A way out on the mountain near the sky Hiding from the cold realities of life Shaking that old road dust off my heels I give my heart and mind a chance to heal
Then I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again More than likely ride back to the places that I've been In fairness to my music and my friends I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again
A raccoon stole my minnows in the night Thought I appreciate his need and his appetite But unlike me he doesn't have to roam And it's true that man can't live on bread alone
Then I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again More than likely ride back to the places that I've been In fairness to my music and my friends I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again
It feels so good to have a simple wish Where life and death is me and some old fish Poor king sits with a cold beer in his hand And surveys a clear blue kingdom on the sand
Then I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again More than likely ride back to the places that I've been In fairness to my music and my friends I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again I'll go somewhere and sing my songs again
I remember the year that clayton delaney died They said for the last two weeks that he suffered and cried It made a big impression on me, although I was a barefoot kid They said he got religion at the end and I'm glad that he did
Clayton was the best guitar picker in our town I thought he was a hero and I used to follow clayton around I often wondered why clayton, who seemed so good to me Never took his guitar and made it down in tenn-o-see
Well, daddy said he drank a lot, but I could never understand I knew he used to pick up in ohio with a five-piece band Clayton used to tell me, "son you better put that old guitar away, There ain't no money in it, it'll lead you to an early grave."
I guess if I'd admit it, clayton taught me how to drink booze I can see him half-stoned a-pickin' out the lovesick blues When clayton died I made him a promise, I was gonna carry on somehow I'd give a hundred dollars if he could only see me now
I remember the year that clayton delaney died Nobody ever knew it but I went out in the woods and I cried Well, I know there's a lotta big preachers that know a lot more than I do But it could be that the good lord likes a little pickin' too Yeah, I remember the year that clayton delaney died
Ramona lived just down the hill from us. She kept the house ger mother drove the bus. (an old yellow school bus) Ramona had a handicap the neighborhood knew well. Ramona couldn't speak or couldn't spell. (and that left Ramona at a
Considerable disadvantage among the more fluent) Although she couldn't write or couldn't talk, Ramona really had a pretty walk. (a four letter figure) Because she couldn't write or speak nobody asked her out.
But "bad-eye" Thompson hung around the house. (he was what you'd call a Familiar figure in the neighborhood) Well I guess their handicaps were common ground. 'Cause "bad-eye" Thompson always hung around.
He could squint that eye and spit tobacco thirty feet. Ramona always grinned and stomped her feat.(because,to Ramona this was one of The finer things in life) One day Ramona found herself with child.
She couldn't speak. Her mom was going wild. Confusion reigned for half a day as one could understand. The county judge came down to lend a hand. (and I think it should be noted in The interest of justice that the judge was acting in a strictly unofficial Capacity)
The neighbors gathered 'round Ramona's porch. The judge said, "Understand, this is not a court". Ramona squealed as all the breathless neighbors gathered 'round...... Then closed one eye and (puh-tui) spat upon the ground.
(And it's a familiar old phrase that "birds of a feather will flock together". And justice will be done)
I was working in Miami for a day or two I decided I'd look up a girl that I once knew I bought some flowers and went to see a girl I used to know The lady at her door said she had married long ago Times will change and towns will change; there I was alone And suddenly I wondered, "Would Susie be at home?" So with the flowers in my hand, I walked toward her gate Someone touched me on the arm and said, "You'll have to wait."
Then I noticed there were people standing in a line And some of them were holding pretty flowers just like mine They explained that Susie had been in an awful crash Doctors said that she had just a little while to last When I walked into her room, I felt a sense of shame But I heard Susie whisper, "I'm awfully glad you came."
She had been the girl that I had always gone to see When someone that I cared for had been untrue to me I handed her the flowers and she gently kissed my hand She said, "Don't be embarrassed; you know I understand."
I said, "Goodbye" and as I bent to kiss her fevered brow I heard her whisper, "Thank you for the second handed flowers."
There were signs beside the road like "Jesus Saves" And "Relieve yourself the fast and gentle way" I was lookin' for an old man who lived way back in these hills Who just might have a story I could tell
Pretty soon the blacktop disappeared I felt the car change to a lower gear I took a drink of liquor just to chase away the chill I was 27 miles from Olive Hill
Ahead I saw the bridge where I turned right A dirt road led straight up a mountainside I pulled up to a farmhouse I thought I had seen before An old man and his dog were at the door
They told me this old-timer knew this land I told him, "Sir, I just don't understand Why the kids in this state just grow up and move away And leave the land where they were born and raised."
He said, "Son, you can't make it on this land Unless you're happy workin' with your hands There ain't no kids today that wanna stay and work it out They wanna see the things they hear about."
