lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

ONE HUNDRED CHILDREN

(Tom T. Hall) « © '68 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
It's all the races and creeds and colors of the world
one of each - marching along, singing, 'Don't blow up the world ...
One hundred children brave boys and girls
They come from nations all over the world
One hundred children marching along
One hundred children singing their song

Don't blow up the world don't kill all the flowers
Today this is your world tomorrow it's ours
Leave us pure water and forest uncut
Think of tomorrow leave something for us

Your God may be dead but ours is alive
We think without him we cannot survive
Punish all the bad men praise all the good
Talk to your neighbors about brotherhood

One hundred children brave boys and girls...

This is the song I was singing one night
While I was thinking of wrong and of right
I thought of good things that still could be done
The marchers now number one hundred and one

One hundred children brave boys and girls...
One hundred children brave boys and girls...
**********

2.

I CAN'T DANCE

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
is a funny little song.
I can't dance and I never could I guess my feet don't match
I've been thinking bout dancin' with you but I'm afraid I'd hurt my back
I don't know what you're doing but I like everything you do
Just for a little bit baby I'd come out and dance with you

But I can't dance and I'm feelin' so good
Some of us can and some of us can't some of us wish that we could dance
Some can't dance and I guess I'm just one of the unfortunate few
Just for a little bit baby I'd come out and dance with you
[ guitar ] My mind is out there with you now but I can't get my body to move
Sittin' here fallin' in love love love thinkin' somethin' I can't prove
My soul is willin' and my mind is ready but it's somethin' that I never could do
Just for a little bit baby I'd come out and dance with you

But I can't dance and I'm feelin' so good...
**********

3.

I WANT TO SEE THE PARADE

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
is a song about a blind girl who can't understand what a civil rights march is all about.
I wrote that during the civil rights era.
Hold me up I want to see the parade

There was a demonstration in our town quiet but very tense
I've always been a bit nosy so I guess that's the reason I went
There were poeple carrying signs that said we want equality now
And I thought to myself boy look at that will you look what the law allows

A little girl and her mother were standing up next to the curb
The little girl said Mommy I can't see the parade and it happened that I heard
The woman who was with the little girl was small and then she turned and smiled
I thought I'd do 'em a favour so I offered to hold her child

When I held the little girl in my arms I was glad at the offer I'd made
She said thank you Mister for holdin' me up I wanted to see the parade
Then she asked me a question and it took me by surprise
She said Mister why does my Daddy hate all those people goin' by

I said well you know they're not the same ah but listen to me
And I had noticed that the child was blind
So I looked around for an answer but it was pretty hard to find
So I sat her down by her mama's side and I patted her on the head
And that night as I sat in my own little room I thought of the words she said

And that night I took a good look at myself and this is the prayer I prayed
I said Lord I want you to hold me up cause I want to see the parade
**********

4.

SING A LITTLE BABY TO SLEEP

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
I wrote it for my little nephew, Eddie, my sister's child.
He was hanging around my house in his little cradle.
Too doo dup too doo doo doo doo doo

You're just a little baby boy six months old lying in your mama's lap
I'm sittin' here thinkin' of a song I could sing to get you to take a nap
You were born on the part of the river of life where the water is troubled and deep
This day and time there are not many songs to sing a little baby to sleep
Too doo dup too doo doo doo doo doo

I search my mind for a proper subject to set down the reason and rhyme
And I got to thinking it might have been better to be born at some other time
I know you're tired and I know you're weary and I don't like to see you weep
But there just don't seem to be any songs going to sing a little baby to sleep
Too doo dup too doo doo doo doo doo

I'll rock your cradle and your mama will croon that's all the comfort we know
You need a song you can keep on singing cause you've got a long way to go
Faith writes the words and love writes the music and hope can establish the beat
Your generation might know a song to sing a little baby to sleep
Too doo dup too doo doo doo doo doo
**********

5.

