GARTH BROOKS
ROPIN' THE WIND
(Liberty 96330)
September 2/1991
Produced by Allen Reynolds
Chris Leuzinger, Steve McClure, James Garver - el.guitar
Mark Casstevens, Ty England - ac.guitar
Bruce Bouton - steel
Jerry Douglas - dobro
Mike Chapman, Edgar Meyer - bass
Betty Smittle - bass guitar
Kenny Malone, Milton Sledge, Mike Palmer - drums/percussion
Rob Hajacos, Dave Gant - fiddle
Bobby Wood - keyboards
Sam Bush - mandolin
Strings:
George Binkley, Robert Mason, David Angell, John Catchings, Roy Christensen, David Davidson, Connie Ellisor,
Carl Gorodetzky, Anthony LaMarchina, Lee Larrison, Ted Madsen, Thomas McAninch, Dennis Molchan, Craig Nelson,
Kathryn Plummer, Pamela Sixfin, Bruce Sweetman, Julia Tanner, Alan Umstead, Catherine Umstead, Gary Vanosdale,
Kristin Wilkinson, Joann Cruthirds, Richard Grosjean, Paul Tobias, Antoine Silverman, Monisa Angell, Elizabeth
Stewart, Karen Winkelmann, Bruce Christensen, Randall Olson, Cate Myer, Jocelyn Jones, Janet Askey
Vocals:
Trisha Yearwood, Susan Ashton, Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson
Araangements by Charles Cochran
1.
AGAINST THE GRAIN
(Larry Cordle - Bruce Bouton - Carl Jackson)
« © '91 Slide Bar Music, ASCAP »
Folks call me a maverick guess I ain't too diplomatic
I just never been the kind to go along
Just avoidin' confrontation for the sake of conformation
And I'll admit I tend to sing a different song
But sometimes you just can't be afraid to wear a different hat
If Columbus had complied this old world might still be flat
Nothin' ventured nothin' gained sometimes you've got to go against the grain
Well I have been accused of makin' my own rules
There must be rebel blood just a runnin' through my veins
But I ain't no hypocrite what you see is what you get
And that's the only way I know to play the game
Old Noah took much ridicule for building his great ark
But after forty days and forty nights he was lookin' pretty smart
Sometimes it's best to brave the wind and rain
By havin' strength to go against the grain
[ guitar - fiddle - dobro ]
Well there's more folks than a few who share my point of view
But they're worried if they're gonna sink or swim
They'd like to buck the system but the deck is stacked against 'em
And they're a little scared to go out on a limb
But if you're gonna make a difference if you're gonna leave your mark
You can't follow like a bunch of sheep you got to listen to your heart
Go bustin' in like old John Wayne sometimes you got to go against the grain
Nothin' ventured nothin' gained sometimes you've got to go against the grain
**********
2.
RODEO
(Larry Bastian)
« © '83 Rio Bravo Music, BMI »
His eyes are cold and restless his wounds have almost healed
And she'd give a half of Texas just to change the way he feels
She knows his love's in Tulsa and she knows he's gonna go
Well it ain't no woman flesh and blood it's that damned old rodeo
Oh well it's bulls and blood it dust and mud it's the roar of a Sunday crowd
It's the white in his knuckles the gold in the buckle he'll win the next go round
It's boots and chaps it's cowboy hats it's spurs and latigo
It's the ropes and the reins and the joy and the pain and they call the thing rodeo
She does her best to hold him when his love comes to call
But his need for it controls him and her back's against the wall
And it's so long girl I'll see you when it's time for him to go
You know the woman wants her cowboy like he wants his rodeo
Oh well it's bulls and blood...
It'll drive a cowboy crazy it'll drive the man insane
And he'll sell of everything he owns just to pay to play her game
And a broken home and some broken bones is all he'll have to show
For all the years the he spent chasing this dream they call rodeo
Oh well it's bulls and blood...
It's the broncs and the blood it's the steers and the mud
And they call the thing rodeo
**********
3.
