Steve Earle

Everybody call her angel
she's no stranger to the devil I know
His mark is on her body
His fire's burnin' in her soul
When we're makin' love
he's laughin' at us down below
she's the devil I know
CHORUS
She's the devil I know
She's the devil I know
Said she come from heaven
Angel is the devil I know
She's the devil I know

Now she's the kind a woman
keep you comin' back for more
Got the kind of face
you swear you seen someplace before
Coulda` been your mamma
Coulda' been a Mexican whore
She's the devil I know

Now she'd drag you straight to hell
I can tell and I think I'll just go
Yeah the devil sent her here
to deliver me body and soul
Yeah and every inch she drags me down
I'm closer to the glow
She`s the devil I know

Got a lot of memories tied up in this place
So much time spent in so little space
What looked like the world through the eyes of a child
Kind of closes in on you after awhile
It's a place to grow up and a place to grow old
You keep your mouth shut and you do what you're told
I told mama the day that I ran
This ain't no place for an angry young man

Mama if you could see me right now
You'd be so sure you failed me somehow
Mama you never could understand
There ain't no peace for an angry young man

A cheap hotel a long way from my home
So many people make you feel so alone
Dreams die easy out here in these streets
And hearts grow cold in the city heat
I ain't never been the patient kind
I got to live like I please or die trying
At a filling station with a gun in my hand
The only way for an angry young man

Got a lot of memories tied up in this place
Tonight they're staring me right in the face
A lonely grave on the outskirts of town
It's three in the morning, ain't no one around
Just like a ghost I come out of the night
But I'll be gone before the morning light
Mama I hope that you understand

This ain't no place for an angry young man

Here I am again, now, acting like a crazy fool
Every time I get to rockin', I always run into you
I never did understand why you want to be so cruel

Well, Annie, is tonight the night?
Do you think the moon is right?
You don't have to tell me you will
Just say that you might

I know you told me once
I guess you coulda told me twice
I guess I keep hopin' some day you're gonna treat me nice
I'm tryin' to get next to you
Cold as ice

Well, Annie, is tonight the night?
Do you think the moon is right?
You don't have to tell me you will
Just say that you might

Now I'm not fool enough thinkin' I'm the only one
Got me comin' and a-goin' ‘till I'm about to come undone
Not tryin' to find love
I'm lookin' for a little fun

Well, Annie, is tonight the night?
Do you think the moon is right?
You don't have to tell me you will
Just say that you might

Well, Annie, is tonight the night?
Do you think the moon is right?
You don't have to tell me you will
Just say that you might

Well sometimes in the evenings I start to get that feeling
Like I'm empty inside
I know I'm doin' good now but tonight I'm headed downtown
Down by the riverside

I sit underneath the freeway with an old friend from the old days
And a bottle of wine
Well he used to call me ";Big Time";, and he knew someday that I'd shine
Said he'd seen all the signs
He said . .

";Keep yourself to yourself
Keep your bedroll dry
And boy you never can tell
What the shadows hide
Keep ene eve on the ground
Pick up whatever you find
'Cause you've got no place to fall
When your back's to the wall";

He's gettin' old and it's showin' when I asked him how it's goin'
He said ";I've seen better I guess
I've been rained on, I've been frozen, but this here's the life I've chosen
If it just wasn't for the loneliness";

Now this river suits me to a T. but if you're trying to raise a family
It ain't no place to be
There's a kid down by the dump there, ought to be in grade school somewhere
Now he hangs out with me
And I told him . . .";

Well we finished off the bottle and I told him,";Joe I think I ought to
Be headed uptown";
Well it was late, and I'd been drinkin', drivin' home I got to thinkin'
'Bout what's been going down

Cause they're nervous down on Wall Street, but they're trying to keep it upbeat
Or maybe they just don't care
But down at the river eyes are burnin' cause they feel the tables turnin'
So if you wind up down there . . .

