Guy Clark Album

I'm gonna leave Texarkana
I'm goin' down to Louisiana
I'm gonna try my luck in Baton Rouge
I'm gonna follow ol red river down
Till I see the lights of town I ain't gonna get no sleep in Baton Rouge

Chorus

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge
I'm gonna get me some alligator shoes
Baton Rouge Baton Rouge
I'm gonna wear 'em out in Baton Rouge

It was a Texas girl that broke my heart
Then she tore my truck apart
I guess I'll get me another in Baton Rouge
I like Crawfish I like rice
I like girls that treat you nice
I'm gonna find me one in Baton Rouge

Chorus

I'm gonna learn to walk that walk
I'm gonna learn to talk that talk
I'm gonna learn to dance in Baton Rouge
Ain't life just like a cul-de-sac
I'm a Texas boy and I'm goin' back
Soon as I catch my breath in Baton Rouge

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I'm gonna strut my stuff in Baton Rouge
I'm gonna cool my heels in Baton Rouge

Picasso said in 1910
I'm gonna paint me a mandolin
Could be cubes it could be curves
I like to mix the paint with nerve
I'm gonna load my brush and fire away
Paint me a hole in the light of day

Chorus

You can play it straight or play it from left field
You got to play it just the way you feel
Come on boys and play it again
Play it on Picasso's mandolin

Well it's colorin' books and drinkin' wine
It抯 hard to stay between the lines
Ain抰 no rule if you don't break it
Ain抰 no chance if you don't take it
He said the damndest thing he ever heard
Was tryin' to learn to sing from a mockingbird

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Picasso said before he died
There抯 one more paintin' I'd like to try
The doctor held his breath and then
Picasso nailed a mandolin
He抯 born in Spain and died in France
He was not scared of baggy pants

Chorus

Sorry 'bout your mama
Sorry 'bout your paw
Sorry 'bout the business
With your brother-in-law
Hard cheese about the money man
Hard cheese about the stock
Hard cheese about you bein'
Up to your ears in hock

Tough luck about your luggage tough luck about your socks
Tough luck about the way
That the other shoe drops

Too bad about your girlfriend
Too bad about your wife
Too bad about the thing
You call the rest of your life

Chorus

How'd you get this number man
Who do you think you're talkin' to
Who do you think you抮e kiddin'
What do you want me to do
How抎 you get this number man
Please don't make me laugh
You know you oughta be on TV
With a line like that

I heard about the car wreck
I heard about the fight
I heard about the time
You抯 in jail all night

I know you don't like trouble
I know you don't like to fight
I know that you can argue
With a fence post all night

I heard about the lamp shade
I heard you had it on your head
I heard you told a joke and
Knocked the whole room dead

No kiddin' 'bout the cough syrup
No kiddin' 'bout the junk
No kiddin' 'bout you been
In a deep blue funk

Chorus

It's time for a change
I'm tired of that same ol same
The same ol words the same ol lines
The same ol tricks and the same ol rhymes

Days precious days
Roll in and out like waves
I got boards to bend I got planks to nail
I got charts to make I got seas to sail

Chorus

I'm gonna build me a boat
With these two hands
It抣l be a fair curve
From a noble plan
Let the chips fall where they will
Cause I've got boats to build

Sails are just like wings
The wind can make em sing
Songs of life songs of hope
Songs to keep your dreams afloat

Chorus

Shores distant shores
There抯 where I'm headed for
Got the stars to guide my way
Sail into the light of day

Chorus

Too much workin'll make your back ache
Too much trouble'll bring you a heartbreak
Too much gravy'll make you fat
Too much rain'll ruin your hat
Too much coffee'll race your heart tick
Too much road'll make you homesick
Too much money'll make you lazy
Too much whiskey'll drive you crazy

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Too much just ain't enough
Too much ain't near enough
Breathin抯 bout the only thing
I do too much of ain't enough

Too much limo'll stretch your budget
Too much diet'll make you fudge it
Too much fluff'll make you show it
Too much pressure'll make you blow it
Too much onion'll make you weepy
Too much preachin'll make you sleepy
Too much Mexican food'll fill you
Too much honky tonk'll kill you

Chorus

Too much hot rod'll get you a ticket
Too much dog'll make you kick it
Too much hidin' out'll find you
Too much you-know-what'll blind you
Too much wrist watch'll make you hurry
Too much waitin'll make you worry
Too much smokin'll give you cancer
Too much cocaine ain't the answer

Chorus

Too much walkin'll wear your shoes out
Too much juice'll blow your fuse out
Too much time'll fill your hands up
Too much speed'll wire the band up
Too much chip'll bruise your shoulder
Too much birthday'll make you older
Too much map has always lost me
Too much fun has always cost me