WHAT SHE'S DOING NOW
(Pat Alger - Garth Brooks)
« © '90 Bait And Beer Music, ASCAP »
Last time I saw her it was turnin' colder but that was years ago
Last I heard she had moved to Boulder but where she's now I don't know
But there's something bout this time of year that spins my head around
Takes me back makes me wonder what she's doing now
Cause what she's doing now is tearin' me apart
Filling up my mind and emptying my heart
I can hear her call each time the cold wind blows
And I wonder if she knows what she's doing now
Just for laughs I dialed her old number but no one knew her name
Hung up the phone sat there and wondered if she'd ever done the same
I took a walk in the evening wind to clear my head somehow
But tonight I lie here thinkin' what she's doing now
Cause what she's doing now...
What she's doing now...
**********
4.
BURNING BRIDGES
(Stephanie C. Brown - Garth Brooks)
« © '91 Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP »
Yesterday she thanked me for oiling that front door
This morning when she wakes she won't be thankful anymore
She'll never know how much I cared just that I couldn't stay
And I'll never know the reason why I always run away
Burning bridges one by one what I'm doing can't be undone
And I'm always hoping someday I'm gonna stop this running round
But every time the chance comes up another bridge goes down
Last night we talked of old times and families and hometowns
She wondered if we'd both agree on where we'd settle down
And I told her that we'd cross that bridge whenever it arrives
Now through the flames I see her standing on the other side
Burning bridges one by one...
Like ashes on the water I drift away in sorrow
Knowing that the day my lesson's finally learned
I'll be standing at a river staring out across tomorrow
And the bridge I'll need to get there will be a bridge that I have burned
Burning bridges one by one...
Another bridge goes down
**********
5.
PAPA LOVED MAMA
(Kim Williams - Garth Brooks)
« © '91 Cross Keys Publishing, ASCAP »
Papa drove a truck nearly all of his life
You know it drove mama crazy bein' a trucker's wife
The part she couldn't handle was bein' alone
I guess she needed more to hold than just a telephone
Papa called mama each and every night
Just to ask her how she was and if the kids were alright
Mama would wait for the call to come in
But when daddy hung up the phone she was gone again
Mama was a looker Lord how she shined papa was a good'n but the jealous kind
Papa loved mama mama loved men mama's in the graveyard papa's in the pen
Well it was bound to happen and one night it did
Papa came home and it was just us kids
He had a dozen roses and a bottle of wine
If he was looking to surprise us he was doing fine
I heard him cry for mama up and down the hall
Then I heard a bottle break against the bedroom wall
Oh that old diesel engine made an eerie sound
When papa fired it up and headed into town
The picture in the paper showed the scene real well
Papa's rig buried in the local motel
The desk clerk said he saw it all real clear
He never hit the brakes and he was shifting gears
Mama was a looker...
[ guitar - fiddle ]
**********
6.
SHAMELESS
(Billy Joel)
« © '88 Joel Songs, ASCAP »
Well I'm shameless when it comes to loving you
I'd do anything you want me to I'd do anything at all
And I'm standing here for all the world to see
Ah there ain't that much left of me that has very far to fall
You know I'm not a man who's ever been
Insecure about the world I've been living in
I don't break easy I have my pride but if you need to be satisfied
I'm shameless oh honey I don't have a prayer
Anytime I see you standing there I go down upon my knees
And I'm changing I swore I'd never compromise
Oh but you convinced me otherwise I'll do anything you please
You see in all my life I've never found
What I couldn't resist what I couldn't turn down
I could walk away from anyone I ever knew
But I can't walk away from you
I have never let anything have this much control over me
I worked too hard to call my life my own
Well I made myself a world and it worked so perfectly
But it's your world now I can't refuse
I've never had so much to lose I'm shameless
[ guitar ]
You know it should be easy for a man who's strong
To say he's sorry or admit where he's wrong
I've never lost anything I ever missed but I've never been in love like this
It's out of my hands I'm shameless I don't have the power now
But I don't want it anyhow so I've got to let it go
I'm shameless shameless as a man can be
You can make a total fool of me I just wanted to know I'm shameless
I just wanted to know I'm shameless shameless
**********
7.
