lp discography - covers & lyrics

2.

DEVIL TO PAY

(Merle Travis - Leon Rusk)
« © '46 Unichappell Music, BMI »
Go on girl take your chances
See how long you can go on from man to man
I can read the lines between your stolen glances
And I know it's time to fold this loosin' hand
Cause you're drawn to the flame by the thrill and the shame
Of the cheatin' game they taught you how to play
You've got nothing to lose but your soul girl
And you've only the devil to pay
[ guitar ] You've been flying so high you don't know
That you're blind to the writin' on the wall
But some day you'll look down
And you'll find you've got no place to fall
When the bright lights're gone you'll be standin' alone
Forsaken in the naked light of day
Then you'll know that it's all over but the dying
And you've still got the devil to pay
[ guitar ] Join your friends while you've got 'em
Cause you know they're gettin' fewer ev'ry day
You can't wait to let them take you to the bottom
And I'm gettin' tired of standin' in your way
But when you hit the ground don't come lookin' around
For the pieces of the love you threw away
That's the price of the high life you're livin'
And you still got the devil to pay
[ guitar ] You've been flying so high...
**********

3.

CAUSE I LOVE YOU

(Johnny Cash)
« © '68 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP / Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
[ with June Carter ]
I'll sweep out your chimney yes and I will bring you flowers
Yes and I will do for you most anything you want me to
If we live in a cottage you will feel like it's a castle
By the royal way you're treated and attention shown to you

I'll be there beside you if you need a crying shoulder
Yes and I'll be there to listen when you need to talk to me
When you wake up in the darkness I will put my arms around you
And hold you till the morning sun comes shinin' through the trees

I'll be right beside you no matter where you travel
And I'll be there to cheer you till the sun comes shinin' through
If we're ever parted I will keep the tie that binds us
And I'll never let it break cause I love you
[ guitar ] Honey I will bring you honey from the beetree in the meadow
And the first time there's a rainbow I'll bring you a pot of gold
I'll take all your troubles and I'll throw 'em in the river
And I'll bundle down beside you and I'll keep you from the cold

I'll be right beside you...
Yes I'll sweep out your chimney...
**********

4.

SEE RUBY FALL

(Johnny Cash - Roy Orbison)
« © '69 Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP / House Of Cash, BMI »
Well I knew someday Ruby would be leavin'
That she wasn't happy livin' quietly quietly
Cause she would get that bedroom look each mornin'
And I felt Ruby pull away from me
Yeah so go downtown at nine o'clock this evenin'
Walk under that red lights then down the hall down the hall
Look for the highest flyin' girl that's Ruby
And if you'll wait your turn you'll see Ruby fall
Don't let her know that you even know me she'll be tryin' to forget it all
And don't tell me how it was tonight tomorrow
Cause I don't want to see Ruby fall
[ piano - guitar ] I didn't hold her back when she got restless
One man is not enough when she wants it all
Yeah I let her go when I saw what she wanted
Cause I don't care to see Ruby fall
**********

5.

ROUTE NO. 1 BOX 144

(Johnny Cash)
« © '69 Slapich Music, BMI »
His dying barely made the morning paper
And they summed it up in twenty words or more
Killed in action leaves wife and baby at Route 1 Box 144
He grew up on a little farm just a couple of miles out of town
As a boy he worked in his daddy's field
And when his daddy could spare him
He hired out to the neighbors for whatever they could pay him
He was thought of as just average a good boy
Nothin' more the average amount of friends
He married his high school sweetheart they bought a little plot of ground
And a couple of miles out of town on a mailbox it said Route 1 Box 144
Well back in town there were very few people that really knew him
Because he hardly ever came to town
Except for maybe on Saturdays of course the usual crew was always there
But he didn't spend a lot of times with the usual crew
He took care of his business
Bought what he had to have or could afford for his family
And went back to his little farm
With a baby on the way he went to the army and it was a short while
That the news came that he was killed in action
His body was sent back on a plane and then by train
And then they brought the body from the train station to Route 1 Box 144
He never did great things to be remembered he'd never been away from home before
But you'd've thought that he was president or somethin' at Route 1 Box 144
**********

6.

