Steve Earle Album

Well my name's John Lee Pettimore

Same as my daddy and his daddy before

You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here

He only come to town about twice a year

He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line

Everybody knew that he made moonshine

Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad

He headed up the holler with everything he had

It's before my time but I've been told

He never come back from Copperhead Road



Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big black Dodge

Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge

Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side

Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside

Well him and my uncle tore the engine down

I still remember that rumblin' sound

Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night

Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right

He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load

You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road



I volunteered for the Army on my birthday

They draft the white trash , first round here anyway

I done two tours of duty in Vietnam

And I came home with a brand new plan

I take the seed from Columbia and Mexico

I just plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road

Now the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air

I wake up screaming like I'm back over there

I learned a thing or two from ol' Charlie don't you know

You better stay away from Copperhead Road

Copperhead Road

Copperhead Road

Ladies and gentlemen, attention please
Come in close so everyone can see
I got a tale to tell, a listen don't cost a dime
And if you believe that, we're gonna get along just fine

Now I've been travelin' all around
I heard trouble's come to your town
Well I've got a little somethin' guaranteed to ease your mind
It's call snake oil y'all, it's been around for a long, long time

Say your crops'll burn if it don't rain soon
Ain't seen a drop since the tenth of June
Well I can open up the sky, people have no fear
If you ain't impressed yet, just tell me what you wanna hear

Well you lost your farm, so you moved to town
You get a job, they shut the factory down
Now you sit around all day long feelin' sad and blue
You need snake oil y'all, tell you what I'm gonna do

I can heal the sick, I can mend the lame
And the blind shall see again, it's all the same

Well ain't your President good to you
Knocked 'em dead in Libya, Grenada, too
Now he's taking his show a little further down the line
Well, 'tween me and him people, you're gonna get along just fine

Well sometimes in the evenings I start to get that feeling
Like I'm empty inside
I know I'm doin' good now but tonight I'm headed downtown
Down by the riverside

I sit underneath the freeway with an old friend from the old days
And a bottle of wine
Well he used to call me "Big Time", and he knew someday that I'd shine
Said he'd seen all the signs
He said . .

"Keep yourself to yourself
Keep your bedroll dry
And boy you never can tell
What the shadows hide
Keep ene eve on the ground
Pick up whatever you find
'Cause you've got no place to fall
When your back's to the wall"

He's gettin' old and it's showin' when I asked him how it's goin'
He said "I've seen better I guess
I've been rained on, I've been frozen, but this here's the life I've chosen
If it just wasn't for the loneliness"

Now this river suits me to a T. but if you're trying to raise a family
It ain't no place to be
There's a kid down by the dump there, ought to be in grade school somewhere
Now he hangs out with me
And I told him . . ."

Well we finished off the bottle and I told him,"Joe I think I ought to
Be headed uptown"
Well it was late, and I'd been drinkin', drivin' home I got to thinkin'
'Bout what's been going down

Cause they're nervous down on Wall Street, but they're trying to keep it upbeat
Or maybe they just don't care
But down at the river eyes are burnin' cause they feel the tables turnin'
So if you wind up down there . . .

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I'm an American, boys, and I've come a long way
Born and bred in the USA
So listen up close, I've got something to say
Boys, I'm buying this round
Well it took a little while, but we're in this fight
And we ain't going home 'til we've done what's right
We're gonna drink Camden Town dry tonight
If I have to spend my last pound

When I first got to London it was pourin' down rain
Met a little girl in the field canteen
Painted het name on the nose of my plane
Six more missions, I'm gone
Well I asked if I could stay and she said that I might
Then the warden came around yelling "turn out the lights"
Death rainin' out of the London night
We made love 'til dawn

Chorus
But when Johnny Come Lately comes marching home
With a chest full of medals and a G.I. loan
They'll be waitin' at the station down in San Antone
When Johnny comes marching home

My P-47 is a pretty good ship
And she took a round comin' cross the channel last trip
I was thinkin' 'bout my baby and letting her rip
Always got me through so far
Well they can ship me all over this great big world
But I'll never find nothing like my North End girl
I'm taking her home with me one day, sir
Soon as we win this war

Chorus

Now my grandaddy sang this song
Told me about London when the Blitz was on
How he married grandma and brought her back home
A hero throughout his land
Now I'm standing on a runway in San Diego
A couple Purple Hearts and I move a little slow
There's nobody here, maybe nobody knows
About a place called Vietnam

Chorus

I've always heard that love is blind
But I know that there's another kind
Shines like a beacon in the night
And holds up in the morning light

Cause in mv dreams she travels with me when I run
And in my dreams she takes my hand
When I make my stand but morning always comes
And I know it's too good to be true
She loves me even when I'm blue

No one can say that I ain't tried
I keep on searching far and wide
And I know she's out there somewhere now
I'm gonna track her down somehow

Lately I've been feeling a little uneasy so I run straight home to you
It's been cold as hell and you just can't tell what a girl might do
I made a whole lot of promises baby, but none of my dreams came true
And it's you that paid and I'm so afraid that I'm losing you