COLD SHOULDER
(Kim Williams - Kent Blazy - Garth Brooks)
« © '90 Major Bob Music, ASCAP »
There's a fire burning bright at our house tonight
Slow music playing and soft candle light
On her lips I keep tasting the warm red wine
I'm there in her arms but it's all in my mind
The snow is piled high on the highway tonight
I'm a ship lost at sea on this ocean of white
Eighteen wheels anchored somewhere out of Dover
I wish I could hold her instead of hugging this old cold shoulder
[ fiddle ]
This old highway is like a woman sometimes
She can be your best friend but she's the real jealous kind
She's the lady that leads me to the life I dream of
She's the mistress that keeps me from the ones that I love
The snow is piled high...
God I wish I could hold her instead of hugging this old cold shoulder
**********
8.
WE BURY THE HATCHET
(Wade Kimes - Garth Brooks)
« © '90 Major Bob Music, ASCAP »
Hey all the neighbours lights came on last night
Just like they do every time we have a little fight
It's gettin' to the point we can't get along
We're always fightin' bout things that should be dead and gone
We bury the hatchet leave the handle stickin' out
We're always digging up things we should forget about
When it comes to forgiving baby there ain't no doubt
We bury the hatchet but leave the handle stickin' out
Well I was kissin' on Cindy hey that I won't deny
But that's a long time ago I let a dead dog lie
But if you want to cut deep how bout you and ol' Joe
I caught you down at the creek just ten years ago
We bury the hatchet...
Hey we got enough on each other to wage a full scale war
If we could ever remember what we were fightin' for
We bury the hatchet...
Oh we bury the hatchet but leave the handle stickin' out
**********
9.
IN LONESOME DOVE
(Cynthia Limbaugh - Garth Brooks)
« © '91 Major Bob Music, ASCAP »
She was a girl on a wagon train headed West across the plains
The train got lost in a summer storm
They couldn't move West and they couldn't go home
Then she saw him ridin' through the rain
He took charge of the wagons and he saved the train
And she looked down and her heart was gone
The train went West but she stayed on in Lonesome Dove
A farmer's daughter with a gentle hand a blooming rose in a bed of sand
She loved the man who wore a star a Texas Ranger known near and far
So they got married and they had a child
But times were tough and the West was wild
So it was no surprise the day she learned
That her Texas man would not return to Lonesome dove
Back to back with the Rio Grande a Christian woman in the devil's land
She learned the language and she learned to fight
But she never learned how to beat the lonely nights
In Lonesome Dove Lonesome Dove
She watched her boy grow to a man he had an angel's heart and the devil's hand
He wore his star for all to see he was a Texas lawman legacy
Then one day word blew into town it seemed the men that shot his father down
Had robbed a bank in Cherico
The only thing tween them and Mexico was Lonesome dove
The shadows stretched across the land
As the shots rang out down the Rio Grande
And when the smoke had finally cleared the street the men lay at the ranger's feet
But legend tells to this very day that shots were comin' from an alleyway
Though no one knows who held the gun
There ain't no doubt if you ask someone in Lonesome Dove
Back to back with the Rio Grande...
**********
10.
RIVER
(Victoria Shaw - Garth Brooks)
« © '91 BMG Songs, ASCAP »
You know a dream is like a river ever changing as it flows
And the dreamer's just a vessel that must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you and never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores
And I will sail my vessel till the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind these waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination if I never try
So I will sail my vessel till the river runs dry
Too many times we stand aside and let the waters slip away
Till what we put off till tomorrow has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you're satisfied
Choose to change the rapids and dare to dance the tide
Yes I will sail my vessel...
And there's bound to be rough waters and I know I'll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain I can make it through them all
Yes I will sail my vessel...
Yes I will sail my vessel till the river runs dry till the river runs dry
**********