lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

SALUTE TO A SWITCHBLADE

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"Somebody asked me if that was a true experience and I said, 'Would anybody make that up?'
It's a true story... not necessarily an incident one would want to write Mother about.
This song is written about my Army days in Germany."

Me and Yates an army buddy o'mine
Were doin' three years in Germany at the time
We came upon these Frauleins in the bar
Yates said darf isch zee be-gleit-en they said ya

And darf isch zee be-gleit-en means can we sit with you all

Oh we must have drunk ten quarts of German beer
My conscience and my sinuses were clear
I asked that Fraulein if she was a spy
She said nein but do bis ain bissel high

A condition not uncommon to the American soldier

Well later on I went to be excused
When I returned I was a bit confused
Yates and his Fraulein had hit the air
Another guy was sittin' in my chair

A young soldier whom we shall get to know better

I said excuse me Mister that's my seat
I'd like to have it back sir if you please
That girl's a nurse and I've been awful sick
The man looked up at me and said mox-nix

Which means that he was not overly concerned with my health

Next thing I knew he had a switchblade knife
Lord I didn't know that Fraulein was his wife
I took off through that Gasthaus like a fool
Behind me I heard the crashing stools

As the police would say he was in hot pursuit

Well the waitress yelled there's MPs on the way
That's one more reason I didn't want to stay
As I went out the window somethin' went switch
And I giggled all the way home knowin' he missed

At the time it seemed like a laughing matter

But next morning my coat was lyin' there on the bunk
And when I saw that coat it made me jump
That man had cut my coat right down the back
A little bit more and they'd been playin' me taps

And knowin' the sad nature of that song I would decline it

Well later on I heard that guy got stabbed
They sent him home and didn't that make me glad
On love and marriage I want to say one thing
Oh lady if you're married wear that ring

And the army has a new policy if you can't move it paint it
If it has a switchblade knife salute it
Not necessarily an incident one would want to write Mother about
Germany being full of good soldiers good people
**********

2.

THANK YOU CONNERSVILLE INDIANA

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"Well, my thoughts on that are, 'everybody has to start someplace.' I wanted to literally do what I did in the song.
I wanted to thank the people in Connersville for helping me get started in show business."

I rolled into Connersville in 1961
With what was left of my last army pay
I had a letter with me from a buddy living there
He said you stop and see me if you're ever up this way

Need I say he was surprised to find me at his door
With what I guess you'd call a silly grin
He said where are you headed and I said I'm headed here
His mama said don't stand there you'll catch cold just come on in

They gave me room and board I paid a very modest fee
Then I went looking for a place to play
If you've ever had a hat and didn't wear one then you'll know
The way a country singer made a living in those days

The menu printed on the window of the bar and grill
The man said we're too small to have a band
I said well I'll just pick and sing and pass my hat awhile
He said go right ahead but you just do the best you can

Well after seven hours of Cheatin' Heart and Wildwood Flower
I had me seven dollars eighty cents
I gave it to a waitress who was gonna have a baby
She said she needed just that much to help her pay the rent
[ dobro ] Later on I formed a band and really hit the big time
Ten bucks a night for working at the time
We worked through winter gardens and some other choice nightspots
Looking back I'll have to say those were the good ole times

Summer came and me and old Mitch Mitchell fished White River
And caught those big ole juicy channel cats
Sometimes when I'm ridin' on the jet plane going somewhere
I get to thinking that I'd like to live a life like that

So thank you Connersville and thanks to you old Indiana
You took me in when I knew slimmer days
I won't forget you and I hope that you will not forget me
And you folks stop and see me if you're ever down this way
**********

3.

DO IT TO SOMEONE YOU LOVE

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"It's a dirty title, but it's a clean song.
It was just a thought that hadn't been written and I believed it was a good idea."

