Townes Van Zandt Album

If I needed you would you come to me,
Would you come to me, and ease my pain?
If you needed me
I would come to you
I'd swim the seas for to ease your pain

In the night forlorn the morning's born
And the morning shines with the lights of love
You will miss sunrise if you close your eyes
That would break my heart in two

The lady's with me now since I showed her how
To lay her lily hand in mine
Loop and Lil agree she's a sight to see
And a treasure for the poor to find

Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath's 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
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
Nobody heard his dying words
That's the way it goes

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

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
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
Now he's growing old

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

Sometimes I don't know where this dirty road is taking me
Sometimes I can't even see the reason why
I guess I keep on gamblin', lots of booze and lots of ramblin'
It's easier than just a-waitin' 'round to die

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

I came of age and found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar
She cleaned me out and hit it on the sly
I tried to kill the pain, I bought some wine and hopped a train
Seemed easier than just a-waitin' 'round 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, drug me back to Muskogee
It's two long years, just a-waitin' 'round to die

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

By townes van zandt

Blue wind's blown my dreams away
My darling's flown and she's gone to stay
All I got now is yesterday
And I don't know what to do

I guess I'll go downtown and see
Just what downtown can do for me
Maybe set my lonesome free
Or maybe let me go

I loved her true and I told her so


I ask her too and she told me no
She said she had somewhere to go
And then she said good-bye

I wonder how long it can go on
How long I'll sing this same old song
I wonder which one done us wrong
Which one forgot to try

I loved her true and I told her so
I ask her too and she told me no
She said she had somewhere to go
And then she said good-bye

It's plain to see, the sun won't shine today
But I ain't in the mood for sunshine anyway
Maybe I'll go insane
I got to stop the pain
Or maybe I'll go down to see Kathleen.

A swallow comes and tells me of her dreams
She says she'd like to know just what they mean
I feel like I could die
As I watch her flying by
Ride the north wind down to see Kathleen.

Stars hang high above, the oceans roar
The moon is come to lead me to her door
There's crystal across the sand
And the waves, they take my hand.
Soon I'm gonna see my sweet Kathleen.

Soon I'm gonna see my sweet Kathleen

I ain't gonna sing no lonesome tune
Ah, babe, I'm a-commin' soon
I cannot believe i stayed so long away
But a man must look around
And you're the sweetest thing I've found
Your lost high roller's rollin' home today

My daddy said to me
"Son, it's hard as you will see
To find someone upon whom to rely"
In the kitchen mama sneezed
And he grinned big as you please
Said "bless you" and a tear come to his eye

I did decide that very day
That I would like to live that way
And now I know I just been wastin' time
It's eith you that I should be
If you feel the same 'bout me
I'm headed home along the straightest line

(feat. Kimmie Rhodes)

Brother flower, are you listenin'?
Let me sing a song for you
Brother flower, petals glistenin',
In the bashful mornings dew
Brother flower, when the sun shines
And the dew has flown away
If you don't mind weak and wrong rhymes
Brother flower, may I stay?

Brother flower, you ain't lonely
For you've always been alone
But I haven't been so lucky
I had love and now it's gone
I have arms to hold another
Never to hold her again
I have life to give lover
You have life to give the wind

Brother flower, when the snow flies
And you lay your beauty down
Brother flower, are you sleepin'
There upon the cold, cold ground
Brother flower, please awaken
Show the sky your face of blue
Let me know I ain't forsaken
Seems like all I have is you

(feat. Doug Sahm)

Well, the clouds didn't look like cotton
They didn't even look like clouds
I was underneath the weather
My friends looked a crowd
The swimmin' hole was full of rum
I tried to find out why
All I learned was this my friend
You got to swim before you fly

I got two girls
One's in heaven and one's below
Oh, one I love with all my heart
And one I do not know.

Two lonesome dudes on an ugly horse
Passed by not long ago
They asked me where the action was
I said I did not know
As they disappeared into the brush
I heard the driver say
He's a little slow between the ears
He's always been that way.

Jolly jane just lays around
And listens with her mouth
She's had about a dozen husbands
But the last one pulled out
Now, who's gonna bring her dinner
Through the weary years ahead
All she'll get from me is sympathy
Got no time to see she's fed.

