1.

(# 42 country hit)

Everything From Jesus To Jack Daniels

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

You wake up in the morning drink a beer and take a Valium
And you're trying to forget about the things you did last night
Flip through that morning paper read the horoscope and the comics
You're as well informed as anybody on the left or the right

You make it to your job and hear Atlanta lost another
How can you lose while making half a million bucks or near
The old man who sweeps the floor and wears a big blue Reagan button
Says the Russians are a coming but they've been here for years

Tryin' everything from Jesus to Jack Daniels
It's the all new American diet
Tryin' everything from Jesus to Jack Daniels
You get on it and you're on it for the rest of your life

There's a story in the paper about a man who killed his family
He jumped off a bridge because he couldn't take it anymore
Down at the local tavern a young man comes in limpin'
And he claims that he's a veteran of the Falkland Islands war

You head home and you're accosted by a youngster wearin' robes
And wanting money for his God who sits upon a plastic throne
You ignore him if you can and make it to the local tavern
Where you order up a drink and give some money to your own

Tryin' everything from Jesus...

There's a man in Tennessee who's got it figured out completely
I guess that he's as happy as a thinking man can be
I asked him what he thought and he said brother let me tell you
Try a little bit of both and leave out everything in between

Tryin' everything from Jesus...

**********

2.

How'd You Get Home So Soon

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

It was Memorial Day in '81
I left the city and I drove back home
I stopped by the grave of a childhood friend
And as I stood there I talked to him and I said

How'd you get home so soon Bill I knew you way back then
We were pals back in those days much too young to have friends
I left town bout when you did I've been makin' up tunes
Ain't it strange how they play this game how'd you get home so soon

How'd you get home so soon Bill I knew you had to ask
She married some guy from Dayton left and she never came back
To tell you the truth I liked her but boy that's been many a moon
I'm still playing games on the same old range how'd you get home so soon

I did some time in the Army but you don't wanna hear about that
Made easy money the hard way it all goes for toys and for tax
Whiskey tastes better than ever the ladies they look better too
Well Bill I'm down I'll see you around how'd you get home so soon

**********

3.

Barroom Stranger

Tom T. Hall - Ray Edwards - Terry Foust

© Hallnote Music, BMI

Why I just hit town on my way home thirteen long days I'd been gone
Driving day and night and I was feeling kinda rough
Oh I pulled into a late night lounge I got a cold beer and sat down
I heard some barroom stranger talking about his latest love

Well he was standing tall and proud drinking hard and talkin' loud
The has beens and the hope toos all turned an ear his way
Said she really made his night worthwhile the barroom stranger said and smiled
A chill ran through me when I heard that stranger say

She stands five foot six she knows a lot of tricks
She's married to some truck driving man
Long black hair and laughin' eyes skin as soft as paradise
And she knows what to do to please a traveling man

My mind went blind with anger when I heard the barroom stranger
Talking about my baby and the wild games that they played
I guess I lost all reason when I heard the way she pleased him
I stumbled out the door as once again I heard him say

She stands five foot six...

Six long years have come and gone and now I'm lyin' here alone
Starin' through these prison bars but I don't give a damn
All that I remember is one cold night in December
They said they found me walking with a pistol in my hand

She stood five foot six ah she knew a lot of tricks
She was married to some truck drivin' man
She had long black hair and laughin' eyes skin as soft as paradise
But now she'll never get to please another travelin' man

And the moral of the story is
If you drive don't think

**********

4.

Senior Citizen Star

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

On the floor of the limo there's a bottle of whiskey
A white Stetson hat with a fine feather band
His face covered up with the two day old paper
Is a songwritin' legend that grey haired old man

They don't say much to him he don't say much to them
They wonder what goes on inside his old head
Sometimes when they shake him trying to wake him
He comes round so slowly they think that he's dead

And you're not allowed to talk about Denver Colorado
You're not allowed to talk about his first wife Joanne
You're not allowed to talk about his first fiddle player
Or anybody who ever worked in Elvis's band

He motions the driver to get him some coffee
He sits there and sips it his eyes on the floor
When he's readin' his paper he sometimes looks angry
He's still trying to figure out the Second World War

He mentions Chicago the Opry and Wheeling
His awards are all stashed in a box in his barn
He made millions of dollars with a hoop and a holler
Now he lives in a trailer on a five acre farm

And you're not allowed to talk about...

As the limo rolls on down the America's highways
Dust clings to the sign on the side of his car
It says pickin' and singin' for any occasion
A songwritin' senior citizen star

**********

5.

The Letters

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

One night in the West Virginia mountains
I got stranded in the deepening snow
I found a boardin' house and took a small room
No TV magazines or radio

I've stood and watched the snow fall past the window
And as a traveling man would sometimes do
I've picked up the Bible and looked through it
I found the stock of letters tied in blue

The letters had been left there by a young girl
There were ten and as I read the first
I found that they were from a boy in Detroit
Who'd send for her as soon as he got work

The first one mentioned her expected baby
The one and two and three were much the same
The fourth and fifth said that he might send to get her
The sixth and seventh offered her his name

The eighth and nineth were weeks apart in postmark
They were short and asked about her health
The tenth one with the tear stains on the pages
Said that he had married someone else

Next morning I felt guilty when I checked out
As the highway people cleared away the snow
I asked about the girl who used to live there
They said she passed away three weeks ago

Well I kept the letters but I never read them
Oh but somewhere up in Detroit there's a man
Who heard what happened down in West Virginia
And we're the only two who understand

**********

6.

