Drive-By Truckers - Decoration Day (2003) by Drive-By Truckers (보컬) on maniadb.com

By the time you were born, there were four other siblings
With your mama awaiting your daddy in jail
And your oldest brother was away at a home
And you didn't meet him 'til you were nineteen years old

Old enough to know better, old enough to know better
But you took to his jaw line and long sandy hair
And he made you feel like none of the others
And the way he looked at you, touched you deep down in there

So you jumped on his bike and rode into the sunset
But the sequel it started with the next morning sun
And the dew on the bike seat and you all a glow
From the love he put in you and a life on the run

So you moved to a small town, then to another
Then to another with another on its way
And you both swore to God we will keep it together
And the State wouldn't take your babies away

Now, the District Attorney said he might of forgiven
You had lots of reasons to turn out this way
But you both go to jail for them four little babies
You made and delivered along the way

Last night you had a dream of a Lord so forgiving
He might show compassion for a heathen he damned
You awoke in a jail cell, alone and so lonely
Seven years in Michigan

I've always been a religious man
I've always been a religious man
But I met the banker and it felt like sin
He turned my bailout down
The banker man, he let into me
Let into me, let into me
The banker man, he let into me
And spread my name around

He thinks I ain't got a lick of sense
'Cause I talk slow and my money's spent
I ain't the type to hold it against
But he better stay off my farm
'Cause it was my daddy's and his daddy's before
And his daddy's before and his daddy's before
Five generations and an unlocked door
And a loaded burglar alarm

Lots of pictures of my purdy family
Lots of pictures of my purdy family
Lots of pictures of my purdy family
In the house where I was born
House has stood through five tornadoes
Droughts, floods, and five tornadoes
I'd rather wrestle an alligator
Than to face the banker's scorn

'Cause he won't even look me in the eye
He just takes my land and apologize
With pen, paper, and a friendly smile
He says the deed is done
The sound you hear is my daddy spinning
The sound you hear is my daddy spinning
The sound you hear is my daddy spinning
Over what the banker done

Like to invite him for some pot roast beef
And mashed potatoes and sweet tea
Follow it up with some banana pudding
And a walk around the farm
Show him the view from McGee town hill
Let him stand in my shoes and see how it feels
To lose the last thing on earth that's real
I'd rather lose my legs and arms

Bury his body in the old sink hole
Bury his body in the old sink hole
Bury his body in the old sink hole
Under cold November sky
Then damned if I wouldn't go to church on Sunday
Damned if I wouldn't go to church on Sunday
Damned if I wouldn't go to church on Sunday
And look the preacher in the eye

There’s a lot of bad wood underneath the veneer
She’s an overnight sensation after twenty five years
Sharp fast curves, power steering
unroll that twenty, buy me some beer
Ain’t too bad, too bad at all, pick up the phone if I ever call
Hell No, I Ain’t Happy.

There’s a purdy little girl outside the van window
Bout 80 cities down, 800 to go
Six crammed in, we ain’t never alone
Never homesick, ain’t got no home
Check my mail if you would please, Jenn
Collect my things till I’m in town again
Hell No, I Ain’t Happy.

But I get a little closer everyday
Gonna be a long time till I’m back your way.

I’ve seen just how much I can stand
One night in Kansas City, we thought about killing a man
Seen my number fly by on Interstate Ten
Seen the mountains of Montana at Seven AM.
And I keep it all together for the sake of the kids
Got your fine-ass self on the back of my lids
Hell No, I Ain’t Happy.
But I ain’t too crappy, too crappy at all.

