Townes Van Zandt Album

By townes van zandt

If I had a dollar bill
Yes, I believe I surely will
Go to town and drink my fill
Early in the morning

Little darling, she's a redhaired thing
Man, she makes my legs to sing
Gonna buy her a diamond ring
Early in the morning

Mother was a golden girl
I slit her throat just to get her pearls
Cast myself into a whirl
Before a bunch of swine

It's a long way down the harlan road


Busted back and a heavy load
Won't get through to save my soul
Early in the morning

I've always been a gambling man
I've roled them bones with either hand
Seven is the promised land
Early in the morning

Whiskey'd be my dying bed
Tell me where to lay my head
Not with me is all she said
Early in the morning

If I had a dollar bill
Yes, I believe I surely will
Go to town and drink my fill
Early in the morning

By townes van zandt

Won't say I love you, babe,
Won't say I need you, babe,
But I'm gonna get you babe
And I will not do you wrong.
Living's mostly wasting time
And I'll waste my share of mine
But it never feels to good,
So let's don't take to long.
You're soft as glass
And I'm a gentle man;
We got the sky to talk about
And the earth to lie upon.

Days, up and down they come
Like rain on a congadrum
Forget most, remember some
But don't turn none away.
Everything is not enough
And nothin' is to much to bear.
Where you been is good and gone
All you keep is the getting there.

To live is to fly
Low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes.

Goodbye to all my friends
It's time to go again
Think of all the poetry
And the pickin' down the line
I'll miss the system here
The bottom's low
And the treble's clear
But it don't pay to think to much
On things you leave behind.
I will be gone
But it won't be long
I will be a'bringin' back the melodies
And rhythm that I find.

We all got holes to fill
Them holes are all that's real.
Some fall on you like a storm,
Sometimes you dig your own.
The choice is yours to make,
Time is yours to take;
Some sail upon/dive into the sea,
Some toil upon the stone.

To live is to fly
Low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes;

Shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes.

By townes van zandt
Ride the blue wind high and freeShe'll lead you down through miseryLeave you low, come time to goAlone and low as low can be
If I had a nickel I'd find a gameIf I won a dollar I'd make it rainIf it rained an ocean I'd drink it dryAnd lay me down dissatisfied
Legs to walk and thoughts to flyEyes to laugh and lips to cryA restless tongue to classifyAll born to grow and grown to die

So tell my baby I said so longTell my mother I did no wrongTell my brother to watch his ownAnd tell my friends to mourn me none
I'm chained upon the face of timeFeelin' full of foolish rhymeThere ain't no dark till something shinesI'm bound to leave this dark behind
Ride the blue wind high and freeShe'll lead you down through miseryLeave you low, come time to goAlone and low as low can be

The folks, they just can't take no more
Throw you in the back seat, slam the door
No stoppin' as down the road you go
Go not time to lose

Gigantic one way gate ahead
You're thinkin' man I'd as soon be dead
They decided to give you life instead
The sanitarium blues

Big ole nurse all dressed in white
Slaps you on a table in the middle of the night
Then he straps you down real tight
You're wonderin', what'd I do?

They hose you down, make sure you're clean
Wrap you up in hospital green
Shoot you full of Thorazine
The sanitarium blues

Could be TB or maybe a tumor
Eavesdropping on the doctors, listening to the rumors
Can't see your friends, hear the hum of the wheels
Hey my man, you know how it feels
Like the sanitarium blues

They upon some sunlit day
They figure there's no need for you to stay
They're pretty sure you can't be cyred
So they send you on your merry way

You hit the pavement, hang around
Nobody's on the outside to be found
You're just tryin' to stay above the ground
You start to thinkin', what's the use?
The sanitarium blues
The sanitarium blues

By townes van zandt
Mister gator he's a-glidin' down the bayouMister buzzard he's a-slidin' through the airMister turtle be a-hittin' the highwayI ain't goin' nowhere
I ain't leavin you love, babeI ain't leavin you love, babeNot for heaven above, babeI ain't leavin you love, babe

