TERRY ALLEN
SMOKIN' THE DUMMY
(Fate 38126)
1980
Produced by Lloyd Maines
Recorded:
July-August 1980
1.
HEART OF CALIFORNIA
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Runnin' hard and runnin' mean down the San Joaquin
Diamond Rio with your crazy rollin' wheels
There's a moon shinin' bright like a big eye in the night
Yeah throw'd her light down on that road to Bakersfield
Yeah the heart of California's haulin' hard times again
And the highway she does not make amends
That diesel's got to howl but the devil's on the prowl
And that white line gone it won't come along again
[ guitar ]
Runnin' wired and runnin' fast runnin' out of gas
Diamond Rio knows what empty means
An Jesus Christ on the dash won't keep it from the crash
If ever curve is just your nerves closin' in
Yeah the heart of California's haulin' hard times again
And the highway she does not make amends
Your names out on the door and your foots down on the floor
But that white line down it won't come around again
[ guitar ]
Yeah the Rio's commin' down outside of town
Strung out tween the asphalt and the wheel
And LA she waits like a poisonous snake
Coiled up with her diamonds in the hills
Yeah the heart of California's haulin' hard times again
And the highway she does not make amends
That road you're runnin' on's hell bent for Babylon
An that white line down it won't come around again
And that white line down will not be found again
**********
2.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JESUS (AND MAYBELLENE)
(Terry Allen - Chuck Berry)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Tell me whatever happened to Jesus ah where did that good old boy go
Did you leave him behind back in Texas
Or did he just hide in the devil's disguise somewhere in your soul
Tell me whatever happened to Mary
Ah whatever happened to her sweet dreams
Did she leave them behind with her childhood
Or just trade 'em in on a tube of Maybellene
Oh Maybellene why can't you be true
Yeah Maybellene why can't you be true
You done started back doin' them thangs you used to do
You done started back doin' them thangs you used to do
Well I was motivatin' over the hill
I've seen Maybellene in a Coupe De Ville
A Cadillac a rollin' up the open road
Yeah nothin' will outrun my V-8 Ford
A Cadillac rollin' bout 95
Gone bumper to bumber roll side by side
Maybellene why can't you be true
Yeah Maybellene why can't you be true
You done started back doin' them thangs you used to do
The Cadillac pulled up ahead of the Ford
That Ford got hot and wouldn't do no more
It then got cloudy and it started to rain
I tooted my horn for a passin' lane
The rain water blowin' all under my hood
I knew that was doin' my motor good
Maybellene why can't you be true...
[ piano ]
Well the heat went down and the motor cooled down
And that's when I heard that highway sound
Cadillac lookin' like a ton of lead
A hundred and ten a half a mile ahead
Cadillac lookin' like it's sittin' still
I caught Maybellene at the top of the hill
Maybellene why can't you be true...
[ guitar ]
**********
3.
HELENA MONTANA
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Hey he stumbled from some derelicts bar throwd out his hands and leaned on a car
And pretty soon this girl come up to him said hey how bout some fun now Slim
Yeah he stuck his hand in his pocket and he pulled out a bill
He said I don't need no fun little girl but I sure could use some pills
Cause I been broke an I been throw'd I been bought an I been sold
And Helena Montana beats hell-in-a-city gone cold
And Calgary's like Calvary to me and Fort Worth it ain't worth a damn
And Cheyenne hell she ain't shy at all
But I'm damned sure gonna take my ride before I fall
Yi yi yi whoppi ti e yi yi yi yi whoppi ti e yi e oh
There's a Montana midnight under a moonlight tonight
And a Montana girl in the bed a waitin'
For this tore down old body that ain't at all alright
But she knows he'll be back sooner or later
Cause I been broke and I been throw'd I been learnes damned. I should've knowed
That Helena Montana beats hell-in-a-city gone cold
Yi yi yi whoppi ti e yi yi yi yi whoppi ti e yi e oh
**********
4.
TEXAS TEARS
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
I've been wrong for so long 'ccusing you of wrongness
But tonight you broke and you made me right
Cause I just saw you inside this Texas tavern
By his side smiling smiles I never seen
So I just straightened up and walked in on that barroom
Just as you reached out and kissed his curling mouth
When you saw me your eyes died somewhere deep inside you
It tore me down I turned around and ran back on out
Texas tears falling down washing my life right out on the ground
Texas tears they're falling down running out on you running around
I went home all alone sit down by the telephone
When it rang I knew it was you was on the line
You said baby please don't mistake what you seen for a backstreet date
Now I was just havin' a drink with a friend of mine
I said damn you you lyin' Texas woman
You got the lips of an angel but the devil he's suckin' your tongue
Yeah damn you you lyin' Texas woman
Me and you an that devil too just done had our run
Texas tears falling down...
Texas tears falling down...
[ steel - fiddle - piano ]
**********
5.
