John Prine Album

Oh, the glory of true love
Is a wild and precious thing
It don't grow on old magnolias
Or only blossom in the spring
No, the glory of true love
Is it will last your whole life through
Never will go out of fashion
Always will look good on you

You can climb the highest mountain
Touch the moon and stars above
But Old Faithful's just a fountain
Compared to the glory of true love

Long before I met you darlin'
Lord, I thought I had it all
I could have my lunch in London
And my dinner in St. Paul
I got some friends in Albuquerque
Where the governor calls me "Gov"
You can give 'em all to Goodwill
For the glory of true love

Glory glory glory glory
You can't never get enough
Time alone will tell the story
Of the glory of true love

Glory glory glory glory
You can't never get enough
Time alone will tell the story
Of the glory of true love

Back before I was a movie star
Straight off of the farm
I had a picture of another man's wife
Tattooed on my arm
With a pack of Camel cigarettes
In the sleeve of my tee shirt
I'm headin' out to Hollywood
Just to have my feelings hurt

That town will make you crazy
Just give it a little time
You'll be walking 'round in circles
Down at Hollywood and Vine
You'll be waitin' on a phone call
At the wrong end of a broom
Yes, that town'll make you crazy
Crazy as a loon

So, I headed down to Nashville
To become a country star
Every night you'd find me hangin'
At every honky-tonk and bar
Pretty soon I met a woman
Pretty soon she done me wrong
Pretty soon my life got sadder
Than any country song

That town will make you crazy
Just give it a little time
You'll be walking 'round in circles
Lookin' for that country rhyme
You'll be waitin' on a phone call
At the wrong end of a broom
Yea, that town'll make you crazy
Crazy as a loon

So, I gathered up my savvy
Bought myself a business suit
I headed up to New York City
Where a man can make some loot
I got hired Monday morning
Downsized that afternoon
Overcome with grief that evening
Now I'm crazy as a loon

So I'm up here in the north woods
Just staring at a lake
Wondering just exactly how much
They think a man can take
I eat fish to pass the time away
'Neath this blue Canadian moon
This old world has made me crazy
Crazy as a loon
Lord, this world will make you crazy
Crazy as a loon

You and me
Sittin' in the back my memory
Like a honey bee
Buzzin' 'round a glass of sweet Chablis
Radio's on
Windows rolled up
And my mind's rolled down
Headlights shining
Like silver moons
Rollin' on the ground

We made love
In everyway love can be made
And we made time
Look like time
Could never fade
Friday Night
We both made the guitar hum
Saturday made Sunday feel
Like it would never come

Gonna be a long Monday
Sittin' all alone on a mountain
By a river that has no end
Gonna be a long Monday
Stuck like the tick of a clock
That's come unwound - again

Soul to soul
Heart to heart
And cheek to cheek
Come on baby
Give me a kiss
That'll last all week

The thought of you leavin' again
Brings me down
The promise of
Your sweet love
Brings me around

It's gonna be a long Monday
Sittin' all alone on a mountain
By a river that has no end
It's gonna be a long Monday
Stuck like the tick of a clock
That's come unwound - again
And again

A man came to our house
I believe it was yesterday
I would have invited him in
But I didn't have a lot to say

His anticipation of me opening the door
Outweighed my apprehension as it never had before
And drove my concentration
Right through that hardwood floor

I'm taking a walk
I'm going outside
I'm taking a walk
I'm just getting by

There's a girl in the white house
I don't even know her name
Her disheveled appearance
Speaks volumes of shame

It's an embarrassing situation
But a situation just the same
The way she walks on others
And never takes the blame
Upsets my constitution
Beyond its mortal frame

Oo-oo a-ha

I'm taking a walk
I'm going outside
I'm watching the birds
I'm just getting by

Found a card in the pocket
Of my worn out overalls
From a girl in Cedar Rapids
Now residing in Idaho Falls

I wish you could have been there
When she opened up the door
And looked me in the face
Like she never did before
I felt about as welcome
As a Wal-Mart Superstore

0o-oo - a-ha

I'm taking a walk
I'm going outside
I'm taking a walk
I don't need a ride

I'm watching the birds
Flying so high

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
A few frozen pizzas
Some ice cubes with hair
A broken Popsicle
You don't want to go there

