Come walk with me through endless time See what has been and what the future sees Share the wisdom of the old world that has passed Step in a life that's yet to be born
You spill the blood Eternal soul
I'll show you sights that you would not believe Experience pleasures thought unobtained At one with evil that has ruled before Now smell the stench of immortality
You spill the blood Eternal soul
Spill your blood, let it run on to me Take my hand and let go of your life Close your eyes and see what is me Raise the chalice, embrace for evermore
Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Peterbilt, Peterbilt
Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Peterbilt, Peterbilt
He is making her give life another stab They can see the world from way up in the cab
Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Peterbilt, Peterbilt
Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Mama ran off with a trucker Peterbilt, Peterbilt
She can quit her job now, be his little bride He can get a local route and stay home by her side She can fix him roast beast and sweet potato pie He can eat a lot of it 'cause he a big old guy
They got married in Dollywood They got married in Dollywood They got married in Dollywood By a Porter Waggoner look alike
Them stories that you tell me are so hard to swallow You said, "Go to hell", but I know you'd just follow The future's closing in quicker than you think
And hanging with you I know why Henry drinks
Those obnoxious drunks downstairs are fighting and cussing And twelve years of you and me don't add up to nothing You say what's on your mind, tell it to your shrink
So he can know like me why Henry drinks
Just a few more hours till the sun comes back around To tear each other down and drink another round Lost it on the way now I'm hating what we found Mendacity and grudge-fucks and pieces out of town
I drink half a case of beer for a get home from work Daddy needs his medicine to keep his hands off mama's throat Baby, push a little harder 'cause you got me on the brink
Of spilling more than guts about why Henry drinks Telling you so much about why Henry drinks
Saw you standing in the hallway, red plastic cup And one of them big long cigarettes You asked me if I could play you some Dylan I said,?Dylan, who?? You told me to kiss your ass
I apologized, but you could tell I didn?t mean it By the way I rolled my eyes When you said,"It wasn?t me, it was you" Somehow I knew you were gonna tell me why
Stuff was flying out of the window Falling and breaking on the pavement underneath He?s screaming at you, red faced and fuming He?d come home early, parked his car way up the street
You had your stockings in your hand, panties in your purse It was 10 a.m., all the neighbors heard him calling you A whore and a tramp and you just stood there While your heels sank into the warm wet ground
He got a lawyer, you've got a bottle He got the children and you moved in with your mama She cooks you breakfast and lets you drive her car She don?t care how late you call to tell her where you are
Ya?ll still fight, she still nags you some Somehow it?s different now than you were young It?s your own damn fault, you've been through hell For one reason or another, seems like she kinda blames herself
I wake up tired and I wake up pissed Wonder how I ended up like this I wonder why things happen like they do But I don't wonder long 'cause I got a show to do
I'm sick at my stomach from the A.Z.T. Broke at my bank 'cause that shit ain't free But I'm here to stay, at least another week or two And I can't die now 'cause I got another show to do
Don't give me no pity, don't give me no grief With till I die for sympathy Just help me with this amp and a guitar or two I can't die now 'cause I got another show to do
Don't give me no preachin' no self servin' And I ain't no angel but nobody's deserving I can dance on my own grave, thank you But I can't die now 'cause I got another show
Some people keep sayin', I can't last long But I got my bands, I got my songs Liquor, beer and nicotine to help me along And I'm drunk and stubborn as they come Chain smokin', guitar pickin', 'til I'm gone Gone, gone, gone
I ain't got no political agenda Ain't got no message for the youth of America Except "Wear a rubber and be careful who you screw" And come see me next Friday 'cause I got another show
Some people stop livin' long before they die Work a dead end job just to scrape on by But I keep livin' just to bend that note in two And I can't die now 'cause I got another show
She's a beauty, yes sir she is, said EZ Dan Fifty five, a bad age, smelling of Brut from Fabrege' and sweat EZ Dan don't bathe a lot these days And why the hell should he anyway?