Chorus

Now a Ramblin' Jack Elliot said:
I got these lines in my face
Tryin' to straighten out the wrinkles in my life
When I think of all the fools I've been
It抯 a wonder that I've sailed this many miles

To which Larry Mahan replied:
He said, "The sweet bird of youth
Was sittin' on my shoulder yesterday
But she's always changin' partners
And I always knew she'd up and fly away"

Chorus

Stayin' up all night
In the Driskill Hotel
Ramblin' Jack and Mahan
Was cowboyed all to hell
The room smelled like bulls
The words sound like songs
Now there's a pair to draw to boys
I would not steer you wrong

So ol' Ramblin' Jack said:
He said, "I recall a time
I set my soul on fire just for show
All it ever taught me was
The more I learn the less I seem to know"

Ol' Mahan crawled out from behind a couch and said:
"Jack, as far as I can see
Mistakes are only horses in disguise
Ain抰 no need to ride 'em over
'cause we could not ride them different if we tried

Chorus

I don抰 love you much do I
Just more than human tongue can tell and that's all
I don抰 love you much do I
Remember how I kissed you in the hall

Chorus

See how it sparkles in my eyes
I couldn抰 hide it if I tried- that抯 right
I don抰 love you much do I
Just more than anything else in this whole world
I don抰 love you much do I
Just more than all the stars in the sky
I don抰 love you much do I
I think you hung the moon and that抯 alright

Chorus

I don抰 love you much do I
You can feel it all the way across the room
I don抰 love you much do I
Like the spring doesn抰 make the flowers bloom
I don抰 love you much do I
I'd follow you to hell and back again
I don抰 love you much do I
Just watch me light up when you walk in

Chorus

Now I don't mind workin' hard
You can't burn me down
They ain't made a job
That I can't work my way around
Sometime I do it for the money
Sometime for the glamour
Sometime I use my head
Sometime I get a bigger hammer

I worked on the railroad
I worked in the fields
I'm a steeple jack and it's a fact
I drive anything on wheels
I can frame a house drive pilin'
Pour that wet concrete
Take a weldin' rig and build a bridge
And I can do it in my sleep

Chorus

I'm the jack of all trades
I love every lick I get
If I ain't got the job done son
I might not want to quit
I'm the jack of all trades
That makes me the boss
You gonna get your money's worth
No matter what it costs

I don't work assembly line
Doin' the same ol thing
Same ol shop the same ol clock
Playin' the same ol game
I don't want no desk job man
It don't suit my clothes
I don't need no engineer
Just to show me how it goes
Hmm hmm show me how it goes

Chorus

There ain't no need to do a job
It I can't do it right
I may not be gettin' rich
But I'm sleepin' good at night
Some call me a gypsy
Some call me a flake
But I'll kiss your ass if I don't earn
Every dime I make

Chorus

Oh the beautiful red-haired
Madonna with child
Sat on the curb wearin' a smile
That doubled up the years
And trebled the miles
And comforts the babe
In the softest of style
She work up in San Francisco
On the day she turned 16
Haight St. was somethin' then
Hey man you should have seen
And she took up with this drummer
In some goodtime Texas scene
And she loved him till the day they
Shipped him back home to Killeen
She said she danced up in North Beach
When the need arose
She抯 tryin' to start a little trade
Of makin' people clothes
To feed the child and pay the rent
And everybody knows
She抯 a little hard for 21
But that's the way she goes
She's livin' on next to nothin'
And memories from the past just a fading flower child
Tryin' to make it last
She抯 got answers to some questions
I would not dare to ask
Survival抯 never graceful
When the changes come that fast

Frankie D. said he got it
Straight from Roger Miller
Life抯 just like takin' candy
From a gorilla
I started thinkin' man
This ain't so tough
That抯 about the time
That the monkey showed up
Sometimes I can't find
My heart with both hands
I usually got my head stuck
Down in the sand
I start to feel like
I can't even breathe
What's the little breath of fresh air
Blowin' up my sleeve

Chorus

Must be my baby hey hey hey
She can make the Mississippi River
Run the other way
Must be my baby just in time
How抯 she always know when
I'm about to lose my mind

Sometimes it feels like
Everything抯 a drag
I could not smile my way
Out of a wet paper bag
It gets so dark
That the clock stops tickin'
It抯 just like night and day
Was playin' chicken
I'm ridin' on the boiler of a long black train
Tryin' to find the brakes
In a drivin' rain
I got smokestack lightning' pourin out the funnel
What's the little light at the end of the tunnel

Chorus