The words I love you come easy
To the lips of a liar or a fool
If love talking is what you're thinking of
Then do it to someone you love

Do it to someone you love
Some little things to let them know they're all you're thinking of
This day and time a little thing you do could mean so much
So do it to someone you love
[ dobro ] A smile comes easy to a strange hello
To someone that you never met
But an old love don't need that smile it glows with just a touch
So do it to someone you love

Do it to someone you love...
**********

4.

BALLAD OF BILL CRUMP

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
Now I'd hear a lot of tall stories since my business is writin' songs
And every now and then if you listen real close a good true one comes along
And this is the story of old Bill Crump from the North Carolina Hills
Nat Winston of Nashville knew this man real well

He built the church and he built the pews
He built the cradles and the furniture for the schools
Folks in Avery County say that he was better than good
Probably one of the reasons the Lord made wood

Now men have faults and Bill's fault was he loved to sip that corn
He lived ninety some years that way don't guess it was hurtin' him none
You could take him a picture from a catalog he could build anything he'd see
He could make anything that you could make out of the tree

One day Bill said mama I'm gettin' old I want you to measure me good
I'm goin' out to that wood pile and get myself some wood
And I'm gonna make me a coffin I want it to fit me fine
The way I figure it I've got about enough time

He built the church and he built the pews...

Now Bill worked on that coffin like he was gonna be there awhile
He'd show the folks and rub that wood and then stand back and smile
He used that body for ninety some years figured it had treated him good
And when he left it he put it away in some real fine wood

Oh right now old Bill's sleepin' in the hills of North Caroline
In his homemade coffin handrubbed walnut velvet lined
Now most folks use their heads and hands and just think of themselves
His body's there but his spirit's someplace else

Cause he built the church and he built the pews...
**********

5.

ALL YOU WANT WHEN YOU PLEASE

(Tom T. Hall) « © '69 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"...is a song about a man who goes from prosperity in all things to poverty in all things."

I'm sittin' here lookin' at some mighty hard times
Money ain't growing on trees
A little while ago I was rollin' in dough
Singin' all you want when you please

All you want when you please girls all you want when you please

The wind blows up this road all summer
In the evening it cools one and all
If you like a good breeze you can have all you please
If you don't get blown away in the fall

All you want when you please girls all you want when you please
[ dobro ] My money's all gone and my breeze died down
My bloom of youth's gone to seed
I sit here and cry for the days all gone by
When I sang all you want when you please

All you want when you please girls all you want when you please

Well the meat's all lean and the bread's all done
And the cook rides a big white horse
You just come like you look and if you get your picture took
You can tell 'em you was at the Mardi Gras

All you want when you please girls all you want when you please
**********

6.

CHATTANOOGA DOG

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"This gem of a song idea flows naturally from the story of a dog that was introduced to me by Gene Goeforth in Chattanooga."

There's a fairground down in Chattanooga
Where a kiddy train runs up and down the track
There's an old black hound that always hangs around
And he chases that train down and back

And I've been chasing you like that Chattanooga dog
Even though I know you don't care
I've been chasing you like that Chattanooga dog
And it ain't gonna get me anywhere
[ banjo ] Well I'm thinking that you're like that old train
Anybody gets a ticket to ride
I'm like that pup I won't ever give up
I'd do anything to be by your side

I've been chasing you like that Chattanooga dog...
[ banjo ] Every day when the kids come for playing
To ride that ole kiddy train once more
There's that old faithful hound with his tongue hangin' down
And runnin' till his feet get sore

And I've been chasing you like that Chattanooga dog...
**********

7.

GIRLS IN SAIGON CITY

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"I wrote this for a friend of mine who told me a story similar to it."

There's a place called Da Nang Village cross the ocean far away
In deep concern for one young woman that's where I abide today

Today I got a dear-John-letter from that young woman in the USA
When I was called I knew I'd lose her it don't matter anyway

There are girls in Saigon City waiting there with open arms
On my leave I may go see them in this other world called VietNam
[ guitar ] Stateside girls should take this warning be faithful cause you can't tell
On the streets of Saigon City they have many things to sell

There are girls in Saigon City...
**********

8.