I'm Just Not An Easy Man To Love

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

Life picked me up and threw me to the wolves
I had to learn to be a pussycat or a bull
So I made my way through life with push and shove
And I'm just not an easy man to love

Sometimes I have worn a weddin' band
And I've been true and blue but on the other hand
I'm not use to wearin' velvet gloves
I'm just not an easy man to love

One thing they never pinned on me was greed
Some take what they want some what they need
And all I ever wanted was enough
And I'm just not an easy man to love

Sometimes I have worn a weddin' band...
[ instrumental ]
Oh I'm not proud but I'm damn sure not ashamed
Hey I walk through hell and sometimes fan the flame
Maybe life just handled me too rough
Hey I just not an easy man to love

Sometimes I have worn a weddin' band...
[ guitar ]
Work together

**********

7.

The Harmonica Man

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

An old man stood and stared into the music store window
And he saw a silver harmonica lyin' there in the sun
He thought of the music the harp could be playing
He closed his old eyes and he started to hum

He hummed an old song bout an unfaithful lover
He hummed the sweet tune about children at play
He hummed a bright song about beer drinking buddies
One about Jesus and uncloudy day

Well he bought the harmonica and he took it on home
With his youth all behind him and livin' alone
He soon learned to play it as pure and as cool
As any great master musician could do

He played an old song about an unfaithful lover
He played the sweet tune about children at play
He played a bright song about beer drinking buddies
And one about Jesus and uncloudy day

Well they found him one morning lying there on the sofa
Ah but they didn't find his harmonica there
They lowered him down and they put the dirt on him
Ashes to ashes to Jesus a prayer

Well the old man's gone and of course his music went with him
And there's a sadness about it you know it seems strange to say
For all of his music and as much as he loved it
Nobody else even knew he could play

**********

8.

The Adventures Of Linda Bohannon

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

In a town about the size of a truck stop or bigger
Lived Linda Bohannon a natural queen
She lived with her folks in a little white farm house
She helped out by hoeing the corn and the beans

Sometimes she would stare at herself in a mirror
And any would say there was much to admire
Every turn of the curve of her body was flawless
From pretty white teeth to her shiny blonde hair

One day as she stood by the road leadin' westward
In blue jeans and T shirt and mail order boots
Oh the tractors and trailers and pick-ups saw Linda
The drivers all slowed down to holler and whoop

They received not a smile from Miss Linda Bohannon
No bag and no brush did she hold in her hand
Just Linda Bohannon a physical treasure
Stepped into a light blue Mercedes Benz

And this is one of those times that we wish we knew
The missing parts to these stories but this is all we know

She was missin' a week and her parents were worried
She called Sunday morning and said I'm OK
Well Bohannons don't talk much but we found out later
She called from a movie star's house in LA

She's home now and been here for six years or seven
She brought home a baby a fine looking lad
Well Bohannons don't talk much and Linda don't either
And nobody told us a thing about his dad

Well she's pretty as ever and she works in the gift shop
Looks after her boy and she don't ask for help
She watches the re-runs of an old TV western
And the boy looks a lot like a re-run himself

**********

9.

What Am I Gonna Do With My Music

Tom T. Hall

© Hallnote Music, BMI

What am I gonna do with my music that nobody wants to hear
What am I gonna do with my love songs they make me break out in tears
What am I gonna do with my stories that paint life so sad and grey
What am I gonna do with my music that nobody wants to hear

I've got some friends who will listen but it costs too much to get 'em drunk
And when they're sober all they're remember is oh boy that music stunk
So what am I gonna do with my waltzes when nobody wants to dance
And what am I gonna do with my music if nobody gives me a chance
[ instrumental ]
What am I gonna do with my marches I guess I'll just wait for a war
What'll I do with my sad recitations I can't get them into the store
They say you have to be different I wish I could whistle through my ears
Oh what am I gonna do with my music that nobody wants to hear
That nobody wants to hear

**********

10.

Wasted Borrowed Money

Tom T. Hall - Jim Whitehead

© Hallnote Music, BMI

Oh the years come tumbling down as if each one were a town
And I'm indebted to my friends for hanging out and hanging in
The debt is heavy on my mind friends been good and friends been kind
I lapped up my youth like honey just like wasted borrowed money

Just like wasted borrowed money breathing air of another day
Spendin' next week's pretty sunshine on a dream that's gone away
Would you settle for me being what I am and where we are
Just like wasted borrowed money some of these memories are scarred
[ instrumental ]
My emotions are all bankrupt like a poor boy's country store
I left out that part about me dying oh I've done it all before
Maybe I can make it up some well Lord it's sad but it seems to me
Just like wasted borrowed money life's been catchin' up with me

Just like wasted borrowed money breathing air of another day...

**********