Willie Nelson Album

Livin on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
Weren't your momma'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 boss, 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 in the desert down in Mexico
And nobody heard his dyin' words, ah but that's the way it goes

All the Federales say, "Could'a had him any day."
They only let him slip away, out of kindness, I suppose

Lefty can't sing the blues all night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south has 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, "Could'a had him any day"
They only let him slip away out of kindness, I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell, and Lefty's livin' 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 only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old

A few gray Federales say, they could'a had him any day
They only let him go so long, out of kindness, I suppose

Well I might have gone fishin' I got to thinkin' it over
The road to the river is a mighty long way
Well it must be the reason ano rhyme or no reason
I'm takin' it easy it's my lazy day

I never mind callin' cause I ain't comin'
Just get you on by me and stay out of my way stay out of my way
A little bit thinkin' drives me to drinkin'
Hey I'm a takin' it easy it's my lazy day
[ piano - guitar ]
Well I might have gone fishin'...

I take a trip every evening scrolling down memory lane
I'm walkin' again those familiar paths dreaming those dreams again
And I can always see my sweetheart just as she used to be
Waiting for someone at the garden gate and I know that someone is me
Big brown eyes and pearly hair and you'd tell that's Mary
Rosy cheeks and ruby lips can't you tell that's Mary
Ofttimes in the evenings we'd go scrolling
Hand in hand together beneath the pepper tree
And I can feel her hand in mine as I sit alone tonight
Dreaming of the times I spent with Mary
[ fiddle - guitar ]
Ofttimes in the evenings...
Oh gee wouldn't it be wonderful to open up the doors of the past
And live again as yesterday
But you know no matter where I wander no matter where I roam
There'll always be a place in my heart boys
Fofr a girl away back for a girl that I used to call Mary

If I only had one arm to hold you
Well better yet if I had none at all
Then I wouldn't have two arms that ache
For you there'd be one less mem'ry to recall
If I only had one ear to listen to
The lies that you told to me
Then I more closely resemble
The half a man that you've made of me
If I only had one leg to stand on
Then how much how much truer picture you'd see
Cause then I more closely resemble
The half a man that you've made of me

Reasons to quit the smoke and booze don't do me like before
And I'm hardly ever sober and my old friends don't come around much anymore
Reasons to quit below it always lower than the high
And the reasons to quit don't out number all the reasons why
So we keep smokin' and we keep drinkin' havin' fun and never thinkin'
Laughin' at the price tags that we pay
And we keep rollin' down the fast lane like two young men feelin' no pain
And the reasons for quittin's gettin' bigger each day

Reasons to quit I can't afford the habit all the time
I need to be sober I need to write some new songs that will rhyme
Reasons to quit they have no rhyme or reason when you're high
And the reasons to quit don't out number all the reasons why
[ guitar ]
We keep smokin' and we keep drinkin'...
And the reasons for quittin's gettin' bigger each day

There's a circle of people where I'm no longer welcome
I'm ashamed to say that I'm no longer fit
I could sober up tomorrow and face my friends again
But I've got no reason to quit
No I've got no reason for living right and there's no other way to forget
I could sober up tomorrow and face my friends again
But I've got no reason to quit
[ guitar - mandolin ]
I've got no reason for living right and there's no other way to forget
I know down deep inside me I'm man enough to change
But I've got no reason to quit

Still water runs the deepest like a love complete and through
So peaceful and dependable I can't say the same about you

Your love is cold and selfish and it never could be true
One time I loved you truly I can't say the same about you
I'm leaving and I won't be back I'm goin' to where I belong
Too long we've been together and too long you've done me wrong
Still water runs the deepest...

[ guitar - mandolin ]

Well I'm leaving and I won't be back...
Still water runs the deepest...

I still love you as I did in yesterday
Many years have gone by though it seems just like a day
It's no wonder that I love you you have been so kind and true
There will never be another it will always be just you
We've come along the way together when you've proved your love is true
My life's been a pleasure and it's all because of you
And to me you'll always be just as sweet as flowers in May
And I'll still love you as I did in yesterday
[ guitar - violin ]
I still love you as I did in yesterday...
And to me you'll always be...

Most of my lfe I've been runnin' around playin' and havin' a ball
And maybe I've been on a party too long these mem'ries are fond to recall
You see we've got thise thing about women smokin' and good alcohol
Now I'm lookin' for a homelife and clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall
The women we've known have been many but they don't understand us at all
Though we've spent amny a long hours hopin' some old love would call
Surely somebody somewhere still wants us or don't nobody wants us at all
We're lookin' for a homelife and clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall
Most of our lives we've been outlaws slept with our backs to the wall
I'm a rambler I'm a seeker and we're gettin' weaker a whole lot more likely to fall
We're tired of the rocks and brambles those barbed wire fences at all
We're lookin' for a homelife and clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall

[ guitar ]

Most of our lives we've been outlaws...

Just watch the sunrise on the other side of town
Once more I've waited and once more you've let me down
This would be a perfect time for me to die
So I'd like to take this opportunity to cry
You gave your word now I return it to you
With this suggestion as to what you can do
Just exchange the words I love you for goodbye
While I take this opportunity to cry
I'd like to see you but I'm afraid that I don't know wrong from right
And if I saw you would I kiss you or want to kill you out of sight
It's been a long night so I think I'll go home
And feed my nightmares they've been waiting all night long
They'll be the last ones to tell me goodbye they'll give me many opportunities to cry
[ guitar - trumpet ]
Well I'd like to see you but I'm afraid....