lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

BUSTED

(Harlan Howard) « © '62 Tree Publishing, BMI »
The bills are all due and my baby need shoes but I'm busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound but I'm busted
I got a cow that's gone dry and a hen that won't lay
A big stack of bills that get bigger each day
The county's gonna haul my belongings away I'm busted

I called brother Bill thought I'd get me a loan I was busted
Lord I hate to beg like a dog for a bone but I'm busted
But Bill said that there ain't a thing I can do
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu
And I was just thinkin' of callin' on you I'm busted
[ fiddle ] Now Lord I'm no thief but a man can go wrong when he's busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone I'm busted
The fields're all bare and the cotton won't grow
Me and my family's gotta pack up and go
Where I'll make a livin' the Lord only knows I'm busted
**********

2.

DISTANT DRUMS

(Cindy Walker) « © '63 Combine Music, BMI »
I hear the sound of distant drums far away far away
And if they call for me to come then I must go and you must stay

So Mary marry me let's not wait
Let's share all the time we can before it's too late
And love me now for now is all the time there may be
If you love me Mary Mary marry me

I hear the sound of bugles blow far away far away
And if they call then I must go across the sea so wild and free

So Mary marry me let's not wait
For those distant drums might change our wedding day
And love me now for now is all the time there may be
If you love me Mary Mary marry me
**********

3.

DETROIT CITY

(Mel Tillis - Danny Dill) « © '63 Cedarwood Publishing, BMI »
I wanna go home I wanna go home oh Lord I wanna go home

Last night I went to sleep in Detroit City
And I dreamed about those cottonfields and home
I dreamed about my mother dear ol' papa sister and brother
I dreamed about that girl who's been waiting for so long
I wanna go home I wanna go home oh Lord I wanna go home
[ guitar ] Homefolks think I'm big in Detroit City
From the letters that I write they think I'm fine
But by day I make the cars by night I make the bars
If only they could read between the lines

Cause you know I rode a freight train north to Detroit City
And after all these years I find I've just been wasting my time
So I just think I'll take ol' Charley Pride
Put him on a Southbound freight and ride
And go on back to the loved ones the ones that I left waiting so far behind
I wanna go home I wanna go home oh Lord I wanna go home
[ guitar ] I wanna go home I wanna go home I wanna go home
**********

4.

YONDER COMES A SUCKER

(Jim Reeves) « © '55 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Railroad steamboat river and canal
Yonder comes a sucker and he's got my gal
And she's gone gone gone gone and she's gone gone gone
And I'll bid her my last farewell

I fell in love with a pretty little thing I thought that wedding bells would ring
She was as sweet as sweet could be till I found out what she did to me

Railroad steamboat river and canal...

I asked her mother to let her go she whispered mother please tell him no
Though he may think that I am true there's plenty more who think so too

Railroad steamboat river and canal...

I won't cry my life away some other sucker will have to pay
And when he finds that she is gone I guess I'll hear him sing this song

Railroad steamboat river and canal...
And I'll bid her my last farewell
**********

5.

GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME

(Curly Putman) « © '65 Tree Publishing, BMI »
(It's so good to touch the green green grass of home)

The ole hometown looks the same as I step down from the train
And there to meet me is my mama and papa
And down the road I look and there runs Mary hair of gold and lips like cherries
It's good to touch the green green grass of home

Yes they'll all come to meet me arms a reaching smiling sweetly
It's good to touch the green green grass of home

The ole house is still standing though the paint is cracked and dry
And there's that old oak tree that I used to play on
And down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary hair of gold and lips like cherries
It's good to touch the green green grass of home

Yes they'll all come to meet me arms a reaching smiling sweetly
It's good to touch the green green grass of home

Then I awake and look around me at the grey walls that surround me
And I realize that I was only dreaming
For there's a guard and there's a sad old padre arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak
Again I'll touch the green green grass of home

Yes they'll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
As they lay me neath the green green grass of home
**********

6.

THAT'S THE CHANCE I'LL HAVE TO TAKE

(Waylon Jennings) « © '65 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Troubles and a worried mind it seems that's all I've ever known
But now I'll leave it all behind if you will just leave me alone

And if I go on loving you if to leave is a mistake
If I'm wrong in what I do that's the chance I'll have to take
[ dobro - fiddle ] Don't bother now to waste the time sayin' things you said before
I've heard it all a hundred times but I won't listen anymore

And if I go on loving you if to leave is a mistake...
**********

7.