But you belong to me
You belong to me
you beleng to me, me, baby, me

Now your mama said you could do better than me, baby I know that's true
But you believed me instead. every word I said, and I did too

But every day's a Iittle bit harder out there no matter what I do
Well I could carry the world on my shoulders girl long as I got you

But you belong to me
You belong to me
you beleng to me, me, baby, me

But you belong to me
You belong to me
you beleng to me, me, baby, me

Well my shining armour is rusted and worn
There's a heart inside here entrusted and sworn to you
Just tell me baby what I need to do
I can win you over again if you want me to

But you belong to me
You beleng to me, me, baby, me

Here comes the night, day brings no light
For wrong or right I'm here waiting on you
Words cut too deep, old ghosts won't sleep
But they'll never keep me from waiting on you

Breathing out, breathing in
Holding out, giving in
Doing with or without
For a lifetime, just a lifetime

I can't let go, I wait for you
Till hell goes cold, I'll wait for you
You're all I know and I wait for you

Breathing out, breathing in
Holding out, giving in
Doing with or without waiting on you

Don't show it all, walk on, walk tall
Behind this wall I'm still waiting on you

A long time ago, there laid a man,
He had the world in the palm of his hand.
Sultans and kings beat a path to his door,
Had everything but he still wanted more.

One day in Spring came a lady so fair,
And he'd never looked on a beauty so rare.
But he didn't trust her,
So he locked her away,
The gold lost its lustre when the love died that day.

Once you love, once you trust it,
Once you give, your soul is bare.
One false move and you know you're busted,
Once you love, you care.

I knew an old man, lived all alone
A sad little house at the end of the road
Sat on his front porch, in an old rocking chair,
Everyone swore he'd gone crazy down there.
But no-one comes near, so how could they know,
He lost someone dear to him once long ago.
He remembers the laughter, still tastes the tears,
Still calls her name out after all of these years.

Once you love, once you trust it,
Once you give, your soul is bare.
One false move and you know you're busted,
Once you love, you care.

You can keep it all inside,
You can run but you can't hide.
When you think it's safe outside,
Look behind you love will find you.

Once you love, once you trust it,
Once you give, your soul is bare.
One false move and you know you're busted,
Once you love, you care.

Once you trust it,
Once you care. x4

Once upon a time in a far off land
Wise men saw a sign and set out across the sand
Songs of praise to sing, they traveled day and night
Precious gifts to bring, guided by the light

They chased a brand new star, ever towards the west
Across the mountains far, but when it came to rest
They scarce believed their eyes, they'd come so many miles
And the miracle they prized was nothing but a child

Nothing but a child could wash these tears away
Or guide a weary world into the light of day
And nothing but a child could help erase these miles
So once again we all can be children for awhile

Now all around the world, in every little town
Everyday is heard a precious little sound
And every mother kind and every father proud
Looks down in awe to find another chance allowed

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We've all got wheels to take ourselves away
We've got telephones to say what we can't say
We've all got higher and higher every day
Come on, wheels, take this boy away

We're not afraid to ride
We're not afraid to die
So come on, wheels, take me home today
Come on, wheels, take this boy away


Now when I feel that my time is almost up
And destiny is in my right hand
I'll turn to him who made my fate so strong
Come on, wheels, make this boy a man

We're not afraid to ride
We're not afraid to die
Come on, wheels, take me home today
Come on, wheels, take this boy away
Come on, wheels, take this boy away

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I saw her standin' on her front lawn just twirlin' her baton
Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died

From the town of lincoln, nebraska with a sawed off .410 on my lap
Through to the badlands of wyoming I killed everything in my path

I can't say that I'm sorry for the things that we done
At least for a little while sir me and her we had some fun


The jury brought in a guilty verdict and the judge he sentenced me to death
Midnight in a prison storeroom with leather straps across my chest

Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back
You make sure my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my lap

They declared me unfit to live said into that great void my soul'd be hurled
They wanted to know why I did what I did
Well sir I guess there's just a meanness in this world

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Well, when you're sitting there
In your silk upholstered chair
Talking to some rich folk that you know
Well, I hope you won't see me
In my ragged company
You know I could never be alone

Take me down, little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the queen of the underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Well, when you're sitting back
In your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
I'll be in my basement room
With a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away

Take me down, little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the queen of the underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Take me down, little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the queen of the underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the US mail
Say it with dead flowers at my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave
No, I won't forget to put roses on your grave

(greg trooper version - from we don't dance)
I don't care what you do to me
I don't care what you do to me
I don't care what you do to me
But won't you let my little sister be

Now you can tie me up an torture me
You can hang me from a willow tree
You can jail me for eternity
But won't you let my little sister be

She's afraid of the dark


She prays for the morning light
She's as free as a bird
And her wings are spread and ready for flight
She knows nothing at all
About you and your emotional plight
But she heard you making noises
In the hallway late last night

If you got to have something to show
And you've got to take it down below
And you're sure that one of us must go
Take me and leave my sister alone

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