn their salutations
Good neighbors pause when I come down the street
Preacher has a look of scom on Sunday morning
And there's a frown on every face I see

Que sera sera the Bible tells me
Novus Ordo Seclorum so they say
I just teil them adios muchachos
She's my Filipino dance hall girl

Then she whispers while we're dancing
In a language soft and low
I just tell her darling I love you
You're my Filipino dance hall girl

A mobile home in Anaheim
It's double-wide it's new, it's clean
It's a friendly town I think it's time
it's what we need
We had a long run together a life you can't compare
But the world is changing and it's getting strange out there

Forty years of motel rooms cigarettes and magazines
From Spokane clear down to Bakersfield
You might have seen us on the highway so many times before
But my dwarf is getting tired and my fat man just won't travel anymore

Skinny-looking farmers brought their families down Looking for a fat time
Had to work all day just to make them spend one thin dime
Like hot dog contests man you could eat 'em
Might raise a buck or two
Boxing matches you couldn't beat 'em
That midget kangaroo was a little too fast for you

We came down here to say good by to an old-time friend of mine
He died Inside his rubber suit out on the street of dreams
lt was a hot July Sunday and he was working over time
Cause the people like seeing Mickey walk by down in Anaheim
Dwarves and fat men just might do the very best they can
But they can't compare with Tomorrow Land it seems
We had some real Western times together but it can't be like before
Cause my dwarf is getting tired and my fat man just won't travel anymore
No we won't be seen from Bakersfield clear up to Spokane anymore

Three o'clock this morning I woke up in a dream
Thought I heard a flat-head motor roar thought I smelled gasoline
A feeling came upon me that I ain't had in years
Something like a hot dry wind whistling past my ears
Sayin time time time is all you got
There's a memory that's still burning way down in my mind
And that's why I'm going out and try a flathead one more time

I ain't seen my racing buddies in thirty years or more
One by one I lost them out on the dry lake floor
We liked to push those flat head cars as hard as they could go
Just like old Whisky Bob down on thunder road
I hear their voices calling just across the finish line
And that's why I'm going out and try a flathead one more time

I'll get back to you baby don't you have no fear
'Cause I been there and I wrecked that and baby I'm still here
But I can't take you with me when I cross the finish line
And that's why I'm going out and try a flathead one more time

I started writing country songs in 1962
Just a dream that I had on my mind
My girl and I got married in 1963
We tried so hard to keep our dreams alive

So I bought an old house-trailer out on the country side
You can't write country songs in town they say
We packed up and moved out there and as the time went by
We found that we liked living free that way

I got me an old Cadillac just to have around
Cadillacs and country songs were meant to be
I heard that old Hank Williams drove one just like mine
So I thought that something might rub off on me

You can take what you want after I'm gone
It's only just a little place that we called home sweet home
One old house trailer two rusty Cadillacs and 5000 country music songs

I always sent my songs up to Nashville town
In Gase the boys could use a guy like me
But the mailman brought 'em right back down and I think it made him sad
You're bound to get you one just wait and see

I recall the year Ray Price came through town
His tour bus parked about a mile from here

I sat there in the backseat of that old Coupe De Ville
Those shoes were just too big to fill that year

A song on Bobby Bare would take you anywhere
If I'm still here it wasn't for lack of trying
My wife would tell me Honey I'm feelin' somethin' there
Don't care if Bobby never reads a line

[Chorus]

Then late one Summer evening she called me to her side
Saying sing me something in your real old style
The one I like to hear Bobby Bare passed by
I'll just close my eyes and rest a while

Well she liked that big old tree and the honeysuckle vine
And the mocking bird that sang so tenderly
I just packed up all those song words and my old guitar
I locked them up and threw away the key

Little Trona girl little Trona girl Little
Trona girl will you wait for me

Standing in the twilight by the highway side
In my mirror I can nee the teardrops in her eyes

Little Trona girl little Trona girl
Little Trona girl will you wait for me