MAMA BAKE A PIE (DADDY KILL A CHICKEN)

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
A poignant story of a Vietnam War veteran coming home in a wheelchair.
People starin' at me as they wheel me down the ramp toward my plane
The war is over for me I've forgotten everything except the pain
Thank you sir and yes sir it was worth it for the old red-white-and-blue
And since I won't be walking I suppose I'll save some money buying shoes

The bottle hidden underneath the blanket over my two battered legs
I can see the stewardess make over me and ask were you afraid
I say why no I'm Superman and couldn't find a phone booth quite in time
A GI gets a lotta laughs if he remembers all the funny lines

Mama bake a pie daddy kill a chicken
Your son is comin' home 11:35 Wednesday night

Mama will be crying and daddy's gonna say son did they treat you good
My uncle he'll be drunk and he'll say boy they do some real great things with wood
The letter that she wrote me said goodbye she couldn't wait and lots of luck
The bottle underneath the blanket feels just like an old friend to my touch

I know she'll come and see me but I bet she never once looks at my legs
No she'll talk about the weather and the dress she wore the July 4th Parade
Lord I love her and I don't believe this bottle's gonna get her off my mind
I see here in the paper where they say the war is just a waste of time

Mama bake a pie daddy kill a chicken
Your son is comin' home 11:35 Wednesday night
**********

6.

ODE TO A HALF A POUND OF GROUND ROUND

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
is the true story about the time I almost starved to death in Roanoke.
I got out on Tuesday night and spent all my money and didn't get to eat again until Friday when I got paid.
This is the song about the time I nearly starved to death in Roanoke Virginia

I woke up Wednesday morning in my little motel bed
Knowing I would die the minute that I move my head
I felt around to make sure I was in my bed alone
I meet some friendly people when I'm stoned

My payday was on Friday I had two more days to go
Even in my agony I knew that I was broke
Lemme pay the check I said and keep the change my friend
She wiggled out of sight with my last ten

At noon I realized there wasn't any way to eat
For lunch I just went out and shuffled up and down the street
At four o'clock I had a funny feeling in my chest
How long's it take to starve a man to death

I found some pennies in my junk and bought a candy bar
Divided it in pieces and I ate one every hour
I just rolled into town and didn't know a single soul
There wasn't any way to make a loan
[ dobro ] Thursday morning I was nearly panicked on the job
I heard my stomach growlin' and my head began to throb
I contemplated murder of the folks that brought their lunch
The sudden smell of food would make me jump

Thursday night they run all food commercials on TV
I slept till nine or ten and then I walked the floor to three
Friday morning I looked for some ketchup on my shirts
My mind was gone my legs began to hurt

The last few minutes up to payin' time were all the worst
The minutes were the years it took to build the universe
Finally it came I got my check and made a dash
Yes I said the man will eat at last

Running down the sidewalk I could see the words so sweet
The sign was flashin' on and on Eat Eat Eat
A half o'pound of ground round ma'm and please don't cook it long
The frizzle of the grill was like a song

I've traveled this world over and I ain't been hungry much
I've been down in my thinking and I've been down on my luck
But the sweetest meal I've ever had in anybody's town
Was a half a pound of plain ground round ground round
**********

7.

PINTO THE WONDER HORSE IS DEAD

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
I loved that song. I saw a little story in the newspaper about the size of a pack of cigarettes
it said: 'Pinto the Wonder Horse is Dead.' But I was reading the newspaper and I was looking for part two of the story
I had already started - so I never read the story, I just saw the headline and kept going.
A week later I said, 'My God, where's that newspaper?' I started askin people
I figured he was the horse that belonged to some cowboy movie star, but nobody had a horse named Pinto.
So I just made him up, made him into a childhood hero.
I read it in the paper just about a week ago
It was on the back page and not many people know
Boy it made me feel bad when I picked it up and read
Pinto the wonder horse is dead

Oh we rode the dusty trails together
At the Saturday morning picture show
The dusty trails're gone now but it hurts to hear it said
Pinto the wonder horse is dead

My memory goes back to when I was a little kid
We believed in everything that Pinto ever did
Will our kids have a hero half as brave or half as strong
Pinto the wonder horse is gone

Oh we rode the dusty trails together...

We believed that Pinto was the fastest horse alive
If he outrun the wind itself we never were surprised
In my childhood memory full of boys grow into men
Pinto the wonder rides again

Oh we rode the dusty trails together...
Pinto the wonder horse is gone
**********

8.

