Hayes Carll Album

Highway 87 is a dangerous place to be
When you pissed off all the local boys
and your back’s against the sea
The cops all know your number
Bars all know your name
After six straight months of drinkin’ boy,
you’re never gonna be the same
And I ain’t seen the sunshine
since I don’t remember when
I may not know where I’m goin’
but I sure know where I’ve been

The sheriff he just watches every move I make
And one of these days he’s gonna arrest me
for all the time I take
The local girls all act
Like I just ain’t their kind
Paintin’ on their precious nails
and losin’ their sweet minds
And I’ve give half of Texas if I could find a friend
I may not know where I’m goin’
but I sure know where I’ve been

Ahh the coast is disappearing
as they line up on the beach
Doin’ all those little things
that Sunday School don’t teach
Jim Beam by the fire, Cocaine in the stash
Baseball bat on the floorboard
shotgun on the dash
And you might lose your mind
go walkin’ round the bend
You may not know where you’re goin’
but you’ll sure know where you been.

Six-pack of something, bottle of pills
Got to be a better way to get my thrills
Lord you know sometime livin’ ain’t hardly enough
Not when you’re waitin’ on a sign from Heaven above.

Lyin’ round the house wastin’ sleep all day
Everything I wanted keeps slippin’ away
What Can I do when my time flies like a dove
Won’t come back without a sign from Heaven above.

This nine-to-five work is giving me the blues
Wanna get my picture on the six-o’clock news
Oh pretty baby, maybe I ain’t got the stuff
But I can’t make a move without a sign from Heaven above.

I found me a lover, she’s six-foot-three
Everybody says she’s better looking than me
What can I say, I guess I’m only lucky in love
Lord it helps pass time when you’re waiting on Heaven above.

Bar full of strangers, fifty-cent beer
God Almighty what am I doin’ here
Always end up on the floor when push comes to shove,
Can’t pick myself up without a sign from Heaven above.

But I gotta write it down, make everything right
Goin’ to a party on Saturday night
Me oh my, what on Earth was I thinking of
Time rolls by when you’re waiting on Heaven above.
Yeah, life rolls by when you’re waiting on Heaven above.

You told your mama, you told your pa
Mama called the preacher
Daddy called the law
But it’s alright, it’s alright
We did not need them anyway
We just won’t come home on Christmas
or any other Holiday

You say behave yourself, I say I’ll try
You say don’t go out tonight
And I say why
But it’s okay, it’s okay
Everything’s gonna be just fine
You can fall asleep in your bed, honey
And I’ll toss and turn in mine.

You makin’ money honey, gonna be a star
I lie around all day
And play guitar
But it’s okay, it’s okay
Everything’s gonna be alright
I’ll make breakfast every morning sugar
Sing you lullabies at night.

Well you like checkers, and I like chess
I like you naked
And you like to dress
But it’s okay, it’s okay
Everything’s gonna be just fine
Naked Checkers every Friday
I bet you beat me everytime

You told your mama, you told your pa
Mama called the preacher
Daddy called the law
But it’s alright, it’s alright
We did not need them anyway
We just won’t come home on Christmas
or any other Holiday

Well I hide behind my guitar like a sparrow in the night
Hopin’ I might fly away anew
Cause they’ll love you when you’re wrong
And then leave you when you’re right
Tell me baby, what’s a boy to do?

Well I came to town a stranger, not knowin’ how to act
Figured I’d hang out and just get found.
Made me some new friends
They climbed way up on my back
Been gone so long they ain’t comin’ down

You can kiss the sky good morning
You can say your prayers at night
Hide your soul way down in your shoes,
But it’s the same old scene
Borrowed love and faded dreams
And you just can’t hide from those Arkansas Blues.

Well time is playin’ tricks on me
Makes me thing I’m movin’ fast
I don’t think I’m movin’ at all
And every stranger’s face I see reminds me of the past
Come on big and leave you feelin’ small

So I took to drinkin’ liquor on the other side of town
Way up in those woods beside the moon
Where every graceful dream I had got lost without a sound
Tell you what, I can’t leave this place too soon.

And it don’t take no rhyme or reason
It don’t make no sense at all
Just one of those things that you don’t choose
It’s the same old thing
Broken hearts and busted strings
And you just can’t run from those Arkansas Blues.

Everybody’s asking questions about whose side are you on
I don’t see how it matters much to me
And all these midnight celebrations
That are ended by the dawn
Leave you feelin’ low as you can be

So I’m leaving town this morning, gonna lighten up my load
See if I can’t lose what I have found
And it’s one drink for the memories
And one kiss for the road
Look out, I believe I’m Texas bound
California, Oklahoma, Arizona, Tennessee
I been all around this land to pay my dues
High, low, and right behind me
Wherever I go they find me
And I just can’t run from the Arkansas Blues.