SING A TRAVELING SONG

(Ken Jones)
« © '69 Copper Creek Music, BMI / House Of cash, BMI »
Hey little girl with tears in your eyes
Don't waste your time now askin' me why
I don't know I know I'll just be movin' along
You say that home is where my love is at
I say that home is where I hang my hat
The time has come to sing a travelin' song
[ guitar ] You want a house and a lot of close friends
I love the feel of my back to the wind
The two won't match you know the cage the wild would be wrong
You think that love is friends a child and a home
You can't buy love on a twenty year loan
The time has come to sing a travelin' song
[ guitar ] Someday where we sat in your ol' porch swing
A tamer man may offer you a ring
A man that wants his friends and neighbors a child and a home
Don't waste your tears on love that never could be
What's right for others just ain't right for me
The time has come to sing a travelin' song mhmm mhm
**********

7.

IF I WERE A CARPENTER

(Tim Hardin)
« © '67 Alley Music, BMI / Trio Music, BMI / Allen Stanton Productions, BMI »
[ with June Carter ]
If I were a carpenter and you were a lady
Would you marry me anyway would you have my baby
If you were a carpenter and I were a lady
I'd marry you anyway I'd have your baby
If a tinker was my trade would I still find you
I'd be carryin' the pots you made followin' behind you

Save your love through loneliness save your love through sorrow
I gave you my ownliness gimme your tomorrow
[ guitar ] If I were a miller at a mill wheel grindin'
Would you miss your colored blouse and your soft shoes shinin'
If you were a miller at a mill wheel grindin'
I'd not miss my colored blouse and my soft shoes shinin'

Save your love through loneliness...
[ guitar ] If I worked my hands in wood would you still love me
I'd answer you yes I would and would you not be above me
If I were a carpenter and you were a lady
I'd marry you anyway I'd have your baby

Save your love through loneliness...
**********

8.

TO BEAT THE DEVIL

(Kris Kristofferson)
« © '69 Careers Music, BMI »
It was winter time in Nashville down on Music Row
And I was lookin' for a place to get myself out of the cold
To warm the frozen feelin' that was eatin' at my soul
And keep the chilly wind off me and my guitar
Well my thirsty wanted whiskey and my hungry needed beans
But it had been a month of paydays since I'd heard that eagle scream
So with a stomach full of empty and a pocket full of dreams
I left my pride and stepped inside a bar
Actually I guess you'd call it a tavern
Cigarette smoke to the ceilin' sawdust on the floor friendly shadows
Well I saw that there was just one ole man that was sittin' at the bar
And in the mirror I could see him checkin' me and my guitar
And he turned and he said come up here boy and show us what you are
I said I'm dry he bought me a beer
Then he nodded at my guitar and he said it's a tough life ain't it
I just looked at him and he said you ain't makin' any money are you
I said you been readin' my mail
He just smiled and said lemme see that guitar
I got somethin' you oughta hear then he laid it on my ear
(If you waste your time a talkin' to the people who don't listen
To the things that you are sayin' who do you thinks gonna hear)
And if you should die explaining how the things that they complain about
Are things they could be changing who do you thinks gonna care
There were other lonely singers and a world turned deaf and blind
Who were crucified for what they tried to show
And their voices have been scattered by the swirling winds of time
For the truth remains that no one wants to know

Well the old man was a stranger but I'd heard his song before
Back when failure had me locked out on the wrong side of the door
When no one stood behind me but my shadow on the floor
And lonesome was more than a state of mind
You see the devil haunts a hungry man
And if you don't wanna join him well you gotta beat him
I ain't sayin' I beat the devil but I drank his beer for nothin'
And then I stole his song
And you still can hear me singin' to the people who don't listen
To the things that I am sayin' prayin' someone's gonna hear
And I guess I'll die explaining how the things that they complain about
Are things they could be changing hoping someone's gonna care
I was born a lonely singer and I'm bound to die the same
But I've gotta feed the hunger in my soul
And if I never have a nickel I won't ever die ashamed
Cause I don't believe that no one wants to know
**********

9.

