Emmylou Harris

The wind is a warning
These fields turn to to sand
My family will not answer me now
Damned damned damned I am
Loving the highway man
Damned damned damned I am
Loving the highway man
Damned damned damned I am
Loving the highway man

Don't say where this ring came from
From whose shaking hands
don't say who lies bleeding for me
Damned damned damned I am
Loving the highway man
Damned damned damned I am
Loving the highway man

There's a hole in the ceiling
There's no pleasure in my gain
My heart is in prison
Damned damned damned I am
Loving the highway man
Damned damned damned I am
Loving the highway man

Hank Williams died when I was five
He sang I'll never get out of this world alive
Now it's been a long time since I was that kid
And I've seen a lot more than Hank ever did
I've done the down and out in every dark end dive
But I'll never get out of your love alive

Sam Cooke met the woman at the well
She told him that his song was something
he could never sell
And I think he knew a change was gonna come
Still he lived too fast and he died too young
Well, dying young I have survived
But I'll never get out of your love alive

I got washed in the blood of Bill Monroe
When he sang about the blues in the body and soul
He believed in a God that could raise the dead
Still, it's a mighty dark night to travel he said
I've seen a mighty dark night and I made that drive
But I'll never get out of your love alive

Robert Johnson had a hellhound on his trail
Drove him to the coffin like a hammer and a nail
It takes a powerful man to carry that load
When you're trying to beat the devil
to the old crossroad
I wrestled the devil, lived to testify
But I'll never get out of your love alive
I'll never get out of your love alive
Oh I'll never get out of your love alive
I'll never get out of your love alive

Keep a fire burnin' in your eyes
Pay attention to the open skies
Yuo never know what will he coming down
I don t remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you would always he around
Always keeping things real by playin' the clown
Now you're nowhere to be found
I don't know what happens when people die
Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
But I can't sing, I can't help listening
I can't help feeling stupid, standing around
Crying is the easier down
'Cause I know that you would rather we'd be dancing
Dancin' our sorrow away
No matter what fate throws in your way
Just do the steps that you've been shown
By everyone you've ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Another's steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you'll do alone
Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will he coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
Just as easy it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around
Go on and I make a joyful sound
Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and thrown some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you'll never know

I stand here by the Western Wall
Maybe a little of that wall stands inside us all
I shove my prayers in the crack
I've got nothing to lose, no one to answer back
All these years I've brought up for review
Wasn't taught this but I learned something new
And to answer the distant call
At the Western Wall

I've got a heart full of fear
And I offer it up on this altar of tears
Red dust settles deep in my skin
I don't know where it starts and where I begin
It's a crumbling pile of broken stones
It ain't much but it might be home
If I ever loved a place at all
It's the Western Wall

I don't know if God was ever a man
But if she was I think I understand
Why he found a place to break his fall
Near the Western Wall

You ask me if I've met your baby
I have to say
It's been some time now
Seems like yesterday

He was mine
For a while
We had good times
We went in style
But now he's yours
Treat him kind
Yes I remember well when
He was mine

You say he means the world to you
Well yes I can tell
You'll make each other happy
I wish you well

He was mine
For a while
We had good times
We went in style
But now he's yours
Treat him kind
Yes I remember well when
He was mine

Yes I remember well when
He was mine

He was mine
He was mine
He was mine
He was mine

Baby when you're down
I'll be around
Baby when you're lost
I'll be your found
When the night is long
I'll be the crack of dawn
Baby when you take a shot
I'll be your sweet spot
Baby when you need to float
I'll be your lifeboat
When you want to play along
I'll be your Mah Jong
When you've done your best
I'll be your day of rest
Baby when you take a shot
I'll be your sweet spot
I'll be your sweet spot

Baby when you're falling off your feet
Out on a road that's rough and steep
And you're looking for a state of grace
I'll be your leap of faith
Baby when you're growing old
I'll be your solid gold
When your ship don't come in
I'll be your thick and thin
When your love is blind
I'll be your walk the line
When you've given all you've got
I'll be your sweet spot

Oh the sisters of mercy
they are not departed or gone
They were waiting for me
when I thought that I just can't go on
And they brought me their comfort
and later they brought me this song
Oh I hope you run into them
you who've been traveling so long

Yes, you who must leave everything
that you cannot control
It begins with your family
but soon it comes 'round to your soul
Well I've been where you're hanging
and I think I can see how you're pinned
When you're not feeling holy
your loneliness says that you've sinned