The time has come, there is no second chance
We’ve been drifting on an empty aching sea
You were the girl I never knew I wanted
I was the boy you hoped you’d never see

Chorus
And it’s a shame
That we ain’t lovers
We could’ve been something, so big and grand
Just kissin’ for hours
underneath that sweet magnolia
Beggin’ for answers, tryin’ to make a stand

Been burnin’ up the hours, talkin’ to the midnight
Just dreaming of ways I could hold you next to me
But maybe it just wasn’t meant, all things have a reason
Maybe our hearts were just too careless and free

Repeat Chorus

There was a time, when you would have had me
There was a time, I could have had you
But it’s too late, another path has come and gone again
I’m at the back door with a broken window view thinkin’

Repeat Chorus

I’m so tired of writin’, but I can’t put down my pen
It’s too late now to talk or turn back
So just hold on, ‘cause baby here we go again
Headin’ the wrong way down that one way track

Repeat Chorus

Well, I’m doin’ ten to twenty
In the frozen granite state
And every day I go to work
To stamp out license plates
Everyday I got to work
And every night I cry
Cause every license plate I make tells me to
Live Free or Die

Chorus
Live Free or Die
Oh Lord tell me why
Can’t they say seatbelts fastened
Or Oklahoma is OK
Vacation land sounds mighty great
I wouldn’t mind stampin’ out the Garden State
It’s enough to make me cry
Live Free or Die

Well I didn’t mean to shoot that man
Why the gun just went off in my hand
I caught him with my wife
And it cost that man his life
I’d just got home from the factory
And that man was sittin’ where I’m supposed to be
Now he’s up there in the sky and I’m stuck with
Live Free or Die

Repeat Chorus

So let this be a lesson
To all you married men out there
That patience is a virtue
So make your plans with care
So if you catch your wife with another man
It’s best to hold off as long as you can
Then shoot him in another state where they got
A different license plate

Jamie was a barmaid at the Underground Longrail
Seems like every Friday evenin’
She’d find herself in Jail
Not a friend this side of Houston
With the time to throw her bail
But she’ll be fine, she’ll be fine

Spent a lifetime walkin’
Through the walls of a broken home
Not a man round here still standin’
For the girl to call her own.
Every time she tried to hold him
She just ended up alone
But there’s still time, there’s still time

Davey drove a taxi
Through the streets of Boston town
Like the billboards up above him
The world just wore him down
Only soul he’d ever cared for
Was the one he’d never found
But He’ll be fine, He’ll be fine

Broken Half of Winter, with a wind chill ten below
Davey sittin’ in his kitchen laughin ‘bout
How the world had done him so
Then the postman burst his bubble
With a letter from below
And now it’s time, now it’s time

Chorus
And there’s a lot of people runnin’ round
Not quite sure which way to go
But as for me I believe I finally found
It’s just easy come and easy go

Jamie grabbed a bottle, threw her apron on the bar
Packed her whole world in a suitcase
And tossed it in the car
Woke up in Texarkana
Wondrin’ how she’d got this far
And on her own, on her own

Stranger at the motel let Jamie stay for free
She was gone before the daybreak
On her ways to Tennessee
Lookin’ to make the whole world over
Into a place she wants to be
But not alone, not alone

Davey left his taxi
In the bottom of a Beantown lake
He said this whole world’s full of chances
And this is one I gotta take
So he caught the line to Nashville
To finally find his break
And make a home, make a home

As the train flew out of Boston
His whole world passed him by
He said I spent a lifetime runnin’
And now’s the time to try
If I can’t find someone to hold me
My dreams will surely die
And I’ll be gone, I’ll be gone

Repeat Chorus

When Davey hit the pavement
The sky was almost gray
He lit a smoke off of the sidewalk
To drive the storm away
And when Jamie turned the corner
With the world upon her brow
Davey said I must be dreamin’
How could this happen now
And then she walked right towards him
Looked him right up in the eye
Davey reached out for forever
And Jamie walked on by

Repeat Chorus

Well you like flowers and I like liquor
Your way’s nice, but my way’s quicker
I been watchin’ you all night long
And I gotta say something, don’t care if it’s wrong
I’m feelin’ outrageous
Hope it’s contagious
I want to spend the night with you

Well I’m the kind of boy who’s slow and lazy
Little bit lost and a little bit crazy
You’re the kind of girl who wakes at dawn
Walkin’ through the kitchen till the soaps come on
Well baby it’s only
That I’m feelin’ lonely
And I want to spend the night with you

Well I’m no good at sweet romancin’
Pillow talk or limbo dancin’
I’m just a fool hidin’ from the rain
Sittin’ with a bottle of cheap champagne
But I’m feelin’ funky,
Drunker than a monkey
And I want to spend the night with you

We’ll go home and leave the lights on
Wear G-Strings and see-through tights oh
We’ll make love and we’ll have a ball
In the kitchen, against the wall
I’m getting excited,
Hope I’m invited
I want to spend the night with you

