1.

I Am An Island

Max D. Barnes

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

They say no man is an island that's all I hear from my old friends
They say I should forget you and learn to love again
But I don't need nobody tryin' to tell me what to do
And I don't want nobody else if I can't have you

I am an island I just want to be alone
Time means nothing to a stone I am an island
I am an island I'm driftin' on the sea
Till you come back to me I am an island

I've boarded up the windows locked and bolted all the doors
I don't want nobody comin' round to see me anymore
I just wanna hold your picture lose my mind in your sweet perfume
Sit here in the shadows starin' out the window of our room

I am an island I just want to be alone
Time means nothing to a stone I am an island
I am an island I'm driftin' on the sea
Till you come back to me I am an island
[ instrumental ]
I am an island I just want to be alone
Time means nothing to a stone I am an island
I am an island I'm driftin' on the sea
Till you come back to me I am an island

**********

2.

(# 58 country hit)

In My Next Life

Max D. Barnes

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

The blood red sun beat down and baked the red clay ground
Dust kicked up around his John Deere wheels
No trace of rain in sight again he'll lose the fight
And have to watch his crops die in the fields

They stood there both in tears his wife of many years
Said "John you know I hate to lose our farm"
He looked into her eyes then looked up at the skies
And told her as he held her in his arms

In my next life I want to be your hero
Somethin' better than I turned out to be
I've lived this life behind a plough and harrow
But in my next life I'll make you proud of me

The muscles in his arms just like his rundown farm
Soon withered up and slowly disappeared
One hard workin' man two hard workin' hands
Were givin' up after all these years

His aging eyes grew dim and the lady that worshipped him
Sat cryin' on a chair beside his bed
Her hands caressed his brow she said it's alright now
And as he slowly slipped away he said

In my next life I want to be your hero
Somethin' better than I turned out to be
I've lived this life behind a plough and harrow
But in my next life I'll make you proud of me

In my next life I want to be your hero
Somethin' better than I turned out to be
I've lived this life behind a plough and harrow
In my next life I'll make you proud of me
In my next life I'll make you proud of me

**********

3.

Way Back In The Mountains

Merle Haggard - Max D. Barnes

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

How far can a man stretch a dollar
I thought as I counted my pay
I told myself over and over
There must be some other way

No light at the end of the tunnel
The whole world is falling apart
And I need this load on my shoulders
Like I need a hole in my heart

I'm gonna move way back in the mountains
Build a cabin nobody can find
I'm gonna move way back in the mountains
I'm gonna leave this old city behind

How does a man hold a woman
When he's standing on unsteady ground
She's wantin' things I can't give her
Things that make her world go round

I'm tradin' this microwave oven
For a cast iron pot bellied stove
If all I can make is a living
Hey I should have moved back a long time ago

I'm gonna move way back in the mountains
Build a cabin nobody can find
I'm gonna move way back in the mountains
I'm gonna leave this old city behind
I'm gonna move way back in the mountains
Build a cabin nobody can find

**********

4.

What's New In New York City

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

What's new in New York City baby are you havin' a grand old time
You know this little old town I've been hangin' round closes plumb down at nine
What's happenin' up there in Old Times Square is it good to have me call
What's new in New York City baby do you miss my love at all

Everybody knows how much I love that old country life
I couldn't cut the Big Red Apple with another big old butcher knife

What's new in New York City baby are you havin' a grand old time
You know this little old town I've been hangin' round closes plumb down at nine
What's happenin' up there in Old Times Square is it good to have me call
What's new in New York City baby do you miss my love at all
[ instrumental ]
What's new in New York City baby are you havin' a grand old time
You know this little old town I've been hangin' round closes plumb down at nine
What's happenin' up there in Old Times Square is it good to have me call
What's new in New York City baby do you miss my love at all
What's new in New York City baby do you miss my love at all

Heh heh heh I know you do

**********

5.

Set My Chickens Free

Merle Haggard - Richard Smith

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

I was born down south on a chicken farm near Nashville Tennessee
There weren't nothin' there but the sky full of air and ten thousand chickens and me
So one day I said "Hey hey hey" and then I dropped some vitamin C
It blew my mind I got real kind and set my chickens free
I set my chickens free I set my chickens free
Got real kind blew my mind and set my chickens free

We got chickens in the corn flour chickens in the corn
Chickens in the bedroom chickens in the barn
We got chickens drivin' Cadillacs to Washington DC
I set my chickens free
I set my chickens free man I set my chickens free
Blew my mind I got real kind and set my chickens free
[ instrumental ]
Things got bad for the poultry game
There weren't no sense in a flop
So I said bye to my boots bye to my hens
And I said bye to my big red car
I set my chickens free man I set my chickens free
Got real kind blew my mind and set my chickens free one more
Set my chickens free yeah set my chickens free
Got real kind and blew my mind and set my chickens free

**********

6.

