Willie Nelson Album

Riding on the City of New Orleans
Illinois Central, Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail
All along the south-bound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
And rolls along past houses, farms and fields
Passing trains that have no names
And freight yards, full of old black men
And the grave-yards of the rusted automobiles

Good morning America, how are you
Say don't you know me, I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
And I'll be gone five-hundred miles when the day is done

Dealing cards with the old men in the club car
Penny a point, ain't no one keeping score
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels grumbling 'neath the floor
And the sons of Pullman porters, and the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpet, made of steel
Mothers with their babies asleep, rocking to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel

Good morning America, how are you
Say don't you know me, I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five-hundred miles when the day is done

Night time on the City of New Orleans
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee
Halfway home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness, rolling down to the sea
But all the towns and people seem to fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news
The conductor sings his songs again
The passengers will please refrain
This train has got the disappearing railroad blues

Goodnight America, how are you
Say don't you know me, I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the City of New Orleans
I'll be gone five-hundred miles when the day is done

Love that runs away from me dreams that just won't let me be
Blues that keep on bothering me chains that just won't set me free
Too far away from you and all your charms just out of reach of my two empty arms
Each night in dreams I see your face mem'ries time cannot erase
Then I awake and find you're gone and I'm so blue and all alone
So far away from you and all your charms just out of reach of my two empty arms
[ keyboards - piano - strings ]
That lonesome feeling all the time knowing you could not be mine
Dreams that hurt me in my sleep vows that we could never keep
So far away from you and all your charms just out of reach of my two empty arms

Everybody's gone away said they're moving to LA
There's not a soul I know around everybody's leavin' town
Some caught a freight some caught a plane find the sunshine leave the rain
They said this town'll waste your time I guess they're right it's wastin' mine
Some gotta win some gotta lose good time Charlie's got the blues
Good time Charlie's got the blues

You know my heart keeps telling me you're not a kid at thirty-three
You play around you lose your wife you play too long you lose your life
I got my pills to ease the pain can't find a thing to ease the rain
I'd love to try and settle down but everybody's leavin' town
Some gotta win some gotta lose good time Charlie's got the blues
Good time Charlie's got the blues

You could have your choice of guys at town why are you pickin' on me
Just snap your fingers and they'll come around why are you pickin' on me
I'm well aware of this game you've learned
To love and then leave and show no concern
And tomorrow you'll have other candles to burn
So why are you pickin' on me
[ piano - guitar ]
You could have your choice...
Why are you pickin' on me

She's out of my life she's out of my life
And I don't know whether to laugh or cry
I don't know whether to live or die
And it cuts like a knife she's out of my life
It's out of my hands it's out of my hands
To think for two years she was his
And I took her for granted I was so cavalier
Now the way that it stands she's out of my hands
I have learned love is not possession and I have learned that love won't obey
I have learned love needs expression but I learned too late
She's out of my life she's out of my life
Damned indecision and cursed pride
Kept my love for her locked deep inside
And it cuts like a knife she's out of my life

If your sweetheart sends a letter of goodbye
It's no secret you feel better if you cry
When waking from a bad dream don't you sometimes think it's real
But it's only false emotions that you feel
If your heartaches seem to hang around too long
And your blues keep gettin' bluer with each song
Remember sunshine can be found behind the cloudy sky
So let your head down and go on and cry
If your heartaches...
[ guitar ]

Please come to Boston for the spring time
I'm staying here with some friends
And they've got lots of room
You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk
By a cafe where I hope to be working soon
Please come to Boston
She said, no, would come home to me

And she said, ramblin' boy why don't you settle down
Boston ain't your kind of town
There ain't no gold, and there ain't nobody like me
I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee

Please come to Denver with the snow fall
We'll move up into the mountains
So far we can't be found
And throw I love you echoes down the canyon
And then lie awake at night until they come back around
Please come to Denver
She said, no, would you come home to me

And she said, ramblin' boy why don't you settle down
Denver ain't your kind of town
There ain't no gold, and there ain't nobody like me
I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee

Now, this drifter's world goes 'round and 'round
And I doubt it's ever gonna stop
But of all the dreams I've lost or found and all that I ain't got
I still need to lean to
Somebody I can sing to

Please come to L. A. and live forever
California life alone is just too hard to build
I live in a house that looks out over the ocean
And there's some stars that fell from the sky
Livin' up on the hill
Please come to L. A.
She just said, no, would you come home to me

And she said, ramblin' boy why don't you settle down
L. A. ain't your kind of town
There ain't no gold, and there ain't nobody like me
I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee
I'm the number one fan of the man from Tennessee

In a way I'm glad it's over even though it's gonna hurt me once you're gone
But I can learn to live without you give me time and I can make it on my own
Loving you to me came easy and losing you will change my life no doubt
In a way I'm glad it's over but another way it turns me inside out
In a way I guess it's better altough there's nothing good at goodbye
But I know I couldn't hold you
Now you found your wings and you need room to fly
It's for sure I'm gonna miss you but I guess that's what goodbye is all about
In a way I'm glad it's over but another way it turns me inside out
On the one hand I know I'll be better off once you're gone
But I find a lot of heartaches on the other
And I can't say that I look forward to those nights I'll be alone
And I wonder if there'll ever be another
Loving you to me came easy and losing you will change my life no doubt
In a way I'm glad it's over but another way it turns me inside out
In a way I'm glad it's over but another way it turns me inside out

It must have been cold there in my shadow to never have sunlight on your face
You've been content to let me shine you always walked a step behind
I was the one with all the glory while you were the one with all the strenght
Only a face without a name I never once heard you complain
Did you ever know that you're my hero and everything I'd like to be
I can fly higher than an eagle but you are the wind beneath my wings

It might have appeared to go unnoticed I've got it all here in my heart
I want you to know I know the truth I would be nothing without you
Did you ever know...
You are the wind beneath my wings

You're not a dream you're not an angel you're a woman
I'm not a king I'm a man take my hand
We'll make a space in the lives that we planned
And here we'll stay until it's time for you to go

Though we're different we're apart we're not the same
We laughed and played at the stars like in a game
You could have stayed outside my heart but in you came
And here you'll stay until it's time for me to go
Don't ask why don't ask how don't ask forever love me now

This love of mine had no beginning it has no end
I was an oak now I'm a willow now I can bend
And though I'll never in my life see you again
Still I'll stay until it's time for you to go
Don't ask why I'll be don't ask how I'll be don't ask forever I'll be love me now
You're not a dream...