1.

Here's A Toast To Mama

Buck Owens - Gene Price

© Blue Book Music, BMI

Today I found a dollar on the sidewalk
So I went and bought a jug of wine
And I'll sit here in this alley and keep drinkin'
Until the thoughts of mama leaves my mind

Here's a toast to mama do you miss me
Do you even think about me anymore
Mama did you even stop to kiss me
When you left me layin' at a stranger's door

Oh how I wish I could've known you mama
Then maybe now I wouldn't feel all the shame
Maybe now I wouldn't feel so empty
Cause mama I don't even know your name

Here's a toast to mama do you miss me...

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2.

Sidewalks Of Chicago

Dave Kirby

© Tree Pub, BMI

These Levi's that I'm wearin' have been good to me
They just won't admit they're growin' old
And though my shirt's made contact with a gutter now and then
At least it keeps my body from the cold

Thank God the folks back home in Harlan County
Can't see what success has done for me
Would you believe the kids in Hopewell High School
Voted me most likely to succeed

Now I'm walkin' on the sidewalks of Chicago
If I buy the bread I can't afford the wine
Walkin' on the sidewalks of Chicago
Wishin' I'd've lived some other time

I wasn't here too long before I met her
The lady really swept me off my feet
She stayed just long enough for me to love her
And now they're sweepin' me up off the street

My mama thinks that I've really hit the big time
Why she's wrote to me ev'ry day since I've been gone
But she don't know that 1-0-9 East Charlotte
Is the address of the East Side Mission Home

Now I'm walkin' on the sidewalks of Chicago...

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3.

The Silent Kind

Porter Wagoner

© Porter Music, BMI

No we don't do much talkin' down here on the Row
You might call us the Silent Kind
But the only time we do much talkin' is
When we need a dime or two for wine
But if you could only hear when our mind talks to our soul
My God friend you'd hear stories that's never been told
Some words so sad that a voice couldn't even speak of 'em
Just to think of 'em makes your body tremble and your heart weaken

Why there's been here in these alleys that we call the Silent Kind
That find love and happiness in one little bottle of wine
No we don't talk much here in the alley when we do it's usually lies
Like hey Mister I was once like you had a lotta money a home and family
Could you sapre me a quarter to get me a bowl of soap
Then take the quarter buy another bottle of wine
And slip back to the alley and join the silent kind

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4.

The Alley

Dolly Parton

© Owepar Pub, BMI

Down in the alley alley so low
Down where the red wine and the tears flow
Frail bodies shiver as the wind blows
Down in the alley where broken men go

Some talk of children a wife and a home
They tell their stories of how life went wrong
They turn to the bottle for comfort to find
Down in the alley they live for the wine

Down in the alley alley so low...

Some tell of success and how close they came
To opening the doors to riches and fame
How failure reached out at the height of it all
Down in the alley where hopes and dreams fall

No matter how different the stories they tell
They all have in common a livin' hell
Their future holds more wine more sorrow and dread
Down in the alley of the livin' dead

Down in the alley alley so low...

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5.

The Town Drunk

Bill Owens

© Combine Music, BMI

(Town drunk he's the town drunk
He was once a man of means but just look how low he sunk
The bright lights that glitter led him to the gutter
Now he's the town drunk)

I know it I know I'm the town drunk
But once I had a good life
A fine home and a lovin' wife
Why I was respected by the whole community
Then I got to drinkin' real real bad
I lost everything I ever had
I just couldn't control my drinkin'
And now my drinkin' it controls me

(Town drunk he's the town drunk...

Yeah that's right the bright lights that glittered
Led me here to this gutter
(Now he's the town drunk)

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6.