"She's got a few miles on her, but then again, who don't?" He said with a slight chuckle The recent Binaca blast still lingering on his breath And besides, them's highway miles
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other It certainly wasn't the car of my dreams, but the price was right And EZ Dan assured me the mid 70's were a particularly nice period For Chrysler products in general and this one is a Volare'
And besides Finally having an eight-track means I can play All them tapes I ain't been able to listen to Since high-school
So we stuffed EZ Dan's body in the trunk and hauled ass out of town But somewhere just past the middle of nowhere the fuel pump blew And the oil pump too And the piston rods hurled straight threw the engine block Dropping oil, gasoline, water And anti-freeze onto the Alabama red clay below
Ain't that a bitch? I ain't never been lucky with love I ain't never been lucky with love I ain't never been lucky with love I ain't never been lucky with love
(chorus) Demonic Possession His court's in session I sign my confession Demonic Possession
It was raining on the day she told me them things that fella sold me Mama wasn't thee to scold me No prison or cell could hold me I still recall the date I'z probably about eight when I sealed my fate You honor I rightly state (repete chorus)
Suddenly I had a foot hold I became such a butthole I don't need nobody consoling me No one but the devil controlling me
I can kick ass and talk backward I hang out with a whole bunch of slackers and I know I can get some help from him I listen to a lot of Led Zeppelin (repete chorus)
I got so much money I don't need smarts My records are flying to the top of the charts and I'm eating in all those fancy restaurants and Hanging out with Sam Phillips and I owe it all to him Oh, the shape I'm in The devil says the only thing that's buggin him is Hell's filling up with Republicans (repete chorus twice)
You met him at the dance hall, you only saw his charms You said he really swept you off your feet Then one night he's drinking and jealousy enraged He knocked out two of your front teeth
So you came over to hide out at my place I guess I should have killed him there and then But you begged me not to, now you say he's changed And you're gonna go back to him
Don't give me that bull about how it's for the children A man like that could never be a dad What happens when he kills you? What will they do then? Sometimes you ought to ask yourself that
Don't go back to him he's a wife beater Be better off with this potato eater You says, "He's changed", don't be a fool A man like that's no good for you A man like that's no good for you
Don't go back to him he's a wife beater Be better off with this potato eater You says, "He's changed", don't be a fool A man like that's no good for you A man like that's no good for you A man like that's no good for you
I got green and I got blues And everyday there's a little less difference between the two I belly up and disappear Well I ain't really drownin' 'cause I see the beach from here I could take a Greyhound home but when I got there it'd be gone Along with everything a home is made up of
So I'll take two what you're havin' and I'll take all of what you got To kill this goddamn lonely, goddamn lonely love
Sister, listen to what your daddy says Don't be ashamed of things that hide behind your dress Belly up and arch your back Well I ain't really fallin' asleep I'm fadin' to black And you could come to me by plane, but that wouldn't be the same As that old motel room in Texarkana was
So I'll take two of what you're havin' and I'll take all of what you got To kill this goddamn lonely, goddamn lonely love
Stop me if you've heard this one before A man walks into a bar and leaves before his ashes hit the floor Stop me if I ever get that far The sun's a desperate star that burns like every single one before And I could find another dream, one that keeps me warm an' clean But I ain't dreamin' anymore, girl I'm wakin' up
So I'll take two of what you're havin' and I'll take everything you got To kill this goddamn lonely, goddamn lonely love
All I got is his goddamn lonely, goddamn lonely love All I got is his goddamn lonely, goddamn lonely love All I got is his goddamn lonely, goddamn lonely love
Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen The coolest doggone motherscratcher on the silver screen
I'd drive real fast everywhere, no one would ever catch me And I'd kick your ass if you pissed me off so be careful what you ask me And I'd never have an empty bottle or an empty bed And as cool as Paul Newman is I bet Steve could whup his head
Steve McQueen When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen The coolest doggone motherscratcher on the silver screen
Now 'Bullet' was my favorite movie that I'd ever seen I totaled my go-cart trying to imitate that chase scene That Duster had six hubcaps, know what I mean And I love the way they all flew off when it landed in that ravine
Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen The coolest doggone motherscratcher on the silver screen
And I really loved the 'Getaway' back when I was eight That pussy Alec Baldwin sucked in the remake And speaking of pussy, I guess Steve got it all He fucked Faye Dunaway and he fucked Ali McGraw
Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen The coolest goddamn mothefucker on the silver screen
I went to see 'The Hunter' on my first date 'The Hunter' was the last movie Steve McQueen lived to make They took my drivers license when I was just sixteen The year Mesothelioma killed Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be Steve McQueen, Steve McQueen The coolest goddamn mothefucker on the silver screen
The coolest goddamn mothefucker on the silver screen The coolest goddamn mothefucker on the silver screen The coolest goddamn mothefucker on the silver screen Steve McQueen
Let this be a lesson to you, girl Don't come around where you know you don't belong They're riding on the avenue and probably coming after you And they all look mean and strong
Mean and strong like liquor, mean and strong like fear Strong like the people from South Alabama And mean like the people from here Take it from me, we ain't never gonna change
And Daddy used to empty out his shotgun shells And fill 'em full of black-eyed peas He'd aim real low and he tear out your ankles Or rip right through your knees
There ain't much traffic on the highway There ain't much traffic on the lake 'Cause the ATF and the ABI got everything they could take Didn't take it from me, they didn't take it from me Take it from me
We ain't never gonna change We ain't doin' nothin' wrong We ain't never gonna change So, shut your mouth and play along
Well, I thought about going in the army I thought about going overseas I wouldn't have trouble with a piss test Only problem is my bad left knee
My brother got picked up at Parker's Got him a ride in a new Crown Vic They said that he was movin' on with federal level But they couldn't really make it stick Take it from me
We ain't never gonna change We ain't doin' nothin' wrong We ain't never gonna change So, shut your mouth and play along
And you can throw me in the Colbert County jailhouse You can throw me off the Wilson Dam But there ain't much difference in the man I wanna be And the man that I really am
We ain't never gonna change We ain't doin' nothin' wrong We ain't never gonna change Just shut your mouth and play along
We ain't never gonna change We ain't never gonna change We ain't never gonna change We ain't never gonna change
Before I could walk, I had a wrench in my hand I was my Mama's little angel and my Daddy's second chance He went end over end the first year he went pro Lost part of his eyesight and he couldn't race no more
But he never lost his touch when he got underneath the hood He knew how to make them run and he knew one day he would See his name in victory lane and engraved on that cup Just like all them other crazy fools with racing in their blood
He would put me on his lap when he'd drive and I'd take the wheel He'd say "What do you think about that son? How does she feel? You just wait till them little legs get long enough to reach the gas Once you put her on the floor one time there ain't no turning back"
Every Saturday, he'd take me out to the garage He'd take an empty bucket and fill it full of engine parts He's sit me down and pour em out in front of me on the floor I'd have to tell him what each one was and what each one was for
We'd jump into the car and go down to the race that night He'd tell me what each driver was doing wrong and what each one did right He could always pick the winner before they ever took a curve #3 might have the car but 43 has got the nerve
Before I turned 18 Daddy said "Now pretty soon You'll be old enough to drive but I'll leave it up to you I taught you all about it, taught you everything I know You gotta have a car to do it and you gotta work and buy your own"
The first one I bought was a Mustang #2 Nobody kept'em any longer than they kept a pair of shoes They started showing up at every used car lot in town A V-8 on a go-cart, easy terms, no money down
Me and Daddy and my uncle took her home and tore her down Checked her out real good, cleaned her up and bored her out Took out all the seats, pulled the carpet off the floor Knocked out all the glass and welded up the doors
The first time that I raced my qualifying was a shame I started out way in the back and came back about the same I pulled her in the pit, couldn't look my Daddy in the eye He said "If you quit now son, it's gonna haunt you all your life"
It ain't about the money or even being #1 You gotta know when it's all over you did the best you could've done Knowing that it's in you and you never let it out Is worse than blowing any engine or any wreck you'll ever have
Since then I've wrecked a bunch of cars and I've broke a bunch of bones It's anybody's race out there and I've learned to race my own I'd shove em in the wall and I'd hit em from behind I'd let them know that I was there, I'd let them know that track was mine
It's been several years now since my Daddy passed away But his picture's on my dash every time I go to race I lost more than I won but I ain't gonna give up Till they put me in the ground or Daddy's name's on that cup
