1.

I Know Better

Ed Bruce

© Tree Pub, BMI

I could tell you that it don't hurt you're leavin' me
And I could say it never really matter the way you've always treated me
Baby I could lie to you some more and say I won't cry when you walk out back door
But I know better
If someone had just told me you would be like this
I'd always runnin' and lookin' and a wantin' to taste some stranger's kiss
Baby that have been good advice I took
I tell myself I'd never even givin' you a second look
But I know better
Go on and have your fun see the town and run around
I don't think you've got too much longer to run
There'll come a time when you're too tired to run
And bright lights and booze have got you too used up for anyone's fun
Baby you'll expect to start again with me back before our love begin to end
But I know better
Go on and have your fun...

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2.

Why Can't I Come Home

Ed Bruce

© Tree Pub, BMI

If I could find the strenght I need to do the thing I should
I just walk on out that door be rid of you for good
But a man ain't always strong enough to tell himself that he's been wrong
Why can't I just come home one night and you'd be gone
If I had only known the thoughts that went on in your mind
Then I could have left you to the others of your kind
I know that I should leave you now but I just ain't that strong
Why can't I just come home one night and you'd be gone

I cried things you do me that make me live in shame
Everybody knows how loosly you have worn my name
I guess I have more love and pride even thougg my love's all wrong
Why can't I just come home one night and you'd be gone

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3.

(# 57 country hit)

Walker's Woods

Kay Arnold

© Combine Music, BMI

I stole her from Emmett Fry and now what's done is done
Like any man I'm afraid to die but I'm hurt too bad to run
I ran with her to Walker's Woods with him close on my heels
I knew he'd kill to get her back and I know just how he feels

Oh the sun never shines in Walker's Woods
I doubt if it would want to come in even if it could
Cause the gators and the cottonmouths the sand that pulls you down
Makes Walker's Woods a haven for the damned

By the quicksand over there my dream came to an end:
She said it was a big mistake that she'd return to him
So I gave her to the hungry sands now all I loved is dead
And all that's left is the scarlet rag that she wore upon her head

Oh the sun never shines in Walker's Woods...

I've no regrets I loved her five more minutes I'll be free
I'd have made it if that cottonmouth hadn't made his strike at me
But I have to laugh when I think how mad old Emmett's going to be
When he finds out he never got to take one shot at me

Oh the sun never shines in Walker's Woods...

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4.

Ninety Seven More To Go

Ed Bruce

© Lynlou Music, BMI

Ninety-nine years is a long long time
To bust your back and the heart of mine
You sweat so much you can't cry tears
When you stop to think about ninety-nine years

Ninety-nine years on a harder rock mine
I work two years off of my time
Ninety-nine years go so slow
When you still got ninety-seven more to go

Wrong kind woman got me in this mes
Wantin' pretty things and a satin red dress
What I couldn't make she said I have to take
And judge said ninety-nine for just this sake
[ instrumental ]
I take a rest when the guard turns his head
Hopin' he'll be nappin' maybe shoot me dead
Those days drag by and the years go slow
But thank God I only got ninety-seven more to go

Ninety-nine years on a harder rock...

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5.

If I Could Just Go Home

Ed Bruce

© Combine Music, BMI

Oh Lord if I could just go home I'd do things different from now on
There wouldn't be near the gray in my old daddy's hair
Oh Lord if I could just go home

I know it wasn't daddy's fault that mama died when I was just a kid
And the best that he could do to raise me right was all he ever did
And I know he'd love mama a lot longer than I had and he was every bit as alone
But I don't guess I'd helped too much to build a happy home
He made sure I got to church every Sunday the way mama had always done
And he was always sorry he had to work so hard and he never had much time for fun
He knew I missed mama a lot
And maybe he was easier on me than he should have been
But it sure ain't his fault that I didn't turn out to be much a man
Well I've grew on into my teens and I guess I thought I was a real hard stuff
Goin' into town hangin' around bars and actin' pretty tough
Well I'm looking out at a different set of bars now
And that little window don't let it much light
You see I got roarin' drinkin' mad one night and I killed the man in a fight
I got a letter from back home the other day
Saying dad had a stroke and he ain't doin' too good
Well if I had done right I'd be there now to help him and God you know I would
And I'd pay him back for all the years of love that he gave me
And I'd be a better man the way I was taught to be
Oh Lord if I could just go home

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6.

Give More Than You Take

Ed Bruce

© Lynlou Music, BMI

If you wanna keep a love young always show her that you care
Call her through the day to say you love her always thinking of her
Give her just a little more love than you take

If you sometimes seem to hurt her then you mustn't let love die
Take her head on your shoulder pet her say you're sorry to let her cry
Give her just a little more love than you take
Like the rain filling water that the sun takes from a lake
If you give more love there'll always be than much more to take

Just remember your time's coming when you'll need someone to lean on
So give love with a smile and she'll make it all worth while
Always by your side to give you more love than she takes
Like the rain filling water...
If you wanna keep a love young...
Call her through the day...