Well they lay down beside me
I make my confessions to them
They touched both my eyes
and I touched the dew on their hem
If your life is a leaf
that the seasons tear off and condemn
They will bind you with love
that is graceful and green as a stem

When I left they were sleeping
and I hope you run into them soon
Don't turn on the lights
you can read their address by the moon
And you won't make me jealous
if I find they have sweetened your night
We weren't lovers like that
and besides it would still be all right
We weren't lovers like that
and besides it would still be all right

I'm falling down
I need to sleep
Come a long long way
No time for weepin
No time for weepin
Quiet now I'm falling down
I'm falling down
I have heard
A million tales
I have told
A million more
Some of them
Must have been true
But I don't know anymore
I'm falling down

SOLO

Do your dance on my head
Heavy steps of the dead
Everything the snow surrounds
Falling, falling, falling, falling
Falling,falling down
I'm falling down

To the east the factories stand
Like fire breathing dragons against the sky
And from their throats a scarlet river
Burns itself into smoky lullabies
Over neon and fluorescent skies

Valerie can you hear those engines drone
I wanted to go to Mexico
But I'm stranded here alone
And once I knew a true love
It's been three years since he's gone
And if I could get that feeling back
I'd give up everything I own

Sixteen days since I left Corona
And I traveled to this carnival town near Alberndeel
And I rode the coaster there on the fairground
Twisted backbone of a beast that never heals
And I left some skin on fortune's wheel

Valerie can you hear those engines drone
I wanted to go to Mexico
But I'm stranded here alone
And once I knew a true love
It's been three years since he's gone
And if I could get that feeling back
I'd give up everything I own

Everything's in slow motion now
In this little border town
I've come so close from so far
Just to hide behind these windows here
From the world outside
I watch those cars and trucks raise trails of dust
Down the road as they pass by

Valerie can you hear those engines drone
I wanted to go to Mexico
But I'm stranded here alone
And once I knew a true love
It's been three years since he's gone
And if I could get that feeling back
I'd give up everything I own
Everything I own
Everything I own

This is to mother you
To comfort you and get you through
Through when your nights are lonely
Through when your dreams are only blue
This is to mother you

This is to be with you
To hold you and to kiss you too
For when you need me I will do
What your own mother didn't do
Which is to mother you

All the pain that you have known
All the violence in your soul
All the wrong things you have done
I will take from you when I come

All mistakes made in distress
All your unhappiness
I will take away with my kiss
Yes I will give you tenderness

For child I am so glad I found you
Although my arms have always been around you
Sweet bird although you did not see me
I saw you

And I'm here to mother you
To comfort you and get you through
Through when your nights are lonely
Through when your dreams are only blue
This is to mother you

All I left behind should come as no surprise
To me since I fell through the black hole of your eye
Only little things inconsequential I could say
Of all I left behind with you along the lost highway
Silver earrings in Wichita
Beaded moccasins in Tonapah

But I had you so
I just let them go
The flannel shirt I wore to keep me from the cold
When we drove from Boston all the way to Buffalo
The leather boots I bought so many miles ago
I took them off to follow you into the Ohio
Never did my armor feel so thin

Silk was all I had between me and your skin
Like waterloo I lost that too
And the gold bracelet with my fathers name inscribed
On the back by the one who loved him all her life
The way I too could have loved you
The spanish shawl I put across the broken shade
Of the lamp that lit the room

That last night near Cour d'Alene
Only little things inconsequential I could say
Of all I left behind with you along the lost highway
Of all I left behind

Tonight my bag is packed
Tomorrow I'll walk these tracks
That will lead me 'cross the border
Tomorrow my love and I
We'll sleep 'neath auburn skies
Somewhere across the border

We'll leave behind my dear
Pain and sadness we've found here
And we'll drink from the Brazos' muddy waters
Where the sky grows gray and wide
We'll meet on the other side
There across the border

For me you'll build a house
High upon a grassy hill
Somewhere across the border
Where pain and memory
Pain and memory have been stilled
There across the border

Sweet blossoms fill the air
Pastures of gold and green
Roll down into cool clear waters
And in your arms 'neath open skies
I'll kiss the sorrow from your eyes
There across the border

Tonight we'll sing the songs
And I'll dream of you, my corazon
And tomorrow my heart will be strong
And may the saints' blessing and grace
Carry me safely into your arms
There across the border