The poor man got him an airplaneTryin to cruise across the traffic jamThe rich man got him a chevroletI'm stayin' right where I am
Now hannibal he climbed the mountainsCleopatra danced down the nileLucky lindy made it all the way to gay parisI'm stayin right here awhile

By townes van zandt

Greensboro woman don't you smile on me
I do not feel like being comforted
And anyway I'll be home soon
For once is someone waitin' there
And if you don't mind
I just think on her instead

Your face, she's a picture, babe
Pictures ain't what I crave
I don't feel this way most generally
I just put a thousand miles 'tween me
And where my thoughts do lie
And I thank you kindly baby to kindly let me be

Your car, she's smooth and fast
Babe, your bourbon's fine
But I ain't feelin free and clear today
Texas loving laying on my mind
I couldn't do you right babe spinnin' round this way

Greensboro woman don't you smile on me
I do not feel like being comforted
And anyway I'll be home soon
For once is someone waitin' there
And if you don't mind
I just think on her instead

Mr. Ten Dollar man
Let me tell where you're bound
Drink your green liqour, Lord
You'll roll to the ground
But you come around here
With your money in your hand
Taste of my woman
You die where you stand

Snake Mountain blues
They got me down low
I could die in the morning
But noone would know
My woman come 'round
My body she'd find
Go down to Dundee
Have her a time

Snake Mountain's
Gonna crumble Lord
And fall from the sky
Before that woman of mine
Stops tellin' her lies
If I'd die Lord she'd weep
She'd weep and she'd mourn
Soon as I's buried
Forget I'd been born

Love of black-skinned woman
She won't do you no wrong
Slow to start moanin'
She don't moan for long
A yellow-headed woman
Brings you nothin' but pain
Take all you give her
She leaves only shame

My Daddy, Lord he rides
On a long holy train
First winds of winter
I'll see him again
It's farewell to this yellow
Headed misery I've known
Snake Mountain's callin'
Callin' me home

Snake Mountain blues
They got me down low
I could die in the mornin'
No one would know
My woman come around
My body she'd find
Go down to Dundee
Have her a time

Living on the road my friend,
Is gonna keep you free and clean.
Now you wear your skin like iron,
And your breath as hard as kerosene.
You weren't your mama's only boy,
But her favorite one it seems.
She began to cry when you said goodbye,
And sank into your dreams.

Pancho was a bandit boys,
His horse was fast as polished steel,
He wore his gun outside his pants,
For all the honest world to feel.
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico,
And nobody heard his dying words.
Ah, but that's the way it goes.

And all the Federales say,
They could have had him any day.
They only let him hang around,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to.
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth.
The day they laid poor Pancho low,
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go,
There ain't nobody knows.

And all the Federales say,
They could have had him any day.
They only let him slip away,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

Well the poets tell how Pancho fell,
And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel.
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold,
And so the story ends we're told.
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too.
He just did what he had to do,
And now he's growing old.

And a few grey Federales say
They could have had him any day.
They only let go so wrong,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

A few gray Federales say
They could have had him any day.
They only let him so wrong,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

Why does she sing her sad songs for me, I'm not the one
To tenderly bring her soft sympathy, I've just begun
To see my way clear and it's plain if I stop I will fall
I can lay down a tear for her pain, just a tear and that's all
What does she want me to do
She says that she knows that moments are rare
I suppose that it's true
Then on she goes to say I don't care and she knows that I do
Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song
Who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong

She'd like to think that I'm cruel but she knows that's a lie for I would be
No more than a tool if I allowed her to cry all over me
My sorrow is real even though I can't change my plans
If she could see how I feel then I know that she'd understand
Does she actually think I'm to blame
Does she really believe that some word of mine
Could relieve all her pain
Can't she see that she grieves just because she's been blindly deceived
By her shame
Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song
Who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong

Nothin's what it seems, maybe she'll start someday to realize
If she abandons her dreams then all the words she can say are only lies
When will she see that to gain is only to lose
All that she offers me are her chains, I got to refuse
It's only to herself that she's lied
She likes to pretend there's something that she should defend with her pride
I don't intend to stand her and be the friend from whom she must hide
Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song
Who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong

Sometimes I don't know where
This dirty road is taking me
Sometimes I don't even know the reason why
But I guess I keep a-gamblin'
Lots of booze and lots of ramblin'
Well it's easier than just a-waitin' around to die

One time, friends, I had a ma
I even had a pa
Well he beat her with a belt once 'cause she cried
She told him to take care of me
Headed down to Tennessee
Well it's easier than just a-waitin' around to die

Well I came of age and I found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar
She cleaned me out and hit in on the sly
I tried to hide the pain, I bought some wine and hopped a train
Well it's easier than just waitin' around to die

A friend said he knew
Where some easy money was
We robbed a man, and brother did we fly
The posse caught up with me
And drug me back to Muskogee
Two long years waitin' around to die

Well, now I'm out of prison
I got me a friend at last
Well he don't drink or steal or cheat or lie
His name's codeine
He's the nicest thing I've seen
Yah, together we're gonna wait around and die
Yah together we're gonna wait around and die

Well it's many a fine lady that's walked along beside me
With their flesh made of velvet and their eyes made of rain
Well some tried to hold me to hurt me to hide me
And some turned away not to look back again

One stood among them I remember most clearly
Well her sorrows were heavy and her laughter was slow
Well I courted her gently and I loved her most dearly
And I came her majestic reflection to know

Her words like a mountain stood lonely and lofty
With her face like a daydream and her hair like the shawl
Worn by a mourner as he steals away softly
From those that would have him mourn nothing at all

Endlessly sorrow rode high on the north wind
Slashing and slicing to take him his toll
And endlessly creatures of darkness were cuttin'
Their paths through the walls that shelter the soul

But no longer gypsy lie sadness unending
Well her eyes they lay hollow and her face petrified
Well, the sun will go laughin' and others condemn him
But who there among you could have told her good-bye

So close and yet so far away
And all the things I'd hoped to say
Will have to go unsaid today
Perhaps until tomorrow
Your fears have built a wall between
Our lives and all what loving means
Will have to go unfelt it seems
And that leaves only sorrow
You built your tower strong and tall
Can't you see, it's got to fall someday

You close your eyes and speak to me
Of faith and love and destiny
As distant as eternity
From truth and understanding
The wind blows cold outside your door
It whispers words I've tried before
But you don't hear me anymore
Your pride's just too demanding
You built your tower strong and tall
Can't you see, it's got to fall someday

The end is coming soon it's plain
A warm bed just ain't worth the pain
And I will go and you'll remain
With the bitterness we've tasted
A mother's breast, a newborn child
A poet's tear and drunken smile
I can't help feelin' all the while
Their meaning won't be wasted
You built your tower strong and tall
Can't you see, it's got to fall someday

Headin' from El Paso
Ridin' down the highway
Look out my window
What do I see
Some armadillo done gone crazy
Flew in front of semi
Man, looks like squash to me


Thinkin' 'bout my my baby
Livin' down in Houston
Wonder if that squashes armadillo too
Guess I'll stop in Greenland
And have me some ol' veggies
This highway will do that to you


I'm thinkin' Squash
On the highway
Coyote and Armadillo, Possum too
I'm talkin' Squash
Out on the highway
Vitamin D and A and B Complex too
I'm talkin' Squash


Domestic Animals
SQUASH!
Occasional Cat
SQUASH!
In the Winter it's frozen food
SQUASH!
I'm talkin' Squash
Winter kill
Out on the highway
Summer too
I'm talkin Squash
Vitamin A and B1 too
I'm talkin Squash
SQUASH!
Out on the highway
If you promise to do your part
I'll do mine too