It's cold down on the bayou
They say it's in your mind
But the moccasins are treadin' ice
And leavin strange designs
Cajuns say the last time
That this happend they weren't here
All beaumont's full of penguins
And I'm a-playin' it by ear

(feat. Willie Nelson)

I stood in line and left my name
Took about six hours or so
Well, the man just grinned like it was all a game
Said they'd let me know
I put in my time till the pocono line
Shut down two years ago
I was staying at the mission till I met marie
Now I can't stay there no more

Fella 'cross town said he's lookin' for a man
To move some old cars around
Maybe me and marie could find a burned-out
Van and do a little settlin' down
Aw, but I'm just dreamin', I ain't got no ride
And the junkyard's a pretty good ways
That job's about a half week old besides
It'd be gone now anyway

Unemployment said I got no more checks
And they showed me to the hall
My brother died in georgia some time ago
I got no one left to call
Summer wasn't bad below the bridge
A little short on food that's all
Now I gotta get marie some kind of coat
We're headed down into fall

I used to play the mouth harp pretty good
Hustled up a little dough
But I got drunk and I woke up rolled
A couple of months ago
They got my harp and they got my dollar

Them low life so and so's
Harps cost money and I ain't got it
It's my own fault I suppose

The pocono's down but the chesapeak's runnin'
Two freights everyday
If it was just me I'd be headed south
But marie can't catch no train
She's got some pain and she thinks it's a baby,
Says we gotta wait and see
In my heart I know it's a little boy
Hope he don't end up like me

Well, the man's still grinnin' says he lost my file
I gotta stand in line again
I want to kill him but I just say no
I had enough of that line my friend
I head back to the bridge, it's getting kinda cold
I'm feelin' too low down to lie
I guess I'll just tell marie the truth
Hope she don't break down and cry

Marie she didn't wake up this morning
She didn't even try
She just rolled over and went to heaven
My little boy safe inside
I laid them in the sun where somebody'd find them
Caught a chesapeak on the fly
Marie will know I'm headed south
So's to meet me by and by

Marie will know I'm headed south
So to meet me by and by

Well, a diamond fades quickly when matched to the face of Maria
All the harps they sound empty when she lifts her lips to the sky
Ah the brown of her skin makes her hair seem a soft golden rainfall
that spills from the mountains to the bottomless depths of her eyes

She stands all around me her hands slowly siftin' the sunshine
All the laughter that lingers down deep 'neath her smilin' is free
Well, it spins and it twirls like a hummingbird lost in the morning
then caresses the south wind and silently sails to the sea

As softly she wanders I'll desperately follow her footsteps
I chase after shadows that offer a trace of her sigh
They promise eternally that she lies hidden within them
but I find they've decieved me and sadly I bid them goodbye

So the serpent slides slowly away with his moments of laughter
and the old washer-woman has finished her cleanin' and gone
but the bamboo hangs heavy in the bondage of quicksilver daydreams
and a lonely child longingly looks for a place to belong

When the wind don't blow in amarillo
And the moon along the gunnison don't rise
Shall I cast my dreams upon your love, babe
And lie beneath the laughter of your eyes

It's snowin' on raton
Come morning I'll be through them hills and gone

Mother thinks the road is long and lonely
Little brother thinks the road is straight and fine


Little darling thinks the road is soft and lovely
I'm thankful that old road is a friend of mine

Bid the years good-bye you cannot still them
You cannot turn the circles of the sun
You cannot count the miles until you feel them
And you cannot hold a lover that is gone

Tomorrow the mountains will be sleeping
Silently the blanket green and blue
All that I shall hear the silence they are keeping
I'll bring all their promises to you

(feat. Kathy Mattea)

At my window
Watching the sun go
Hoping the stars know
It's time to shine
Daydreams
Aloft on dark wings
Soft as the sun streams
At days decline

Living is laughing
Dying says nothing at all
Baby and I are laying here
Watching the evening fall

Time flows
Through brave beginnings
And she leaves her endings
Beneath our feet
Walk lightly
Upon their faces
Leave gentle traces
Upon their sleep

Living is dancing
Dying does nothing at all
Baby and I are laying here
Wathing the evening fall

Three dimes
Hard luck and good times
Fast lines and low rhymes
Ain't much to say
Feel fine
Feel low and lazy
Feel grey and hazy
Feel far away

Living is sighing
Dying ain't flying so high
Baby and I are lying here
Watching the day go by