For what are we
Without hope in our hearts
That someday we'll drink from God's blessed waters
And eat the fruit from the vine
I know that love and fortune will be mine
Somewhere across the border

I know that somewhere there's someone you love more than me
Someone you love more than me
And I hate to say it, but you have a right to be free
I know that's the way it should be
But I'm too far gone
Too far gone
I've loved you so much for so long
And I'm too far gone

If ever your new love should hurt you or make you feel blue
Hurt you or make you feel blue
Just remember old love will still be around loving you
I'll be around loving you
'Cause I'm too far gone
Too far gone
I love you so much for so long
And I'm too far gone

It was a teenage wedding
And the old folks wished them well
You could see that Pierre
Did truly love the mademoiselle
And now the young monsieur and madame
Have rung the chapel bell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to slow you never can tell
They furnished off an apartment
With a two room Roebuck sale
The coolerator was crammed
With T.V. dimmers and ginger ale
But when Pierre found work
The little money comin' worked out well
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

They had a hi-fi phono
Boy did they let it blast
Seven hundred little records
All rockin' rhythm and jazz
But when the sun went down
The rapid tempo of the music fell
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

they bought a souped-up jitney
T'was a cherry-red fifty nine
They drove it down to New Orleans
To celebrate their anniversary
It was there that Pierre
Was wedded to the lovely mad'moiselle
"C'est la vie", say the old folks
It goes to show you never can tell

The wheels of love turn around and around
Keep on rollin' 'til you've found
The perfect partner, somebody just right
To have and hold every day and every night
So she's halfway to Texas with all of your dreams
The world ain't as bad as what it might seem
You got a whole lot of living, honey, left to do
There's still a whole lot of love inside of you

The wheels of love turn around and around
They'll take you for a ride like a merry-go-round
Don't let the heartache hold you down
When there's plenty of love to left be found
On the wheels, ridin' on the wheels of love

Catch you a ride, imagine what you might find
Just the right girl at just the right time
Ready and waiting, she'll look you in the eyes
Ah, but the wheels of love will never compromise
So she broke your heart, honey don't look back
You got to keep on rollin' down the track
And maybe the next time you'll keep your feet on the ground
When the wheels of love spin you around

The wheels of love turn around and around
They'll take you for a ride like a merry-go-round
Don't let the heartache hold you down
When there's plenty of love left to be found
On the wheels, ridin' on the wheels of love

The wheels of love turn around and around
They'll take you for a ride like a merry-go-round
Don't let the heartache hold you down
When there's plenty of love left to be found
On the wheels, ridin' on the wheels of love

Oh, the wheels
Ridin' on the wheels of love

Well it's saturday night
You're all dressed up and blue
I've been watchin' you go out
Maybe you been watchin' me too
So somebody ran out
Left somebody's heart in a mess
Well if you're lookin' for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest

Some girls they want a handsome Dan
Or some good-lookin' Joe
On their arms some girls want
A sweet talkin' Romeo
We'll 'round here baby
I've learned you get what you can get
So if you're rough enough for love
Honey, I'm tougher than the rest

Yeah, the road is dark
And it's a thin, thin line
But I want you to know
I'll walk it for you anytime
Maybe your other girlfriends
Couldn't pass the test
Well if you're rough and ready for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest

Well it ain't no secret
I've been around a time or two
Well, I don't know, baby
Maybe you've been around too
But there's another dance, baby
All you got to do is say yes
And if you're rough and ready for love
Honey I'm tougher than the rest

Every night I dream about him
In my world of fantasy
I pretend that we're together
In his world there's a garden in the moonlight
In his world there's a sweet and gentle breeze
In his world, oh he tells me that he loves me
That's where my heart wants to be

I saw a star falls from the heaven
I hope the wish I made comes true
I don't want to live without him
In his world I can see a new tomorrow
In his world where he gives his heart to me
In his world we will share this love together
That's where my heart wants to be

Why must I go on pretending
Why can't I tell him how I feel
These sweet dreams are never ending
And this loneliness is real

I saw a star fall from the heavens
I hope the wish I made comes true
I don't want to live without him
In his world I can see a new tomorrow
In his world where he gives his heart to me
In his world we will share this love together
That's where my heart wants to be

In his world there's a garden in the moonlight
In his world there's a sweet and gentle breeze
In his world, oh he tells me that he loves me
That's where my heart wants to be