Billy was 17 and mean as hell
Bonnie said she was 30, it was hard to tell
Billy met Bonnie on a Saturday night
At the dirt track races, it was love at first sight
Bonnie was wilder than the west wind blows
Taught Billy every single thing he knows
But she never told billy what she left out
The part about the trouble when your times runs out
When the thrill is gone, when your deal goes south
It's all over when your time runs out

Bonnie said, "Billy, don't you think it's time
We moved on a little further down the line"
So they knocked off a Texaco south of town
Blew down the highway with the ragtop down
Billy woke Bonnie up about first light
Said, "You drive honey, I've been up all night"
Now Billy wasn't sweatin' no APB
‘Cause they didn't leave a single soul alive to see

The boy was just 16, made his mama proud
That don't mean nothin' when your time runs out

Bonnie kept pushin' that Cadillac
Billy passed out with the seat reared back
Slept through Louisiana, then just past dark
Bonnie pulled over in a roadside park
Left Billy sleeping and she called the cops
He never knew nothin' when the dime was dropped
Bonnie knew what she had to do
She called the sheriff and she cried on cue

And the state police rousted Billy out
He was dreaming about Bonnie when his time ran out

The sheriff told Billy, "Boy, you're bound to die
‘Cause this young lady's gonna testify
That you done took her off against her will
And she told us about the robbery and the boy you killed"
The judge said, "Billy, what you got to say
Before I have the sheriff carry you away"
Billy looked Bonnie right in the eye
But he didn't even have to ask her why
But he turned around as they led him out

He said, "I'll see you down in hell when your time runs out"

Baby, last night I was watchin' my headlights flashin' on the guard rail
Now it's early in the mornin' and I'm still runnin' like the devil was on my trail

Well, say why why why would a man treat a woman that way?
I say cry cry cry, she's never gonna make me stay

Now I'm ridin' on the wheels of fortune
I'm spinnin' like a weather vane
I feel my shotgun when I see my shadow
It's headed down the breakdown lane
Headed down the breakdown lane

Now I've heard all the songs about the endless highway
Sung a couple of ‘em myself
But the road ain't nothin' but a place to go
When you ain't got anyplace else

Why why why would a man treat a woman that way?
I say cry cry cry, she's never gonna make me stay

Now I'm ridin' on the wheels of fortune
I'm spinnin' like a weather vane
I feel my shotgun when I can see my shadow
It's headed down the breakdown lane
Headed down the breakdown lane

Everybody's out to get me
See it in their eyes
Hardly see the way they look at me
When I go cruisin' by

Cadillac, Cadillac
I'm a Coupe de Ville built for thrill
Cadillac

I got chrome everywhere I need it
Rolled and pleated front to back
If you don't think I got it made
You ought to see me dressed in black

Cadillac, Cadillac
I'm a Coupe de Ville built for thrill
Cadillac

Now, if you've got a woman
There's one thing for sure
If you want to keep her
You best keep her from my door

Cadillac, Cadillac
I'm a Coupe de Ville built for thrill
Cadillac

Cadillac

Oh, Cadillac

Cocaine cannot kill my pain
Like a freight train through my vein
Cocaine cannot kill my pain
Whiskey got no hold on me
Left them chains in Tennessee
Whiskey got no hold on me

Don't come knockin' on my door
Even that won't work no more
Don't come knockin' on my door

Heroin is the only thing
The only gift the darkness brings
Heroin is the only thing

Guess you'd best leave me alone
At least until these blues have gone
Guess you'd best leave me alone

It's Christmastime in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Things not gettin' worse
The Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
They said, 'He cannot seek another term
They'll be no more FDRs'
I sat home in Tennessee
Staring at the screen
With an uneasy feeling in my chest
And I'm wonderin' what it means

Chorus:
So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

I followed in your footsteps once
Back in my travelin' days
Somewhere I failed to find your trail
Now I'm stumblin' through the haze
But there's killers on the highway now
And a man can't get around
So I sold my soul for wheels that roll
Now I'm stuck here in this town

Chorus

There's foxes in the hen house
Cows out in the corn
The unions have been busted
Their proud red banners torn
To listen to the radio
You'd think that all was well
But you and me and Cisco know
It's going straight to hell

So come back, Emma Goldman
Rise up, old Joe Hill
The barracades are goin' up
They cannot break our will
Come back to us, Malcolm X
And Martin Luther King
We're marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring

Chorus

Well, sittin' in the depot long before the break of day
I just bought my ticket, Lord I hope the bus ain't late
I'll have a cup of coffee and a sandwich from the microwave

Now I'm gonna see my baby if it's the last thing I ever do
Got this sittin' in the station sick and tired of waitin'
Continental Trailways blues

Well rollin' out for Houston, man we're finally rollin' now
Try to get some sleep and listen to that highway sound
I guess we must have stopped in every single little town
Now I've bought myself a copy of the Natchez Mississippi News
With the just pulled out of Lake Charles rollin' into Sulphur
Continental Trailways blues

Now, we're rollin' into Houston, don't them city lights look fine
Headed for the pay phone, hangin' onto my last dime
Well, she says she's got a new man, Son, it's been a long, long time