FEELIN' EASY
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Well I'm feelin' easy baby I'm breezin' through the blues
Bout half-sleazy baby but who's to pick-n-choose
I got the tattoos a pierced ear a bottle of that rot-gut booze
Yeah I ain't Pat Boone but I sure just as soon
Have me a pair a 'his white buck dancin' shoes
We go dancin' into the darkness with the headlights pn the trees
You don't have to be uptown to get lowdown with me
Cause I'm feelin' easy baby ain't got nothin' I ain't proud to show
Hair's a little greasy baby but it's slick-back under control
Out on the boulevards in the bright lights in the Coup de Ville
Yeah I ain't no Cadillac buyer but I sure do admire
Your long lean chrome line laid back luxury automobile
We go drivin' into the darkness with the headlights pn the trees
You don't have to be uptown to get lowdown with me
We go drivin' into the darkness...
**********
6.
NIGHT CAFE
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Yeah the truck drivin' man he gonna understand
When he pulls into the night cafe
He gonna walk right in when there's too many men
Wantin' hamburgers right away
When he finelly finds a booth he calls to waitress Ruth
He says gimme the special ah the day hot beef
Yeah but Ruth gets goosed at the opposite booth
An she runs off the other way
But he don't care cause that old juke box is playing his love song
And the coffee is hot in the cup
And there's a light on the night that spells cafe
Where the big trucks are all pullin' up
[ guitar ]
Yeah truck drivin' man he got a mouth full of sin
But his heart looks the other way
And though they hot-eye Ruth well they know the truth
Is sweet gal down the way
So they cuss an they grin they fill their thermos again
And they listen to the music play
They got a heavy load a waitin' out on the road
And a home still two days away
But they can wait for it cause that old juke box is playing...
[ guitar ]
Yeah the truck drivin' man he gonna understand
When he leaves that night cafe
He gonna dance a jig out beside his rig
Just to shake the cold away
He gonna slam the door and let the diesel roar
Down the dark highway
But he has no fears while he's shiftin' gears
To that next night cafe
Cause he knows glowin' there like a diamond in the tar pit
Cause that old juke box is playing..
**********
7.
ROLL TRUCK ROLL
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Yeah roll truck roll yeah roll truck roll
Better get on down the highway you better get on down the road
Yeah I work for a trucking company and my forearms big as beef
If it wasn't for the highway my family'd be on relief
Yeah roll truck roll...
Yeah lonely heart wreck hitchhike truckstop
Ah sad cafe where the people never care
Yeah you think you ordered a big hot beef sandwich
But you're the one that's gonna get eatin' in there
Yeah roll truck roll...
Yeah the waitress smile is like some witch's womb
And her black dress moves like water through the room
And flowers die twisted across your table
And the menu reads like a tattoo on your tomb
Yeah roll truck roll...
[ harmonica ]
Yeah roll truck roll...
[ piano - guitar - harmonica ]
**********
8.
RED BIRD
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Ho down down ho down dee red bird dancin' in custody
Goin' down to New Orleans red bird dancin' and a red bird sing
Red bird sing red bird do New Orleans and a red bird blue
I been born and I'm gonna die blood red wing you gonna make me fly
Goin' in the red bird den ain't gonna come out again
Ho down down ho down dee red bird dancin' in custody
[ banjo ]
Ho down down ho down dee red bird dance in a penitentiary
A jailer stoned and he barred the door red bird gone he ain't fly no more
Black crow see black crow knew New Orleans is where the red bird flew
I been born and I'm gonna die blood red wing you gonna make me cry
Rusty wing a daed dark thing crows too loud now when the red bird sing
Ho down down ho down dee red bird dance in a penitentiary
**********
9.
LUBBOCK TORNADO (I DON'T KNOW)
(Terry Allen)
« © '80 Green Shoes Publishing, BMI »
Well it come in front the southwest in the middle of the night
Hey loomed over Lubbock what a gawd awmighty sight
Yeah it dipped down into the darkness all crazy out of control
Hey throwed around that panhandle town till it couldn't throw it around no more
Yeah some blamed secret government project some blamed it on the president
Some blamed wind from the wings of Jesus just flappin' round heaven sent
Yeah but I don't know (he don't know) but I don't know (he don't know)
They don't know huh huh
But when a high pressure zone hits a low
Somethin' gotta give yeah somethin' gotta go
And like a vampire over the broadway it showed no moral code
It'd take out a mighty church of gawd and leave a honky tonk by the road
And tiny creatures went flyin' right out of prairie dog town
Smack up against the great plains life little bones in the rain fallin' down
Yeah some blamed communist sabotage some blamed rednecks on the right
Some blamed teenage restlessness rock'n roll gone berserk in the night
Yeah but I don't know (it's a UFO) but I don't know (it's a UFO)
They don't know huh
But when a high pressure zone hits a low
Somethin' gotta give yeah somethin' gotta go
Well this hub-bub on the hub laid a city to its knees
Sweet memories beneath the rubble shattered glass and broken dreams
Yeah but if that wake of destruction this dazed and battered town
Pulled its ass up out of the debris and put its feet back up on the ground
Yeah some said it was the ghost of Buddy some said the ghost of Cain
Some said the soul of the prodigal son is just stumblin' back home again
Yeah but I don't know (it's a tornado) but I don't know (it's a tornado)
Maybe so huh
But when a high pressure zone
Hits a low some gotta give ah some gotta go
**********