Well my daddy didn't pull out, but he never apologized
Rock and Roll means well, but it can't help tellin' young boys lies
A baby on the ways a good enough reason to get you out alive
Get you out without having to swallow any pride

All my friends are restless, all they do is talk it down
Two or eight lanes, it don't matter, it's just another town
There's a fool on every corner, on every street in every one
And I'd rather be your fool nowhere than go somewhere and be no one's

So marry me, sweet thing won't you marry me
Your Mama thinks I beat anything she's ever seen
But this old towns alright with me, there's nowhere I'd rather be
Long as they stay mad at one another, well they can't get mad at me

Every time I leave here something bad happens to me
Like a busted hand or finding some man laying where I sleep
She don't mean nothing to me, that's just how it goes round here
It's a cartoon town, I play my part and I ain't spoke her name in years

So marry me, sweet thing won't you marry me
Your Mama thinks I beat anything she's ever seen
Well this old towns alright with me, there's nowhere I'd rather be
Long as they stay mad at one another, well they can't get mad at me
Let's go

I don't want anything I done to be nobodys fault
Even if they got more money and mouth than they got balls
Well that's just how it went down, right or wrong, it's just that way
They're just, 'cause I don't run my mouth don't mean I got nothing to say

Marry me, sweet thing won't you marry me
Your Mama thinks I beat anything she's ever seen
Well this old towns alright with me, there's nowhere I'd rather be
Long as they stay mad at one another, well they can't get mad at me

So marry me, sweet thing won't you marry me
Marry me, sweet thing won't you marry me

Child, as I look in your eyes
You know my life seems like a minute
There I find living proof
Of all the wonder life hold in it

In the past I thought I had to learn
Any good that comes from this life we're living
Here and now, let us realize
That this life's gift and it's already been given

Someday when you stand in the middle
Like it or not you're gonna look both ways
You're gonna find that time is a riddle
Where days turn into years and years into the blink of an eye

Child, once I saw a man on the TV
Lead a nation up a mountain
He said, children, look over yonder
The flame of truth is burning brightly

Sometimes you look so far, there's only so much time
Only so many of us are gonna get there
Here and now is all we really have
But if we can make it count we got no reason to worry

Someday when you stand in the middle
Like it or not you're gonna look both ways
You're gonna find that time is a riddle
Where days turn into years and years into the blink of an eye

You're gonna walk that mile
You're gonna be in that number
You're gonna make that journey
Just like the good book says
There's a time to be born, a time to cross over

You want to grow up to paint houses like me
A trailer in my yard till you're 23
You want to be old after 42 years
Keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gears

Well, I used to go out in a Mustang
A 302 Mach One in green
Me and your Mama made you in the back
And I sold it to buy her a ring

And I learned not to say much of nothing
And I figured you already know
But in case you don't or maybe forgot
I'll lay it out real nice and slow

Don't call what your wearing an outfit
Don't ever say your car is broke
Don't worry about losing your accent
A Southern Man tells better jokes

Have fun but stay clear of the needle
Call home on your sister's birthday
Don't tell them you're bigger than Jesus
Don't give it away, don't give it away

Six months in a St. Florian foundry
They call it Industrial Park
Then hospital maintenance and Tech School
Just to memorize Frigidaire parts

But I got to missing your Mama
And I got to missing you too
And I went back to painting for my old man
And I guess that's what I'll always do

So don't let him take who you are boy
And don't try to be who you ain't
And don't let me catch you in Ken dale
With a bucket of wealthy-man's paint

Don't call what your wearing an outfit
Don't ever say your car is broke
Don't sing with a fake British accent
Don't act like your family's a joke

Have fun, but stay clear of the needle
Call home on your sister's birthday
Don't tell them you're bigger than Jesus
Don't give it away, don't give it away

Something about the wrinkle in your forehead
Tells me there's a fit about to get thrown
If we get the van out of the ditch before morning
Ain't nobody got to know what I done

And I never hear a single word you say
When you tell me not to have my fun
It's the same old shit that
I ain't gonna take off anyone

And I don't need to be forgiven
By them people in the neighborhood
When we first hooked up, you looked me in the eye
And said, "Paw, we just ain't no good"

We were heathens in their eyes at the time
I guess I am just a heathen still
And I never have repented from the wrongs that they say
I have done, I've done what I feel

It was a difficult delivery now it's growing up mean and strong
When you tell me that it's getting a little bit tight
Ain't the first time I been outgrown and I'm gonna push a little harder
She ain't revved till the rods are thrown I'll walk away

