lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

LETTER

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
This is the first letter that I wrote back home to mom and daddy
A few days after I'd moved to Nashville

June 2nd 1964 Nashville Tennesee
Dear mom and daddy I hope this letter finds everybody well and happy
As for me I'm fine I guess I'm just a little lonesome and a whole lot homesick
I got to Nashville OK and I thought I'd better write and let you know
Cause I knew you'd be worried about me
And I don't let you know to worried about me cause I'm gonna be alright
Once I get settled and used to bein' away from home
I didn't realize how much I loved you and all them noisy kids until I left
And I didn't reaize how hard it was to eave home eiter
Till I started to leave and everybody started cryin' includin' me
I cried almost all the way to Nashville
And I wanted to turn around a few times and come back
But you know how bad I've always wanted to go to Nashville
And be a singer and songwriter
And I believe that if I try long enough and hard enough that someday I'll make it
Don't worry about tryin' to send me any money or anything
Cause I've got a job singin' on the early morning television show
Here called the Eddie Hill Show
And a couple of folks already told me that they might record a couple of my songs
So I'll be makin' enough money to get by
And I don't want you to worryin' about me bein' hungry or anything
And Nashville's not exactly what I thought it was gonna be
But I believe I'm gonna like it here once I get used to it
And I don't want you to worryin' about me gettin' in trouble either
Cause I'll be good just like I promised you I would when I left
Well can't think of anything else to say
I guess I'd better close for now and you write me real soon
And tell everybody I said hello and I'm gonna be real anxious to hear from you
Cause I sure miss you and I love you an awful lot
With love as always Dolly
**********

2.

I REMEMBER

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
I remember I remember
I remember mama and daddy most of all

I remember meadows and fields of golden wheat
I remember songbirds and sugar cane so sweet
I remember lots of things that often I recall
But I remember mama and daddy most of all

I remember gingerbread my mama used to bake
And I remember home made toys that daddy used to make
Yes I remember many things that often I recall
But I remember mama and daddy most of all

I remember mama and daddy most of all
And our little country home they filled with love
I remember mama and daddy most of all
And all the things they did to make life happier for us
Yes I remember lots of things that often I recall
But I remember mama and daddy most of all

I remember candy that daddy used to bring
I remember songs my mama used to sing
Oh I remember many things that often I recall
But I remember mama and daddy most of all

I remember mama and daddy most of all
And how they taught us children right from wrong
I remember mama and daddy most of all
How they used to hope and pray they'd live to see us grown
Oh I remember many things that often I recall
But I remember mama and daddy most of all
I remember I remember
I remember mama and daddy most of all most of all
**********

3.

OLD BLACK KETTLE

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
Well I remember when I was just little
Mama used to cook in an old black kettle
On an old wood stove she'd had since she was wed
Well the oven door was sprung a little bit
So we propped it up with a forkhead stick
But that didn't matter cause mama kept us fed

My mom and daddy must've loved each other
Cause I had eleven sisters and brothers
And the girls worked just as hard as the boys did
There was corn to hoe that we'd go hoe it
We might've been poor but we didn't know it
We'd heard that word but we didn't know what it meant

Oh we used to have such a good life
And the days that I knew then are the happiest I've known
And oh didn't we have such a good time
It's sad to think the old black kettle's gone
[ harmonica ] Well there wadn't nothin' that pleased us any better
Than when we'd get an occasional letter
From kinfolks livin' up north in some big town
We'd think of all the games we'd play
Wnd we just couldn't hardly wait
When our city cousins said they's a comin' down

Now mama's done away with the old black kettle
She used to cook in when I was just little
And the door ain't sprung on her electric range
That little old farm and home we had
It ain't there no more and that's too bad
Folks're doin' away with the simple things

And oh we used to have such a good life...
Now I just mean to say the simple things're gone
The old black kettle's gone
**********

4.