Some humans ain't human
Though they walk like we do
They live and they breathe
Just to turn the old screw
They screw you when you're sleeping
They try to screw you blind
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

You might go to church
And sit down in a pew
Those humans who ain't human
Could be sittin' right next to you
They talk about your family
They talk about your clothes
When they don't know their own ass
From their own elbows

Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony
Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

[Spoken:]
Have you ever noticed
When you're feeling really good
There's always a pigeon
That'll come shit on your hood

Or you're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
They lie through their teeth
With their head up their behind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

Far away over the sea
There's a river that's calling to me
That river she runs all around
The place that I call my hometown

There's a valley on the side of the hill
And flowers on an old windowsill
A familiar old picture it seems
And I'll go there tonight in my dreams

Where it's green in the summer
And gold in the fall
Her eyes are as blue
As the sky I recall

Far away over the sea
There's a place at the table for me
Where laughter and music abound
Just waiting there in my hometown

The river she freezes
When there's snow on the ground
And the children can slide
To the far side of town

Far away far away me
Hung up on a sweet memory
I'm lost and I wish I were found
In the arms of my darlin' hometown

With the evening sun sittin'
On the top of the hill
And the mockingbird answering
The old chapel bell

Far away over the sea
My heart is longing to be
And I wish I could lay myself down
In the arms of my darlin' hometown

I saw you
All dolled up
Singing a song in your pickup truck
You put me on a morning train
You put me on a morning train
Ain't no need to explain
You put me on a morning train

Hey, Hey, Brother Ray
What'd you mean by "what'd I say"
You put me on a morning train

You put me on a morning train
Ain't no need to explain
You put me on a morning train

If it's gonna rain
And I wish that it would
Just go ahead and rain
Get it over for good
If there's really a hole in that big blue sky
Then move it on over and let me by

Constantinople is a mighty long word
Got three more letters than mockingbird
You put me on a morning train

You put me on a morning train
Ain't no need to explain
You put me on a morning train

I like you with your make-up on
All dolled up
Singing a song
You put me on a morning train

You put me on a morning train
Ain't no need to explain
You put me on a morning train

The moon is down
All over town
The forecast is grey
Now that she's gone away

The stars in the skies
Fell out of her eyes
They shattered when they hit the ground
And now the moon is down

The sun will be fine
It'll still shine all the time
The sky will be blue
And do what it's supposed to do
Ya see gravity pulls
But it can't keep you around
It'll be one long day
And now the moon is down

The moon is down
All over town
The stars in the skies
Fell out of her eyes
The gravity pulls
But it can't hold you down
It'll be one long day
Now the moon is down

It'll be on long day
Now the moon is down

(Blaze Foley)

I'm goin' down to the Greyhound Station, gonna get a ticket to ride
Gonna find that lady with two or three kids and sit down by her side
Ride 'til the sun comes up and down around me 'bout two or three times
Smokin' cigarettes in the last seat
Tryin' to hide my sorrow from the people I meet

And get along with it all
Go down where the people say "y'all"
Sing a song with a friend
Change the shape that I'm in,
And get back in the game,
And start playin' again

I'd like to stay but I might have to go to start over again
Might go back down to Texas, might go to somewhere that I've never been
And get up in the mornin' and go out at night
And I won't have to go home
Get used to bein' alone
Change the words to this song
Start singin' again

I'm tired of runnin' 'round lookin' for answers to questions that I already know
I could build me a castle of memories just to have somewhere to go
Count the days and the nights that it takes to get back in the saddle again
Feed the pigeons some clay
Turn the night into day
Start talkin' again, when I know what to say

I'm goin' down to the Greyhound Station, gonna get a ticket to ride
Gonna find that lady with two or three kids and sit down by her side
Ride 'til the sun comes up and down around me 'bout two or three times
Smokin' cigarettes in the last seat
Tryin' to hide my sorrow from the people I meet
And get along with it all

Go down where the people say "y'all"
Feed the pigeons some clay
Turn the night into day
Start talkin' again
When I know what to say

She is my everything
From her suntanned shoulders
Down to the freckles
On her wedding ring
Here feet are so warm
They could melt the snow
In the early Spring
She is my everything