BLISTERED

(Billy Ed Wheeler)
« © '63 Bexhill Music, ASCAP »
I got great big blisters on my bloodshot eyes from lookin'
At that long legged woman up ahead
What she does simply walkin' down the sidewalks of that city
Makes me think about a stray cat gettin' fed
She's got a whole lotta motion in her soul I know
But her soul ain't the place she lets it show

She got a body oh yeah she got a motion oh yeah Lord I'm blistered oh yeah
She done tore my soul apart put big blisters on my heart
What a mighty crazy cookin' way to go
[ guitar ] I got great big blisters on my fingertips from reachin'
In my pocketbook and pickin' out the bills
And I got tiny white blisters in my throat from tryin'
To ease my nervous tension takin' all them patent pills
And ever sense she started runnin' round from bar to bar
I just can't eat a bite or keep my stomach settled down

She got a body oh yeah she got a motion oh yeah she done got me oh yeah
She done tore my soul apart put big blisters on my heart
What a mighty crazy cookin' way to go
She got a body oh yeah she got a motion oh yeah oh I'm blistered oh yeah
Oh oh oh oh yeah
**********

10.

WRINKLED CRINKLED WADDED DOLLAR BILL

(Vincent Matthews)
« © '67 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »
I've got a lot of blues on my mind
And at least a million miles behind me
And all that I've got between me and Pauper's Hill
Is a wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill
Lake Michigan wind sure is cold and I need me a jacket for my shoulders
I could buy one down at the surplus store cheap cotton twill
With my wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill
Oh I'm not bound and I never will
Be to a wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill
[ guitar ] It sure smells good at the bakery
And I stand and let the smells flood over me
They sell them day old cakes mighty cheaply I could eat my fill
With my wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill
Lake Michigan waves hit the beach
And I stand and let them wash at my feet
And then I throw it just as far as I can into the chill
My wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill
Cause I'm not bound and I never will
Be to a wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill
No I'm not bound and I never will
Be to a wrinkled crinkled wadded dollar bill
**********

11.

I'VE GOT A THING ABOUT TRAINS

(Jack Clement)
« © '67 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »
Train train train I've got a thing about trains
I get a sad kind of feelin' when I see a passenger train
In this fast movin' world that we live in nobody rides 'em much these days
Maybe I'm a little sentimental cause I know that things have to change
But I'd still like to go for a train ride cause I've got a thing about trains

Train train train you're fading from the scene
But you've had your days of glory train train train
[ guitar ] Train they say you're too slow for travelin' but I'm gonna miss you some day
When my little boy says daddy what was it like to ride a train
I'll just say it was a good way to travel when things didn't move quite so fast
And I'm sorry son that you can't ride one the trains are the thing of the past

Train train train you're fading from the scene
And I'm gonna mourn your passing train train train
I've got a thing about trains
**********

12.

JESUS WAS A CARPENTER

(Chris Warren)
« © '69 House Of Cash, BMI »
Jesus was a carpenter and he worked with a saw and a hammer
And his hands could form a table true enough to stand forever
And he might have spun his life out in the coolness of the mornings
But he put aside his tools and he walked the burning highways
To build a house from folks like you and me

And he found them as they wandered through the wild Judean mountains
And he found them as they pulled their nets upon the Sea of Galilee
And for a thousand evenings while the day behind him emptied
He walked among the poor and he stopped to touch the dying
And he built his house from people just like these
It was on a shining Sunday when he rode to old Jerusalem
And the palms they cast before him were the crimes they laid against him
It was on a storming Friday when he climbed the streets to Calvary
And where he died today why they're sellin' beads and postcards
And they tell us too that that was long ago
[ guitar ] But would he stand today upon the sands of California
Or walk the sweating blacktop in New York and Mississippi
Where the mighty churches rise above the screaming cities
Would he be a guest on Sunday a vagrant on a Monday
With the doors locked tight against his kind you know
[ guitar ] Come again now Jesus be a carpenter among us
There are chapels in our discontent cathedrals in our sorrows
And we dwell in golden mansions with the sand for our foundations
And the raging water's rising and the thunder's all around us
Won't you come and build a house on rock again

Jesus was a carpenter...
**********