DADDY'S WORKING BOOTS

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
My dear hard working daddy worked his life away for us
That's the way that daddy showed to us his love
And daddy's two hard working hands they're calloused and they're sore
And daddy's working boots have walked a million miles or more

As long as I remember I remember daddy working
Working on the job or either on the farm
Trying to provide for the family that he loves
And daddy's working boots have taken many steps for us

Daddy's working boots have served us his foundation
Oh just like him they're tired and worn for years they helped him stand
Daddy's working boots have filled their obligation
They've walked that rocky road with a mighty mighty man
[ guitar ] Dear Lord above I know up there my daddy's got a mansion
And a great reward that long was overdue
And when it comes my daddy's time to be with you in heaven
Won't you let him walk your golden streets in a pair of brand new golden boots

Daddy's working boots have served us his foundation...
Daddy's working boots
**********

5.

DR. ROBERT F. THOMAS

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
Dr Robert F Thomas may his name forever stand
Dr Robert F Thomas was a mighty mighty man
And he enriched the lives of everyone that ever knew him
And in my song I hope to sing some of the praise that's due him

Dr Thomas was a man the Lord must have appointed
To live among us mountain folks in eastern Tennessee
And he delivered more than half the babies in those mountains
Among those babies he delivered me
There was no way to drive along those roads back in the mountains
But Dr Thomas got there just the same
He often rode on horse back to get where he was needed
But if he had to walk he always came

Dr Robert F Thomas may his name forever stand...

Dr Thomas was the friend the neighbor and the doctor
Though he seldom got a dime for all he done
And I remember lots of times we'd send for Dr Thomas
But I don't recall the time he didn't come
They say a man is judged by the deeds he does while living
At judgement when he stands before the Lord
And I know heaven holds a place for men like Dr Thomas
And I know that he'll recieve his just reward

Dr Robert F Thomas may his name forever stand...
Dr Robert F Thomas
**********

6.

IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS (WHEN TIMES WERE BAD)

(Dolly Parton) « © '68 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
We'd get up before sunup to get the work done up
We'd work in the fields till the sun had gone down
We've stood and we've cried as we helplessly watched
A hailstorm a beatin' our crops to the ground
We've gone to bed hungry many nights in the past
In the good old days when times were bad

No ammount of money could buy from me
The mem'ries that I have of them
No ammount of money could pay me
To go back and live through it again
In the good old days when times were bad

I've seen daddy's hands break open and bleed
And I've seen him work till he's stiff as a board
I've seen mama lay and suffer in sickness
In need of a doctor we couldn't afford
Anything at all was more than we had
In the good old days when times were bad

We've got up before we found ice on the floor
Where the wind would blew snow through the cracks in the wall
I've walked many miles to an old country school
With my luch in a bag of my overalls
Anything at all was more than we had
In the good old days when times were bad

No ammount of money could buy from me...
In the good old days when times were bad
In the good old days when times were bad
**********

7.

MY TENNESSEE MOUNTAIN HOME

(Dolly Parton) « © '72 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
Sittin' on the front porch on a summer afternoon
In a straightback chair on two legs leaned against the wall
Watch the kids a playin' with June bugs on a string
And chase the glowin' fireflies when evening shadows fall

In my Tennessee mountain home life is as peaceful as a baby's sigh
In my Tennessee mountain home crickets sing in the fields near by

Honeysuckle vines clings to the fence along the lane
Their fragrance makes the summer wind so sweet
And on a distant hilltop an eagle spreads its wings
And a songbird on a fencepost sings a melody

In my Tennessee mountain home...
[ harmonica ] Walking home from church on Sunday with the one you love
Just laughing talking making future plans
And when the folks ain't lookin' you might steal a kiss or two
Sittin' in the porchswing holding hands

In my Tennessee mountain home...
**********

8.