Well you like flowers and I like liquor
Your way’s nice, but my way’s quicker
I been watchin’ you all night long
And I gotta say something, don’t care if it’s wrong
I’m feelin’ outrageous
Hope it’s contagious
I want to spend the night with you
Yeah, I’m getting excited,
Hope I’m invited
‘Cause I want to spend the night with you

Richey Lee was his Father’s boy
Big, loud, Hard-drinkin’ bundle of Joy
A walkin’ laugh wrapped up in corduroy
Richey couldn’t do no wrong

Grew up with a fast runnin’ crowd
Good bunch of boys, just a little too loud
Can’t fault a man for being proud
Richey kept rollin’ on

Spent his days in a rock-n-roll band
Tellin’ jokes, a guitar in his hand
Tryin’ hard to meet every demand
Of all of those late-night shows

Whiskey-drunk on a Saturday night
She caught his eye comin’ out of the light
Half way there he had to get in a fight
Back home that’s just the way it goes

Chorus
Strange days, they leave you in a wonder
And good times, they don’t always stay
And true love, it will shake you like thunder
But old friends just fade away
Old friends just fade away

Summertime on the river again
Fishin’ poles and a two-dollar grin
Ain’t ever gonna laugh like that again
Fallin’ right to the ground

Count the miles down to New Orleans
Borrowed cash and dirty bluejeans
Couple of boys lookin’ for Cajun queens
Thinkin’ they own the town

But we all left to find work out of town
Even the wild ones, they slow down
Richey felt like he was comin’ unwound
Got tired of playin’ the game

Liquor bottles pillin’ up before noon
Richey said he just needed some room
We all saw the end comin’ way too soon
And man that’s an awful shame

Repeat Chorus

I could be the perfect lover if you let me
I could be the only thing you’ve ever known
I could scream out all your lonely heart’s desires
I could hold all your life’s pain inside my own

I could bring the clouds for you to walk among them
I could raise the seas for them to know your grace
I could teach the Gods of all your Autumn’s glory
I could bring the Summer stars to know your face

But if I come again and only as a friend
Would you still know the way my heart is pourin’ out
Or would you laugh aloud, an angel all too proud
To ever be lonely again

I been locked up here with all these lonesome questions
I need a new word just to whisper in your ear
Baby right now I am open to suggestions
I’m gonna tell you all the things you need to hear

There’s a mirror in my room with no reflection
There’s a table where your friends have gathered ‘round
There’s a doorway that my heart could never walk through
There’s a graveyard full of times I let you down

But if I come again and only as a friend
Would you still know the way my heart is pourin’ out
Or would you laugh aloud, an angel all too proud
To ever be lonely again

Well it’s hard to write a song
When your three-fourths gone
And Crazy Legs keeps pickin’ on my guitar
I try to clear my head
And reflect on what she said
But the only thing reflecting’
Seems to be the bar

A shot of Bourbon
Never hurt no one
So I reckon two couldn’t do no harm
Well I know my eyes are red
And I’m a little bit underfed
But baby please believe me
That ain’t cause for no alarm

Chorus
I’m pleased to meet you
My name is Lost and Lonely
That’s spelled with one L not two
And don’t you think you
Could be my one and only
Baby just long enough
For me to make love to you

So tell me what do you see
Standin’ in front of thee
Oh yes I get poetic when I’ve had a few
But Lord I swear it’s hard
When you’ve been dealt all your cards
And the only thing you’ve ever known
You’ve done forgotten how to do

So let’s pour another round
For dreams we never found
And laugh until the tears fall from our face
And when they finally send me home
I can’t make that walk alone
There’s just too many memories,
Another time and place

My first hangout when I moved to Galveston was the Old Quarter Cafe. It's the best bar ever, except they don't have liquor, food, or customers. So, in between sets I went across the street to drink whiskey, eat peanuts, and stare at the cigarette machine.

I'm tired of drinkin' whiskey by myself
I'm tired of drinkin' whiskey by myself
I wish you'd take that bottle
And put it right back on the shelf
Cause I'm tired of drinkin' whiskey by myself

I go down to the bar most every night
I go down to the bar most every night
The girls don't even notice and the boys all want to fight
But I go down to the bar most every night

The jukebox has not played my song in years
The jukebox has not played my song in years
On this same old barstool just backin' shots with beers
And the jukebox has not played my song in years

All my friends have gone so far away
Said all my friends have gone so far away
They all moved down to Austin
Lord I miss ‘em night and day
And all my friends have gone so far away

I'm really not that funny anymore
I'm really not that funny anymore
I used to be a riot, now I just a lonely bore
And I'm really not that funny anymore

Do you think that I could stay in town with you
Do you think that I could stay in town with you
It's thirty miles to my place and I'm feelin' tired and blue
Do you think that I could stay in town with you

Cause I'm tired of drinkin' whiskey by myself
I'm tired of drinkin' whiskey by myself
I wish you'd take that bottle
And put it right back on the shelf
Cause I'm tired of drinkin' whiskey by myself