Chores

Merle Haggard - Max D. Barnes - Theresa Lane

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

When I was young man I worked on my own
You had the big chore of makin' a home
Now that I'm the keeper of all that was yours
I'm head of the family and I'm boss of the chores

Living without you is a chore on its own
I understand what all you did now that you are gone
Sometimes it sprinkles and sometimes it pours
When you're head of the family and you're boss of the chores

When I lost you darling the kids lost a mom
Now it's me and the children and there's work to be done
I look out for the babies and I scrub all the floors
Cause I'm head of the family and I'm boss of the chores

Living without you is a chore on its own
I understand what all you did now that you are gone
Sometimes it sprinkles sometimes it pours
When you're head of the family and you're boss of the chores

Hey sometimes it sprinkles and sometimes it pours
When you're head of the family and you're boss of the chores

**********

7.

Valentine

Willie Nelson

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Valentine
Won't you be my valentine
And introduce your heart to mine
And be my valentine

Summertime
We could run and play like summertime
With storybooks and nursery rhymes
And you could be my valentine

Candy heart
If anyone could you could have a candy heart
You're the sweetest of all sweethearts
Won't you give your heart to me can't you see I love you

Valentine
Won't you be my valentine
And won't you share your space with mine
And be my valentine
[ instrumental ]
Candy heart
If anyone could you could have a candy heart
You're the sweetest of all sweethearts
Won't you give your heart to me can't you see I love you

Valentine
Won't you be my valentine
And won't you share your space with mine
And be my valentine

**********

8.

Solid As A Rock

Merle Haggard - Max D. Barnes

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

This old road of love ain't for Sunday drivers
Has very few survivors in a world of hit and run
But we cared enough to hold on to each other
We pulled the load together and look how far we've come

Our love is solid as a rock like the moon and stars
We built our love to last like old Henry Ford built cars
Not one that falls apart after once around the block
Our love is solid as a rock

Through the years we've learned good things don't come easy
And life's a little crazy and nothin's ever free
All the tears and turns ain't no bed of roses
But we're about as close as two hearts could ever be

Our love is solid as a rock like the moon and stars
We built our love to last like old Henry Ford built cars
Not one that falls apart after once around the block
Our love is solid as a rock

Our love is solid as a rock not once around the block
We're sound around the clock and solid as a rock
Our love is solid as a rock not once around the block
But sound around the clock and solid as a rock

**********

9.

Bye Bye Travelin' Blues

Merle Haggard - Dean Holloway

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Yes I've been everywhere over under and through
Seen everything a man should see done all man could do
Now it's him and her and you I choose
And bye bye travelin' blues

For years we fought the road big bands travelin' light
Touring from town to town to town dealin' with the blues at night
Now it's him and her and you I choose
And bye bye travelin' blues

Bye bye travelin' blues
Bye bye travelin' blues
They cancelled my ticket they cancelled the cruise
It's bye bye travelin' blues
[ instrumental ]
Well I prayed to settle down I've been a rambler too long
Been playin' for dances since I was a boy and making my way with a song
Now it's him and her and you I choose
And bye bye travelin' blues

Bye bye travelin' blues
Bye bye travelin' blues
They cancelled my ticket and cancelled the cruise
It's bye bye travelin' blues

Bye bye travelin' blues
Bye bye travelin' blues
It's him and her and you I choose
And bye bye travelin' blues

**********

10.

The Troubadour

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

Rhinestone guitar cases honky tonks and Army bases
Trying to keep my name up there in lights
Learning chords and guitar rhythm
Singing blues and living with 'em
Doing every song old Hag can write

Troubadour I'm a troubadour
Doing everybody's favorite song
Troubadour I'm a troubadour
I'm laying back and trying to come on strong

Got songs about the nitty gritty
Doing shows in every city
Warming up the crowd for some big star
I'll always be the minor leaguer
Probably never get no bigger
I just love to play my old guitar

Troubadour I'm a troubadour
Doing everybody's favorite song
Troubadour I'm a troubadour
I'm laying back and trying to come on strong

Troubadour I'm a troubadour
Doing everybody's favorite song
Troubadour I'm a troubadour
I'm laying back and trying to come on strong
[ instrumental ]
Troubadour I'm a troubadour
Doing everybody's favorite song
Troubadour I'm a troubadour
I'm laying back and trying to come on strong

**********

11.

Ramblin' Fever

Merle Haggard

© Shade Tree Music, BMI

My hat don't hang on the same nail too long
My ears can't stand to hear the same old song
And I don't leave the highway long enough to bog down in the mud
I've got ramblin' fever in my blood

I caught this ramblin' fever long ago
When I first heard a lonesome whistle blow
If someone said I ever gave a damn man they damn sure told you wrong
I've had ramblin' fever all along

Ramblin' fever
The kind that can't be measured by degrees
Ramblin' fever
And there ain't no kind of cure for my disease

There's times I'd like to bed down on a sofa
And let some pretty lady rub my back
Spend the early morning drinkin' coffee
And talkin' about when I'd be comin' back

But I don't let no no woman tie me down
And I'll never get too old to get around
I want to die along the highway rot away like some old highline pole
Rest this ramblin' fever in my soul

Ramblin' fever
The kind that can't be measured by degrees
Ramblin' fever
There ain't no kind of cure for my disease

**********