WRONG DIRECTION HOME

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
In a shingle covered cottage at the foothills of the Smokies
Near a mountain stream that's flowing crystal clear
Where hummingbirds and honeybees feed on mama's roses
My mem'ries just grow sweeter with the years

Mem'ries of my childhood are as sweet as mountain honey
And as fresh as dew on morning glory vines
I grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature
And they're forever present in my mind

But I'm headed in the wrong direction home
Headed in the wrong direction home
There's no place like home
But I'm headed in the wrong direction home

Teardrops mingled with the summer rain that was a fallin'
The day I left my mountain home behind
With a suitcase in my hand and a hope in my heart
I was following a dream I had to find

In that shingle covered cottage at the foothills of the Smokies
Waits a family that I'm longing so to see
And mountain stream and fields of green and rolling hills stay in my dreams
But I'm many many miles from Tennessee

And still headed in the wrong direction home
Headed in the wrong direction home
But maybe I'll get back before too long
But I'm headed in the wrong direction home
**********

9.

BACK HOME

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
Back home back home yes I'm going back home

Why I can't believe it's been this long since I've seen mom and dad
When I left my mountain home behind I left them both so sad
My brothers and my sisters that were babies then are grown
Years have passed and now at last I'm on my way back home

Back home back home yes I'm going back home
To the factory smoke and city life I'm saying so long
I've shed a lot of tears through all the years that I've been gone
And I've spent a lot of time a wishin' I could go back home

I got a letter from mama and mama asked me if I'd come back home
She said it sure is lonesome now since all of us kids have all grown up and gone
I just can't hardly stand the thoughts of mom and daddy bein' left there all alone
That's really all I need to know and now I'm on the road back home

Back home back home...
Back home back home yes I'm going back home
**********

10.

BETTER PART OF LIFE

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
We're all together once again for the first time in I don't know when
We were so close once upon a time
There were twelve of us kids at home six girls six boys and dad and mom
But that was in the better part of life we've left behind
Remember that old swimmin' hole where we would swim so long ago
All them hops and grapes and musky dines
And do you all recall the time we all got drunk on homemade wine
That was in the better part of life we've left behind

Life was simple for us then if only it could be again
How I wish we could go back in time
But time moves on and nothing lasts except the mem'ries from the past
Mem'ries from the better part of life we've left behind
[ guitar ] Remember how we'd talk as kids of what we'd be when we got big
And all the dreams that we held in our mind
I wanted to be a singing star and you all said that I'd go far
That was in the better part of life we've left behind
Remember all the fun we had back when they say times were bad
Life was good to us and things were fine
We had fun and we had love and a mom and dad to care for us
That was in the better part of life we've left behind

Life was simple for us then...
Sweet mem'ries from the better part of life we've left behind
**********

11.

DOWN ON MUSIC ROW

(Dolly Parton) « © '73 Velvet Apple Music, BMI »
Down on Music Row down on Music Row
If you want to be a star that's where you've got to go

I could feel a change a comin' I left my hometown a hummin'
With my old guitar a strummin' songs that I had wrote
I was on my way to Nashville I just couldn't hardly wait till
I could sing my songs for the folks on Music Row

I got into Nashville early sleepy hungry tired and dirty
And on the steps of RCA I ate a stale sweet roll
In the fountain at the Hall of Fame I washed my face and read the names
In the walkway of the stars down on Music Row

Down on Music Row down on Music Row...

I waited there till eight o'clock when Opry stars became unlocked
Then I started walkin' down the streets of Music Row
Just a walkin' up amd down the streets tryin' to find out who to seek
To help me get on record and to hear the songs I'd wrote

But I found the goin' rough everyone was all tied up
Either in a conference or in the studio
They said that I could leave a tape they'd suggest I didn't wait
Cause everyone was awful busy down on Music Row

But I could feel that change a comin' and I just kept right on a hummin'
With my old guitar still strummin' all them songs that I'd wrote
And then Chet and Bob at RCA well they listened to my songs that day
And they both told me that I's on my way down on Music Row

Down on Music Row down on Music Row...
Down on Music Row down on Music Row...
**********