And I don't need to be forsaken by you or anybody else
and I never had a shortage of people tryin' to warn me
About the dangers I pose to myself, heathens

These times can take their toll sometimes
And I know you feel the same way too
It gets so hard to keep between the ditches
When roads wind the way they do

When I saw her standing there
With her bright eyes and shining hair
She was looking back at me
Some are meant to sing
Some are meant to talk
And some aren't meant to say a thing

When she opened up her mouth
And that sweet voice came out
I lost track of my own name
Now she's found herself and I lost mine
And I'm just another guy
Who can't give her anything

Well the drifter, he holds on to his youth
Just like it was money in the bank
And Lord knows I can't change sounds better in the song
Than it does with hell to pay

I might as well of slipped
That ring on your finger
From a window of a van s it drove away
Now she's found herself and I lost mine
And I'm just another guy
Who can't give her anything

Dreams are given to you
When you're young enough to dream them
Before they can do you any harm
They don't start to hurt
Until you try to hold on to them
After seeing how they really are

She used to dream them with me
Every single crazy one
Until they started hurting her too
Now she's got some of her own
And outgrowing me
Might be the best thing for her she's ever done

A light that shines as bright as hers
Can't be kept in the shadows for too long
A heart that wants to live and a soul that wants to give
Can't just sit at home alone

Lord, she gave me everything and never wanted anything
I couldn't give just what was inside of me
Now she's found herself and I lost mine
And I'm just another guy
Who can't give her anything
Now she's found herself and I lost mine
And I'm just another guy
Who can't give her anything

I know your Daddy hates me
And I got a room in hell reserved
I know he wants to kill me
And it's the least that I deserve

But I always loved his daughter
That's something that I know you know
Just sometimes don't do what I ought to
Sometimes I yes when I should no

I know your Daddy hates me
And I drink more than a whale
But my failures ain't for lack of trying
It's just a little too late now to prevail

But you always knew I was a screw up
Long before I screwed us up
You said it endeared you to me
But in the end you just gave up

And I always loved your Daddy
I loved your Mama even more
And I always loved their daughter
That's for sure

And I know your Daddy hates me
I know I'd probably hate me too
But, I also know you don't hate me
Even though you'd probably like to and ought to

It's a little too late for writing love songs
But I never did anything on time
Happiness on your big adventure
See you darling down the line

And I always loved your Daddy
I loved your Mama even more
And I always loved their [Incomprehensible]
That's for sure

Now I always loved your Daddy
I loved your Mama even more
And I always loved their daughter
That's for sure

Be careful that you don't
Use up your ninth one
We all were careless once
We all were careless once

It can be too much fun
Just going round once
It all can slip away
One banana peel away

You left this big old void
sure miss your sweet voice
Gone into the void
We all were careless once

We all were careless once
We all were careless once
We all were careless once

You can lie to your mama
You can lie to your race
But you can't lie to nobody
With that cold steel in your face

And the same God you were so afraid
Was gonna send you to Hell
Is the same one you're gonna answer to
When the pin hits the shell

Well, your sister's been blaming everybody
And I don't blame her man, I guess I'd do the same
If you were my brother, man, I'd probably stand by you
But you ain't, man, so I gotta go my way

And I ain't going to crawl up on no high horse
'Cause I got thrown off of one
When I was young and I ain't no cowboy
So I ain't going where I don't belong

It wouldn't do no good to let you know
That it damn near killed me too
So I ain't gonna mourn for you, man
Now that you're gone

Me and you, we liked our pills
And our whiskey
But you don't want your head full of either one
When the house gets quiet and dark

Feeling good, it used to come
So damn easy
Racing trains from Second Street
To Avalon

Take a trip down memory lane
But you don't see no friendly faces
All the houses have been painted
And nobody knows your name

It's enough to make a man
not want to be nobody's daddy
Well, all he thinks he's got to lift his hand
Now is guilt and shame

And I ain't going to crawl up on no high horse
'Cause I got thrown off of one
When I was young and I ain't no cowboy
So I ain't going where I don't belong