Mama

Charlie Aldridge

© Central Songs, BMI

(Mama mama it's gettin' closer to the end
Mama mama can I come home again)

Where did the years go mama
Why it seemed like only yesterday that we were man and wife
That was in the springtime of our years
When ev'rything pointed to the good life

It started when we lost the boy mama
I turned to the bottle to ease the pain
Oh I loved you so much mama
When I woke up it was too late to change

Oh I went by to school lots of times mama
To see how our two girls was gettin' along
You sure done a fine job raise 'em mama
Too bad I had to let you do it all alone

Somehow you never married again mama
Though I know you could've wed any man you ever do
I tried it again no it didn't last
I just couldn't find another girl like you

I parked up on top of the hill above your house lots of nights mama
Thinkin' of what could've been
It seemed somehow it helped bein' close to you
While I was wishin' wishin' I could come in

I'm gettin' cold mama
The candle I've burned on both ends is flickering low
There's a stranger at my shoulder mama he's come for me
Goodbye mama I love you mama

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7.

Bottle Of Wine

Tom Paxton

© UA Music, ASCAP

Bottle of wine fruit of the vine
When you gonna let me get sober
Leave me alone let me go home
Let me go home and start over

Ramble around this dirty ole town
A beggin' for nickels and dimes
Times are rough I can't get enough
To buy a little bottle of wine

Oh bottle of wine fruit of the vine...

Pains in my heart bugs in my bed
Pants are so old that they shine
Out on the street tellin' the people I meet
To buy me a bottle of wine

Oh bottle of wine fruit of the vine...
Bottle of wine fruit of the vine...
Bottle of wine fruit of the vine...

**********

8.

One More Dime

Dolly Parton

© Owepar Pub, BMI

Standin' on the corner of a busy crowded street
A holdin' out my hand to all the people that I meet
I've been here all mornin' and I've got to have my wine
And I'd have enough to buy it if I had one more dime

Mister have you got a dime hey Miss how bout you
Have pity on an old man so I can buy some food
Folks don't give you money if you say that it's for wine
So I tell them if I could buy some food if I had one more dime

If I had one more dime then I would have enough
To buy me wine to last me till tomorrow
If I had one more dime then I would have my cup
Of joy and I'd forget my sorrow
I could leave the past behind forget a love that once was mine
I could buy my peace of mind if I had one more dime

If I had one more dime then I would have enough...
I could buy my peace of mind if I had one more dime

**********

9.

I Judged A Man

Johnny Mullins

© Sure-Fire Music, BMI

Today I saw some ragged clothes and I judged the frame on which they hung
There goes a wasted life says I I'll not waste mine for I'm young
I know his kind they're all alike he's from the Skid Row part of town
He'll beg a dime here and a quarter there
And be in the gutter before the sun goes down
Then I turned and walked into a store to buy a book of poems to read
Oh the best of literature says I is for the man of higher bread
Then I saw these words aimed right at me and it made me sorta hang my head
For I'd turned that random to a page and halfway down this poem I read
He sold a row of violets along a barren palt he trod
That every future passes by might view the handy work of God
He carved a map upon a stone placed it on a dessert floor
To show tomorrows dying soul where cool clear water lay in store
And to write here all the many things he did to help his fellow man
Why it would make a book too long to read and wear away the poet's pen
Then I left the store to find that man just walk up to him rags and all
And shake his hand and chat awhile and then I heard an ambulance call
What happened here I asked someone why all the crowd that's gathered round
They said just some old ragged man from the Skid Row part of town
I bowed my head in silent prayer forgive me Lord for my idle tongue
Today I saw some ragged clothes and I judged the frame on which they hung

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10.

When I Drink My Wine

Dolly Parton

© Owepar Pub, BMI

Sweet relief awaits me forgetfulness is mine
When I drink my wine when drink my wine
I can feel no pain no shame I leave it all behind
When I drink my wine when I drink my wine

I forget there ever was a love I once called mine
When I drink my wine when drink my wine
There's no past no future I have no track of times
When I drink my wine when drink my wine

When I drink my wine I forget I used to be
A man with dignity and pride
And I forget that I am now a drunkard on the street
Cause all my hopes and dreams and plans have died

When I drink my wine I forget how much I love her
And I can get her off my mind
When I drink my wine when drink my wine

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