Now Sheriff Buford Pusser's gotten too big for his britches With his book reviews and movie deals Down at the car lot makin' public appearances For breakin' up our homes and stills I know he likes to brag how he wrestled a bear But I knew him from the funeral home Ask him for a warrant, he'll say "I keep it in my shoe" That son of a bitch has got to go That son of a bitch has got to go
Now they lined up around the block to see that movie And cryin' for his ambushed wife Marvelin' about shot eight times and stabbed seven Some folks can't take a hint They say he didn't take no crap from the State Line Gang Oh, what the hell they talkin' 'bout? I'm just a hard workin' man with a family to feed And he made my daughter cry Said he made my daughter cry
"Watch out for Buford", is what they keep on tellin' me But to me he's just another crooked lawman from Tennessee He gets a hot new car to keep us on our toes And that ridiculous stick where the press corp goes And some big time Hollywood actors playin' him on the big screen Watch out for Buford, he's shuttin' down our stills and whores" It ain't like he's all that different from what was there before It wouldn't take my man long to do the job Just a partially sawed through steering rod And I wouldn't have to worry about the good Sheriff anymore
Now the funeral's got'em lined up for twenty blocks No one liked that SOB when he's alive But the ruckus he began keeps on spreadin' like a wildfire Not sure if I'm gonna survive Hit an embankment doin' one twenty on a straight away The Lord works in mysterious ways They'll probably make another movie, glorifying what he done But I'll never have to hear them say Watch out for Buford Watch out for Buford
I came to tell my story to all these young and eager minds To look in their unspoiled faces and their curious bright eyes Stories of corruption, crime and killing, yes it's true Greed and fixed elections, guns and drugs and whores and booze
It's been a while since I put on a suit of my own clothes And even longer since I cast my shadow on a church house door They say every sin is deadly but I believe they may be wrong I'm guilty of all seven and I don't feel too bad at all
I used to have a wad of hundred dollar bills in the back pocket of my suit I had a .45 underneath my coat and another one in my boot I drove a big ole Cadillac, bought a new one anytime I pleased And I put more lawmen in the ground than Alabama put cottonseed
I spent a few years on vacation, sanctioned by the state I mentioned But a man like me don't do no time too hard to come back from The meanest of the mean, I see you lock away and toss the key But they're all just loud mouth punks to me, I've scraped meaner off my shoe
Somewhere, I ain't saying, there's a hole that holds a judge The last one that I dug myself And I must admit I was sad to lay him in it, but I did the best I could Once his Honor grows a conscience, well folks, that there just ain't no good
There's a pretty girl out there said "Daddy, you stay cool tonight All I need from you is to come home and be here by my side Say what you gotta say to shut their Bibles and their mouths If they was to tie a noose, they'd have to lay their Bibles down"
I ain't here to save no souls and even if I could I could never save enough to put back half the ones I took So if they rest in torment you can't say it's cause of me They'd long been bought and paid for like that fool's in Tennessee
We gonna take you up to McMary county Tennessee Back in the days when Sheriff Buford Busted around things around there Sheriff Buford Pusser Was tryin to clean up McMary county Tennessee From all them boot leggers that was bringin' crime and corruption And illegal liquor into this little dry county And for his troubles he got ambushed And his wife was murdered and his house got blown up And they made a movie about it called, "Walking tall" This is the other side of that story
Well, they caught you smokin' grass And the judge threw the book And I saw a little opportunism in your look You can take it from me, boy Take it from a crook We got friends on the inside And friends on the outside They'll sneak up beside you So keep on their good side
I can see you standin' there Starin' down at your shoes Thinkin' 'bout your mom and dad And wonderin' what to do Well you best look inside yourself, boy We're all watchin' you We got friends in jail Who can see you through Boy, don't forget no matter what you do
Don't piss off the boys from Alabama You know we won't let it slide Well, they might find your body in the Tennessee river Or they might not find it at all And there'll be no place to run and hide And your family ain't safe at all So don't piss off the boys from Alabama We're keepin' an eye on you Were're keepin' an eye on you
Don't piss off the boys from Alabama You better take it like a man Ain't nobody gonna stick anythin' up your ass If you remember who your friends are We got good help down in Franklin county They'll hunt you like a dog You can take your fall or lose it all The choice is up to you I wouldn't piss off the boys from Alabama If I was you If I was you
Let the night air cool you off. Tilt your head back and try to cough. Don't say nothing 'bout the things you never saw. Let the night air cool you off.