She goes everywhere from Copenhagen
To making eggs and bacon down in Jackson Square
I'd like to drive a Cadillac
The color of her long black hair
She goes everywhere

Kisses that come all the way from China
Kinda remind her of memories of Spain
If I get lost you can always find her
Standing right beside me in the rain

She uses Eveready batteries to keep
Her electrical appliances going steady
She can do fourteen things at one
And then the phone'll ring
She is my everything

She know everybody
From Muhammad Ali
To teaching Bruce Lee
How to do karate
She can lead a parade
While putting on her shades
In her Masarati
She know everybody

Kisses that come all the way from China
Kinda remind her of memories of Spain
If I get lost you can always find her
Standing right beside me in the rain

She is my everything
When she wakes up in the morning
That's when the birdies
Start to sing
When I hear her voice
I'll tell you boys
I forget everything
She is my everything
She is my everything

Well I once knew a man who was going insane
He let love chase him right up a tree
It took the police and a fire truck
Just to bring him back down
Oh, I hate it when that happens to me

It made the front page of the paper
The gossip tongues wagged
Why they even showed it all on TV
Now if he should live forever
He won't live it down
Oh, I hate it when that happens to me

Dogs bites Man
Man loses girl
Oh what did he ever do
Wrong in this world?

Dogs bites Man
Man loses girl
Oh, what have I every done
Wrong in this world?

There once was a big buzz all over town
About a movie where the killer goes free
Now, he's got every one's sympathy
Oh, I hate it when that happens to me
Yes, I hate it when that happens to me

(A.P Carter)

Way up on Bear Creek, Watching the sun go down.
Way up on Bear Creek, Watching the sun go down.
Well it makes me feel like I'm on my last go 'round.

The water up on Bear Creek, Tastes like cherry wine.
The water up on Bear Creek, Tastes like cherry wine.
One drink of that water, You stay drunk all the time.

If you stay up on Bear Creek, You'll get like Jesse James.
If you stay up on Bear Creek, You'll get like Jesse James.
You'll take two pistols, And you'll rob that Bear Creek train.

I'm going high, high, Up on some lonesome ridge.
I'm going high, high, Up on some lonesome ridge.
Look down on Bear Creek, Where my good gal used to live.

Way up on Bear Creek, Watching the sun go down.
Way up on Bear Creek, Watching the sun go down.
Well it makes me feel like I'm on my last go 'round.

Why do you always seem to criticize me
Seems like everything I do just turns out wrong
Why don't you come on out and despise me
So I could pack my bag and baby I'd be gone

Remember when you used to call me honey
I'd turn around and call you honey too
You might think it's a joke, but it ain't funny
To hurt someone who's so in love with you

A clown puts his makeup on upside down
So he wears a smile even when he wears a frown
You might think I'm here when you put me down
But actually I'm on the other side of town.

My body's in this room with you just catching hell
While my soul is drinking beer down the road a spell
You might think I'm listening to your grocery list
But I'm leaning on the jukebox and I'm about half ... way there

A clown puts his makeup on upside down
So he wears a smile even when he wears a frown
You might think I'm here when you put me down
But actually I'm on the other side of town.

I'm sittin' on a chair just behind my ear
Playing dominoes and drinking some ice cold beer
When you get done talking I'll come back downstairs
And assume the body of the person you presume who cares

I'm across the river on the other side of town
In my mind I'm on the other side of town

Well, he never got too lonely
And he never got too sad
But he never got too happy
And that's what's just too bad
He never reached much further
Than his lonely arms would go
He wore a seatbelt around his heart
And they called him Safety Joe

[Chorus:]
Safety Joe
Safety Joe
What do you say?
What do you know?
If you don't loosen up the buckle
On your heart heart and start to chuckle
You're gonna die of boredom
Safety Joe

Now Joe he lived in Baltimore
'Cause New York was too darn fast
He sometimes went down to Washington
Just to view our nation's past
He never ate his vegetables
'Cause they were just too darn chewy
And he never climbed much higher
Than the arch in old St. Louis

[Chorus]

Joe gradually grew meaner
By not changin' his demeanor
But he never did nothin'
Too much for too long
Therefore his life never got much richer
Than the day they took that picture
In his birthday suit on the day that he was born.

[Chorus]

Well, you're gonna die of boredom
Safety Joe

That's golden