HANG THEM ALL

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"This is a protest song, probably the first one I ever wrote...
It's an interesting song because a lot of (people) took it literally.
And they never heard the last line that says, 'but remember, they're going to hang you, too'.
They missed that."

There's a murderer in your town Mister there were seven unsolved last year
There's a murderer in your town Mister how long has he been living here

If they hang 'em all they get the guilty if they hang 'em all they cannot miss
If they hang 'em all they get the guilty been a lot of problem solved like this

There's a thief in your town Mister this morning my milk was gone
There's a thief in your town Mister how long has this been going on

If they hang 'em all they get the guilty...

There's a cheater in your town Mister last night I saw him in a bar
There's a cheater in your town Mister is that the kind of people you are

If they hang 'em all they get the guilty...

There's a hypocrite in your town Mister I think I caught him in a lie
There's a hypocrite in your town Mister are you gonna let that go by

If they hang 'em all they get the guilty that's what you say we ought to do
If they hang 'em all they get the guilty but remember they're gonna hang you too

If they hang 'em all they get the guilty...
**********

9.

COMING TO THE PARTY

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"...is a song that I wrote for Jimmy Newman...(He never did get around to recording it.)
I get a chance to play the harmonica on this one."

Well I'm coming to the party tonight
I've been wrong so long I get right
I'm gonna let my hair down and don't you think I might
Cause I'm coming to the party tonight

Coming to the party tonight
And I'll find someone new to hold me tight
She thinks I'm home crying won't she be surprised
Cause I'm coming to the party tonight
[ harmonica ] Well I'm coming to the party tonight
New arms a new love a new life
So don't you shake my tree if you don't like your peaches ripe
Cause I'm coming to the party tonight

Coming to the party tonight...
**********

10.

AMERICA THE UGLY

(Tom T. Hall) « © '70 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"...just points out that there's gray matter everywhere in the world.
There are some bad points about America and this is about the ugly parts."

There was a man came to see the USA from a foreign land
To photograph the progress of dear old Uncle Sam
He got off the boat in New York went down to the Bowery
I know what the man went to photograph and to see

There were hopeless hungry living dead
Winos who sell their souls for a bottle of a cheapest red
That's the picture that he wanted and that's what he got they say
America the ugly today
[ guitar ] He went to the Appalachians and he saw what we all have seen
Where people live on bread and soup fat back and pinto beans
He saw the hungry children and he photographed the ragged clothes
I guess we're gonna try to tell him that it ain't so

There were good men standin' around with nothing to do
Pregnant young women who didn't even have a pair of shoes
The man got his pictures and what are we going to say
America the ugly today
[ guitar ] Then he went to the medicare centers and he saw the old people there
It seems that the young generation just didn't want 'em in their hair
He saw the poor man workin' it out while the mighty rich lives high
And my friend that brings a gleam to the enemy's eyes

There were some folks had plenty and some had none at all
The enemy knows when a heart gets hard the country is bound to fall
If we get heads and hearts together we won't have to hear them say
America the ugly today America the ugly today
**********

11.

THAT'LL BE ALL RIGHT WITH ME

(Tom T. Hall) « © '69 Newkeys Music, BMI / Unichappell Music, BMI »
"...is a song of tolerance...
a fellow who finds a lot of things to enjoy in life and just because one thing doesn't work out he doesn't throw it all away."

It's not my sun man and if it's not shinin'
When I wake up tomorrow morning hmm that'll be all right with me
They're not my birds man and if they're not singin'
When I wake up tomorrow morning hmm that'll be all right with me

I don't believe I'm where I'm goin' I find many a mile
If you don't like me help me to change I'm still looking for a style
[ dobro + harmonica ] She's just a woman if she should be gone
When I wake up tomorrow morning hmm that'll be all right with me
Well I'm not a brave man but I'm not a slave man
If all I ever am is free that'll be all right with me

I don't believe I'm where I'm goin'...
**********