It wouldn't do no good to let you know
That it damn near killed me too
So I ain't gonna mourn for you, man
Now that you're gone

You can lie to your mama
You can lie to your race
But you can't lie to nobody
With that cold steel in your face

And the same God you were so afraid
Was gonna send you to Hell
Is the same one you're gonna answer to
When the pin hits the shell

My Daddy called me on a Friday morning
So sad to tell me just what you've done
You tried so hard to make us all hate you
But in the end you was the only one

Sick, tired, pissed and wired
You never thought about anyone else
You tried in vain to find something to kill you
In the end you had to do it yourself

Who's to blame for the loveless marriage
Who's to blame for the broken band
You ran from life and all of it's pleasures
Your own teeth marks on your own damned hand

Thrown out before the date expired
You rather die than let anyone help
You rather die than take a stab at living
Nothing would kill you so you do it yourself

Everyone has those times when the night's so long
The dead-end life just drags you down
You lean back under the microphone
And turn your demons into walls of goddamned noise and sound

And it's a sorry thing to do to your sweet sister
It's a sorry thing to do to your little boy
It's a sorry thing to do to the folks who love you
Your Mama and Daddy lost their only boy

Some should say I should cut you slack
But you worked so hard at unhappiness
Living too hard just couldn't kill you
In the end you had to do it yourself
Living too hard just couldn't kill you
In the end you had to do it yourself

It's Decoration Day
An' I'd a mind to roll a stone on his grave
What would he say?
Keeping me down, boy, won't keep you away

It's Decoration Day
And I knew the Hill boys would put it on away
But my daddy wasn't afraid
He said, "We'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day"

I never knew how it all got started
A problem with Holland before we were born
And I don't know the name of that boy we tied down
And beat till he just couldn't walk anymore

But I know the caliber in Daddy's chest
I know what Holland Hill drives
The State let him go, but I guess it was best
'Cause nobody needs all us Lawsons alive

Daddy said one of the boys had come by
The Lumber Man's favorite son
He said, "Beat him real good but don't dare let him die
And if you see Holland Hill, run"

Well, I said, "They ain't give us trouble before"
An' we ain't brought down on ourselves
But a chain on my back and my ear to the floor
An' I'll send all the Hill boys to Hell
I'll send all the Hill boys to Hell

It's Decoration Day
And I got a family in Mobile Bay
And they never seen my daddy's grave
But that don't bother me, it ain't marked anyway

'Cause I got dead brothers in Lauderdale, south
And I got dead brothers in east Tennessee
My daddy got shot right in front of his house
He had no one to fall on but me

It's Decoration Day
And I've got a mind to go spit on his grave
If I was a Hill, I'd have put him away
And I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day

He kept a loaded gun in the closet
And another one in the dresser drawer
Just in case the one in the closet
Didn't make a big enough hole

She has breakfast ready every morning
And his lunch in a box sitting out by the kitchen door
She'd make sure he had everything he needed
And hug his neck and tell him how much she loved him
And it was beautiful you should have seen it

Then she'd make herself a pot of coffee just the way she liked it
And sit down and enjoy the quiet of the house all alone
But, by two O'clock or so every afternoon
The quiet would start getting to her and she'd watch
The clock until he came back home

And she understood just what he needed
When he came home every evening
Was just a couple of beers and a couple of minutes
To cuss about his day

So she'd fix him a nice hot supper
While he ranted and raved about one thing or the other
And she never once told him what he was going on about
Didn't add up to a thing

And she never touched that gun in the closet
It was his and it was there just because he wanted it to be
She didn't get out much, so she never knew just what it was
That made him so afraid

Most women today would say she was a disgrace
Most men would say she wasn't much to look at
And they all would say she'd be a lot better off
If she cared a little more about what they all think

She could have a life of her own if she had a little pride
Some silicone implants, and another man on the side
But she's got a loaded gun in the closet
And it's there anytime she wants it

And her one and only man knows it and
That's why he put it there in the first place