Now I was standin' by the highway with the rain runnin' through my shoes
With the sittin' by the road side wishin' I was inside Continental Trailways blues
I got the wishin' I was downtown waitin' on a Greyhound
Continental Trailways blues

Ya hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only come to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds o'yeast
and some copperline
Everybody knew that he made moonshine

That revenue man wanted grandaddy bad
He headed up the holler with evrything he had
it was before my time but i've been told
He never came back from copperhead road

Now my daddy ran the whiskey in a big black dodge
he bought it at an auction at the mason's lodge
Johnson's county sherrif painted on the side
just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
well him and my uncle tore that engine down
i still remember that rumblin' sound

Then the sherrif came around in the middle of the night
heard mama cryin' knew somethin wasnt right
he was headed down to knoxville with the weekly load
u could smell the whiskey burnin down copperhead road

I volonteered for the army on my birthday
they draft the white trash first 'round here anyway
i done two tours of duty in vietnam
i came home with a brand new plan
i take the seed from colombia to mexico
i plant it up the holler down copperhead road
well the DEA's got a chopper in the air
i wake up screamin like im back over there
i learned a thing or two from ol' charlie don't you know
you'd better stay away from copperhead road

copperhead road
copperhead road
copperhead road

I cried so hard
You know I can't do more
It's a turn of the card
It's a close of the door
The lies you told
You know they hurt so deep
So I go home and cry myself to sleep

Day after day
You been treatin' me bad
My friends'll come up and say
Why do you take all of that?
And it's makin' me moan
And it's makin' me weep
So I go home and cry myself to sleep

You play at love like a child plays games
One day I'm in and then I'm out again
You change the rules


I can't win
You've broken me, now, so I'll give in

You play at love like a child plays games
One day I'm in and then I'm out again
You change the rules
I can't win
You've broken me, now, so I'll give in

Well, I've been through worse
But I don't know what
Joy is just the reverse
Of what I've got
So take this heart
Or what's left to keep
And I go home and cry myself to sleep
I just go home and cry myself to sleep
I go home and cry myself to sleep

On the blue side of evenin'
When the darkness takes control
You start lookin' for a reason
To take your lonesome on down the road
'Cause the night is filled with strangers
All you need is one you know
And if she ain't the one you're after
Keep on lookin' on down the road

Though the miles lay long behind you
You have still got miles to go
How's love ever gonna find you
If it ain't here it's down the road

Keep on lookin' on down the road

On the blue side of evenin'
When the darkness takes control
You start lookin' for a reason
To take your lonesome on down the road
'Cause the night is filled with strangers
All you need is one you know
And if she ain't the one you're after
Keep on lookin' on down the road

Though the miles lay long behind you
You have still got miles to go
How's love ever gonna find you
If it ain't here it's down the road

Keep on lookin' on down the road

I was fresh out of the service
It was back in 82
I raised some Cain when I come back to town
I left to be all I could be
Come home without a clue
Now, I married Dawn and had to settle down

So I hired on at the prison
Guess I always knew I would
Just like my dad and both my uncles done
And I worked on every cell block
Now, things're goin' good
But then they transferred me to Ellis Unit One

Swing low
Swing low
Swing low and carry me home

Well, my daddy used to talk about them long nights at the walls
And how they used to strap em in the chair
The kids down from the college and they'd bring their beer n all
N when the lights went out, a cheer rose in the air

Well, folks just got too civilized
Sparky's gatherin' dust
Cause no one wants to touch a smokin' gun
And since they got the injection
They don't mind as much, I guess
They just put em down at Ellis Unit One

Swing low
Swing low
Swing low and carry me home

Well, I've seen em fight like lions, boys
I've seen 'em go like lambs
And I've helped to drag em when they could not stand
And I've heard their mamas cryin' when they heard that big door slam
And I've seen the victim's family holdin' hands

Last night I dreamed that I woke up with straps across my chest
And something cold and black pullin' through my lungs
N even Jesus couldn't save me though I know he did his best
But he don't live on Ellis Unit One

Swing low
Swing low
Swing low and carry me home
Swing low
Don't let go
Swing low and carry me home

I've always heard that love is blind
But I know that there's another kind
Shines like a beacon in the night
And holds up in the morning light

Cause in mv dreams she travels with me when I run
And in my dreams she takes my hand
When I make my stand but morning always comes
And I know it's too good to be true
She loves me even when I'm blue