I ain't living like I should. A little rest might do me good. Got to sinking in the place where I once stood. Now I ain't living like I should.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold. Maybe I can only hear it in my head. Fifteen years ago we owned that road now it's rolling over us instead.
Richard Manuel is dead.
God forbid you call their bluff. Like the nightmares ain't enough. Remember when we used to think that we were tough? God forbid you call their bluff.
First they make you out to be the only pirate on the sea. Then they say Danko would have sounded just like me. "Is that the man you want to be?"
Can you hear that song? It sounds like gold. Maybe I could make it bigger overseas. Fifteen years ago we owned this road now it only gives us somewhere else to leave.
Something else you can't believe.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold. Maybe I can hear poor Richard from the grave singin' where to reap and when to sow when you've found another home you have to leave.
George A. was at the movies in December '41 They announced it in the lobby what had just gone on He drove up from Birmingham, back to the family's farm Thought he'd get him a deferment, there's was much work to be done
He was a family man, even in those days But Uncle Sam decided he was needed anyway In the South Pacific, over half a world away He believed in God and country, things was just that way Just that way
When I was just a kid, I spent every weekend On the farm he grew up on so I guess so did I And we'd stay up watching movies on that black and white TV We watched 'The Sands of Iwo Jima' starring John Wayne
Every year in June George A. goes to a reunion Of the men that he served with and their wives and kids and grandkids My great uncle used to take me and I'd watch them recollect About some things that I could not comprehend
And I thought about that movie, asked if it was that way He just shook his head and smiled at me in such a loving way As he thought about some friends he will never see again He said, "I never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima"
Most of those men are gone now but he still goes every year And George A.'s still doing fine, especially for his years He's still living on that homestead in the house that he was born in And I sure wish I could go see him today
He never drove a new car though he could easily afford it He'd just buy one for the family, take whatever no one wanted He said a shiny car didn't mean much after all the things he'd seen George A. never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima
George A. never saw John Wayne on the sands of Iwo Jima
Life ain't nothing but a blending up of all the ups and downs Dammit Elvis, don't you know You made your Mama so proud Before you ever made that record, before there ever was a Sun Before you ever lost that Cadillac that Carl Perkins won
Mr. Phillips found old Johnny Cash and he was high High before he ever took those pills and he's still too proud to die Mr. Phillips never said anything behind nobody's back Like "Dammit Elvis, don't he know, he ain't no Johnny Cash"
If Mr. Phillips was the only man that Jerry Lee still would call sir Then I guess Mr. Phillips did all of Y'all about as good as you deserve He did just what he said he was gonna do and the money came in sacks New contracts and Carl Perkins' Cadillac
I got friends in Nashville, or at least they're folks I know Nashville is where you go to see if what they said is so Carl drove his brand new Cadillac to Nashville and he went downtown This time they promised him a Grammy He turned his Cadillac around
Mr. Phillips never blew enough hot air to need a little gold plated paperweight He promised him a Cadillac and put the wind in Carl's face He did just what he said he was gonna do and the money came in sacks New contracts and Carl Perkins' Cadillac
Dammit Elvis, I swear son I think it's time you came around Making money you can't spend ain't what being dead's about You gave me all but one good reason not to do all the things you did Now Cadillacs are fiberglass, if you were me you'd call it quits
I don't want to go to dinner with Margo and Harold. I don't like the way he looks at you, and the way she looks at me, Way they look at each other, like we're just part of some private joke. I don't want to go dinner with Margo and Harold,
No matter how good the food. I don't want to make small talk, innuendo, Or go for a ride in Harold's Corvette. I'm scared of the basement of Harold's Pawn Shop,
I've heard tales of what goes down there. Mid-life crises, high on Dilauded, Valium, and crystal meth. Harold and Margo, feeling no pain Fifty and crazy, big hair and cocaine.
If they call on the phone, tell them I'm not home. That night with Margo was a long time ago. It makes me nervous how much Harold knows, And the way that he looks at you.
I don't want to see why Harold's now skinny. I don't want to see Margo's bikini. So if they call, tell them you ain't seen me or that I'm in too much pain. Harold and Margo, taking aim.