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7.

By Route Of New Orleans

Sonny Moore

© Screen Gems Music, BMI

Tonight I'm goin' home for my first time
Since I've left the scene of the crime
Only fare I could afford
Slide a door and climb aboard
Goin' home by route of New Orleans

I've been a fugitive much too long
And I've paid a thousand ways for that one wrong
Searched trash cans my last time
Prison meals will sure be fine
Goin' home by route of New Orleans

Well it's been a while, the cotton sure is high
It seems to wave at me as I go by
Only cotton that I've seen
Is in these old faded jeans
Goin' home by route of New Orleans

What's this the train is slowing down
Fugitive aboard, the word's around
Couldn't even give myself up
Pulled their guns and opened up
Goin' home but stopped in New Orleans
Goin' baggage out of New Orleans

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8.

Shadows Of Her Mind

Kris Kristofferson

© Buckhorn Music, BMI

I met her sadly in the slowly falling rain
Crying softly in her loneliness and pain
Knowing no one needin' someone bad as me
And she told me as I held her trembling hand
Walking slowly how she'd never known a man
Living lonely in her cottage by the sea
When the morning came her tears had changed to laughter
And before the night her heart beat close to mine
And I thought as she lay sleeping of the secrets she was keeping
Hidden somewhere in the silence of the shadows of her mind

In the morning as I wakened with the dawn
Without warning I could feel that she was gone
Leaving nothing but her silence next to me
And lonely footprints that I followed in the sand
Walking slowly for I knew where they would end
Disappearing in the silence of the sea
And I sometimes hear the echoe of her laughter
As I search for what I know I'll never find
For the answer I was seeking was the secrets she's still keeping
Hidden somewhere in the silence of the shadows of her mind
Hidden somewhere in the silence of the shadows of her mind

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9.

Lonesome Is Me

Ed Bruce

© Window Music, BMI

Did you ever say I'm lonesome and stop to wonder really what lonesome is
Lonesome is a little boy standing in a crowd a telephone ringing in an empty house
Lonesome is an autumn leave that first falls from its tree lonesome is me

Lonesome is a footstep with out of place to go
Or summer is last robin in winter's first snow
Lonesome is a little dog lost out in the street lonesome is me
Lonesome is an empty bottle a half filled glass of wine
The sound that a clock makes when all you have is time
Lonesome is a heart that breaks when love has turned to hate
The dying sun at the close of day
Lonesome is a jail of tears that won't set me free lonesome is me
Lonesome is me lonesome is me

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10.

The Price I Pay To Stay

Ed Bruce

© Window Music, BMI

There was a time I really thought it did some good
To get down on my knees to you and I would
But baby now that's all changed today's a brand new day
You ain't worth the price I had to stay

Just because you're the best looking woman that I've ever seen
Ain't reason enough to have to treat you like a queen
There's a harder lesson you need to learn and it might as well be today
Baby you ain't worth the price I had to stay

I'm tired of tryin' to turn the other cheek to you
And never knowin' which way to turn cause you've made up a brand new set of rules
Somewhere I picked up a little more pride than I had yesterday
Baby you ain't worth the price I had to stay
[ instrumental ]
I'm tired of tryin' to turn...
Baby you ain't worth the price I had to stay

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11.

I'm Getting Better

Ed Bruce

© Lynlou Music, BMI

I didn't cry today I even smile today
When I heard someone say that you had passed his way
I guess you'd have to say I'm gettin' better
Then I heard our old song the hurt wasn't quite so strong
Maybe it won't be long till all of my hurt is gone
Then I know I'll live on I'm gettin' better
I know I wrote my promise to you I said I'd never get over you
But a man can't spend all of his life fightin' heartaches and livin' with strife
For the time since I lost you I looked at someone new
Maybe she won't be true but darling neither were you
And that no longer makes me as blue I'm gettin' better

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12.

Her Sweet Love And The Baby

Ed Bruce

© Pamper Music, BMI

Soft rain kissing the fallen leaves night wind harmonizing with whispering trees
Of pretty sounds I've heard the sweetest I think maybe
Is when she sings to the baby
I look around at riches by which some men measure
But all their wealth I see can never match my treasures

The stillness of the dawn by a mountain stream
A bird and his mate dancing through the night on pale moon beams
Of pretty things I've seen the sweetest I think maybe
Is when she's holding the baby
I look around at riches by which some men measure
But all their wealth I see can never match my treasures
Of fortunes I have seen the riches I think maybe
Of her sweet love and the baby
Her sweet love and the baby

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