No one can say that I ain't tried
I keep on searching far and wide
And I know she's out there somewhere now
I'm gonna track her down somehow

Don't you worry bout what you've been told
Cause honey I ain't even close to cold
It's kinda soon to fall in love again
But sometimes the best that you can do is just jump back in
I got me a fearless heart
Strong enough to get you through the scary part
It's been broken many times before
A fearless heart just comes back for more

Folks'll tell you that I'm just no good
But I wouldn't hurt you honey if I could
I can't promise this'll work out right
But it would kill me darlin' if we didn't even try

I admit I fall in love a lot
But I nearly always give it my best shot
I know you must think I'm the reckless kind
But I want a lady with a fearless heart just like mine

Don't you worry bout what you've been told
Cause honey I ain't even close to cold
It's kinda soon to fall in love again
But sometimes the best that you can do is just jump back in
I got me a fearless heart
Strong enough to get you through the scary part
It's been broken many times before
A fearless heart just comes back for more

Folks'll tell you that I'm just no good
But I wouldn't hurt you honey if I could
I can't promise this'll work out right
But it would kill me darlin' if we didn't even try

I admit I fall in love a lot
But I nearly always give it my best shot
I know you must think I'm the reckless kind
But I want a lady with a fearless heart just like mine

I was born my papa's son
A wanderin' eye and a smokin' gun
Now some of you would live through me
Lock me up and throw away the key
Or just find a place to hide away
Hope that I'll just go away
I feel alright -- I feel alright tonight

I'll bring you precious contraband
And ancient tales from distant lands
Of conquerors and concubines and
Conjurers from darker times
Betrayal and conspiracy
Sacrilege and heresy

I got every thing you wont or need
Your darkest fear, your fondest dream
I ask you questions, tell you lies
Criticize and sympathize
Be careful what you wish for friend
Because I've been to hell and now I'm back again

In Ft. Worth all the neon's burnin' bright
Pretty lights red and blue
But they'd shut down all the honky tonks tonight
And say a prayer or two
If they only knew
You used to say the highway was your home
But we both know that ain't true
It's just the only place a man can go
When he don't know where he's travelin' to

But Colorado's always clean and healin'
And Tennessee in Spring is green and cool
It never really was your kind of town
But you went around with the Ft. Worth Blues

Somewhere up beyond the great divide
Where the sky is wide and the clouds are few
A man can see his way clear to the light
Just hold on tight
That's all you gotta do

And they say Texas weather's always changin'
And one thing change'll bring is somethin' new
And Houston really ain't that bad a town
So you hang around with the Ft. Worth Blues

There's a full moon over Galway Bay tonight
Silver light over green and blue
And every place I travel through, I find
Some kinda sign that you've been through

But Amsterdam was always good for grieving
And London never fails to leave me blue
Paris never was my kinda town
So I walked around with the Ft. Worth Blues

I got a job but it ain't nearly enough
A twenty thousand dollar pickup truck
Belongs to me and the bank and some funny talkin' man from Iran
I left the service and got a G.I. loan
I got married bought myself a home
Now I hang around this one horse town and do the best than I can
Gettin' tough
Just my luck
I was born in the land of plenty now there ain't enough
Gettin' cold
I've been told
Nowadays it just don't pay to be a good ol' boy

Been goin' nowhere down a one-way track
I'd kill to leave it but ain't no turnin' back
Got the wife and the kids and what would everybody say
My brother's standin' on a welfare line
And any minute now I might get mine
Meanwhile it's the I.R.S. and the devil to pay

I hit the beer joints every Friday night
Spend a little money lookin' for a fight
It don't matter if I lose or win
'Cause Monday I'm back on the losin' end again

I got a job but it ain't nearly enough
A twenty thousand dollar pickup truck
Belongs to me and the bank and some funny talkin' man from Iran
I left the service and got a G.I. loan
I got married bought myself a home
Now I hang around this one horse town and do the best than I can
Gettin' tough
Just my luck
I was born in the land of plenty now there ain't enough
Gettin' cold
I've been told
Nowadays it just don't pay to be a good ol' boy

Been goin' nowhere down a one-way track
I'd kill to leave it but ain't no turnin' back
Got the wife and the kids and what would everybody say
My brother's standin' on a welfare line
And any minute now I might get mine
Meanwhile it's the I.R.S. and the devil to pay

I hit the beer joints every Friday night
Spend a little money lookin' for a fight
It don't matter if I lose or win
'Cause Monday I'm back on the losin' end again