BEFORE I MET YOU

(Charles L. Seitz - Joe Lewis - Elmar Rader - J.W. Denny) « © '55 Cedarwood Publishing, BMI »
I thought I had seen pretty girls in my time
But that was before I met you
I never saw one that I wanted for mine
But that was before I met you

I thought I was swingin' the world by the tail
I thought I could never be blue
I thought I'd been kissed and I thought I'd been loved
But that was before I met you

I wanted to ramble and always be free
But that was before I met you
I said that no woman could ever hold me
But that was before I met you

I thought I was swingin' the world by the tail...
[ steel ] They tell me I must reap just what I have sown
But darlin' I hope it's not true
For once I made plans about living alone
But that was before I met you

I thought I was swingin' the world by the tail...
But that was before I met you
**********

8.

FOLSOM PRISON BLUES

(Johnny Cash) « © '56 House Of Cash, BMI »
I hear the train a comin' it's rollin' round the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Antone

When I was just a baby my mama told me son
Always be a good boy don't ever play with guns
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that a whistle blowin' I hang my head and cry
[ guitar ] I bet there's rich folks eatin' in a fancy dinin' car
They're prob'ly drinkin' coffee and smoking big cigars
But I know I had it comin' I know I can't be free
But those people keep a movin' and that's what tortures me

Well if they freed me from this prison if that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom Prison that's where I want to stay
And I'd let that lonesome a whistle blow my blues away
**********

9.

SNAKES CRAWL AT NIGHT

(Mel Tillis - Fred Burch) « © '64 Cedarwood Publishing, BMI »
Oh the snakes crawl at night that's what they say
When the sun goes down then the snakes will play

I watched that car pull right up into my driveway
Saw a shadow slip away from my house
So I hurried straight and looked in her room
And I found out that it was my lovin' spouse

Oh the snakes crawl at night that's what they say...

So I waited in the shadows until mornin'
And the gun I held was trembling in my hand
No I did not plan to give them any warning
For the devil on my shoulder had command

Oh the snakes crawl at night that's what they say...

Oh the trial in a little while was over
And they sentenced me to die right away
But before I leave this courtroom please Your Honor
There's something more that I would like to say

Oh the snakes crawl at night that's what they say...
Oh the snakes crawl at night that's what they say...
**********

10.

MILLER'S CAVE

(Jack Clement) « © '60 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »
Way down in the state of Georgia
Through the swamps and the everglades
There's a big ol' hole in Tiger Mountain
God help the man who gets lost in Miller's Cave

I had me a girl in Waycross Georgia
But she had unfaithful way
She made me feel I was unwanted
Like the bats and the bears in Miller's Cave

I couldn't stand the way she did me
Couldn't take her lowdown ways
Before I'll stay with a cheatin' woman
I'll go and live with the bears in Miller's Cave

Caught her out Sunday morning
With some guy they call Big Dave
The meanest man in Waycross Georgia
I'd rather fight a mountain lion in Miller's Cave

I said you'll pay both you and Davy
I'm a gonna see you're in your grave
They laughed at me and then I shot 'em
I took their cheatin' schemin' bones to Miller's Cave

That woman made me feel unwanted
But I guess I showed her I was brave
The most wanted man in the state of Georgia
But they never gonna find me cause I'm lost in Miller's Cave
**********

11.

ATLANTIC COASTAL LINE

(Mel Tillis - Fred Burch) « © '65 Cedarwood Publishing, BMI »
Ev'rybody calls me Bo I got no money but I hold my row
Some folks say I'm just a no good kind
But I can ride for miles in ol' boxcars smoke cigarette butts and used cigars
Ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line

Hear that lonesome whistle whine smell that tar from the Georgia pine
See that big moon roll above this hobo's life is the life I love
Ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line

Well I had me a woman in Albany but her rowdy ways made a wreck of me
And I had to get away before I lost my mind
But as long as this rattler takes me around there ain't one woman gonna tie me down
Ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line

Hear that lonesome whistle whine Alabama Caroline
Florida Georgia Tennessee this hobo's life is the life for me
Ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line

I make my coffee in a can but this hobo ain't a worried man
Mornin' sun greets me with a shine
I go south when the trade winds blow and I go north where there ain't no snow
Ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line

Hear that lonesome whistle whine smell that tar from the Georgia pine
See that great big moon above this hobo's life is the life I love
Ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line
Ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line ridin' the Atlantic Coastal Line
**********

12.

GOT LEAVIN' ON HER MIND

(Jack Clement) « © '65 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »
She don't hold and kiss me like she did one time
I think my sweet baby's got leavin' on her mind

The longer I know her the more I can tell my darlin's not happy with me
The longer I know that I know her too well the less love in her eyes I see

She don't hold and kiss me like she did one time...
[ guitar ] The stronger I hold her the farther apart my darlin' is growin' from me
The danger of my darlin' breakin' my heart is fast movin' in on me

Cause she don't hold and kiss me like she did one time...
[ guitar ] The deeper I love her the farther away my darlin' slips out of my hands
The longer the future the longer I'll stay out of my darlin's plans

Cause she don't hold and kiss me like she did one time...
I think my sweet baby's got leavin' on her mind
**********