I HOPE IT RAINS AT MY FUNERAL

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
I got this idea from a newspaper ad that said: 'Don't let it rain at your funeral'
I think it was an ad trying to get you to hire these people to help you make out a will.
Later in the day I was thinking, 'What if it rains at my funeral?'
I said to myself, 'Well, if it did, you'd be the only one dry, you know.'
So that's why I wrote that song.
A man with forty acres plowed and planted
Can't send no fourteen year old boy to no school
The only thing I learned in the years I worked on my daddy's farm
Was son you better get them crops in when it turns cool

In the magazines I saw the naked women
I heard about the drinking and the bars
If my daddy could've caught me he'd've killed me
He said you might run boy but you ain't gonna get far

I hit town though you might say that it hit me
Next morning there were things I knew more about
The woman who had taken me in said country boy you're alright
The same way I turned her on she turned me out

The first law I broke right away they got me
I helped 'em build the country roads for awhile
They fed me two times a day and knocked me down about four
For thirty days I didn't even crack a smile
[ guitar ] Met a nice girl and she said I was her baby
She let me go and would never tell me why
I learned what it means to be somebody's baby
They let you lie in your bed by yourself and cry

The miles were good but the mileage is turnin' my hair grey
I've met some people that knew me and called me friend
Ain't no sense in wantin' my life to live over
I'd find different ways to make those mistakes again

So lemme say this I never tried to hurt anybody
Though I guess there's a few that I still couldn't look in the eye
If I've got one wish I hope it rains at my funeral
For once I'd like to be the only one dry
**********

9.

I TOOK A MEMORY TO LUNCH

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
A nice romantic, little darlin' song."
Today the weather was so pretty
At noon I went out for a stroll
I walked and did some window shopping
And met someone I used to know

The years have been kind to her beauty
When I first saw her my heart jumped
Tonight if I seem disenchanted
I took a memory to lunch

We sat and talked about the old days
With misty teardrops in our eyes
And reconfirmed an old suspection
The past grows old but never dies

The charm that draws two hearts together
By four o'clock was just too much
The days and years we had between us
Were down to just two coffee cups

You can't relieve life in an hour
The afternoon kept wearin' on
I'm sorry that I'm late for dinner
I took a memory to lunch
**********

10.

HITCHHIKER

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
is autobiographical, but I become the driver instead of the hitch-hiker.
I took poetic license here.
I don't know why it is every time I take a trip
It's always raining somewhere down the line
This particular night it was in Prestonsburg Kentucky
I stopped to give a country boy a ride

I saw him running toward the car he carried an old suitcase
A cigarette was dangling from his lips
He threw the suitcase in the back and as he got inside
He said I'm sorry but I'm awful wet

I said where are you headed kid and he said to Louisville
Said he had an uncle there who ran the store
Said his daddy died three weeks ago and they didn't own the place
And they said he couldn't live there anymore

He said his education was that he could read and write
He quit school the time his dad got hurt
Ain't much goes on in Prestonsburg and he was seventeen
And he had to go some place to find some work

He talked about a girl whose father had a lotta money
He said he'd send and get her if he could
His daddy taught him all there was about tobacco farming
And he said he played the banjo pretty good

We stopped to get a sandwich and the waitress brought the menu
And I noticed that he read the prices first
He ordered him a hot dog with a lots of table ketchup
And water seemed to satisfy his thirst

Well it took awhile but I insisted that I'll pay the ticket
Excused myself and went out to the car
He came out got in the car and he handed me a quarter
And he said you left this layin' on the bar

I dropped him off in Lexington and drove down to Bowling Green
And I thought boy you'll never make without help
And then I got to thinking about the days when I was younger
And I started out the same darn way myself
[ dobro ] Well I don't know why it is every time I take a trip
It's always raining somewhere down the line
**********

11.

OLD ENOUGH TO WANT TO (FOOL ENOUGH TO TRY)

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
is another little darlin' song.
I hope that gleam that you have in your eyes
Is reflection from the buttons on your blouse
If it's not and we're in trouble I can tell you why
I'm old enough to want to and fool enought to try

They don't make women like you anymore
And since there's not enough to go around
If you think what I think you're a thinking this is what I think
I'd be a crazy fool to turn you down

I hope that smile that you have on your lips
Is just the smile that you wear all the time
If it's something special then start making up your line
I'm old enough to want to and fool enough to try
I'm old enough to want to and fool enough to try
**********