He said, "I cleared this whole farm off myself And I'd work it now but time has got my health." Then starin' out the window restin' in his easy chair He told me what I'd really come to hear
"You know, son, people used to tell their kids 'Now, I don't want you to have to work the way I did.' They don't and some will tell you that it's a shame But you have to think before you place the blame."
I guess we must have talked for half a day 'Til I told him that I'd best be on my way He shook my hand and said, "I'm glad I met you, Mr. Hall But I guess there ain't no song here after all."
I got off the airplane 'long about 7:30 in L.A. What a drag to realize that everything's so different and so same All my California friends are searchin' for their minds and it's been right there in their heads all the time
[Chorus] L.A. Blues, L.A. Blues You want me to be like you Well, there ain't no way
California Charlie met me at my room when I got in We toasted country pickin' and the health of all our good and mutual friends Before the mornin' came we put a handle on the world and decided that we'd give it to the squirrels
[Chorus]
Soakin' up that sunshine an' eatin' eggs and bacon over light Sleepin' through the daytime an' contemplatin' sin throughout the night Please hand me my hat and darlin' give me back my things Ol' T's got a bunch o' songs to sing
[Chorus]
I like California, I wouldn't put it down-- no way But I heard what you're thinkin' and it ain't exactly what I want to say Some day California I'll come roarin' back to you if you don't fall in the ocean 'fore I do
Oh, the little lady preacher from the limestone church I'll never forget her, I guess She preached each sunday mornin' on the local radio With a big black Bible and a snow-white dress
She was 19 years of age and was developed to a fault But I will admit she knew the Bible well A little white lace hanky marked the text that she would use She'd breathe into that microphone and send us all to hell
She had a guitar picker by the name of luther short A hairy-legged soul lost out in sin She would turn and smile at luther when the program would commence With a voice as sweet as angels she would break out in a hymn
I was pickin' for her too with what we call the doghouse bass I clung to every word that passed her lips She was down on booze and cigarettes and high on days to come And she'd punctuate the prophecy with movements of her hips
The lord knows how I loved her, he was there each time she preached But ol' luther took her home each sunday morn' Lookin' back I still recall the way it hurt my tender pride I longed to be a hero but they're made not born
Sometimes ol' luther showed up at the studio half-tight And smokin' was a thing he liked to do She never said a word to him but said a prayer for me I told her in a way that I'd been prayin' for her too
One sunday her old man showed up and said that she was gone Said she and brother luther had a call I can see me standin' in that studio that day I had to face the heartbreak, unemployment and all
I don't know where they are 'cause I ain't seen them people since Lord if I judge 'em let me give 'em lots o' room I know ol' luther short and he's a hard ol' boy to change And I've often sat and wondered who it was converted whom
The Iowa weather was 13 below I had come to Des Moines for a radio show I awoke in the evening from a traveler's sleep With notions of something to eat
The old elevator slid down past the floors My head and my eyes said "You should have slept more." The man at the desk said the restaurant was closed Outside it was 14 below
The lounge was still open and so I walked in In place of my food I had two double gins I looked 'round the room, as a tourist would do That's when I saw the girl in the booth
She sat there and cried in the smoky half-dark The silent type crying that tears out your heart Her clothes were not cut in the new modern way And her suitcase had seen better days
Nobody asked her what caused her such pain Nobody spoke up, yet no one complained Without even asking, I knew why she cried Life is just like that sometimes
The man at the desk said, "It's 15 below." The bellhop said "Yeah man, that's cold...that's cold." I went back to my room and I wrote down this song Oh it sure can get cold in Des Moines
Have you read any good telephone books lately? If you ain't then let me recommend one I've already read that Tulsa telephone book through thirteen times If you don't know any last names it ain't much fun
Readin' that Tulsa telephone book, can drive a guy insane Especially if that girl you're lookin' for has no last name I gotta find her and tell her, I don't want our love to end So I'm readin' that Tulsa telephone book again
Well, I was in Tulsa and didn't have anything goin' She lived in Tulsa and didn't have anything on She said, "My name is Shirley," and I said, "My name is T." I woke up the next mornin' and she was gone
All of the Tulsa operators know my voice now And they gotta know how long I've been alone If you meet a girl named Shirley with some ribbons in her hair Would you tell her that she's wanted on the phone
Readin' that Tulsa telephone book, can drive a guy insane Especially if that girl you're lookin' for has no last name I gotta find her and tell her, I don't want our love to end So I'm readin' that Tulsa telephone book again
Tossed and turned the night before in some old motel Subconsciously recallin' some old sinful thing I'd done My buddy drove the car and those big coal trucks shook us up As we drove on into Hyden in the early morning sun
Past the hound dogs and some domineckered chickens Temporary-lookin' houses with their lean and bashful kids Every hundred yards a sign proclaimed that Christ was coming soon And I thought, "Well, man, he'd sure be disappointed if he did."
On the way we talked about the 40 miners Of the 39 who died and one who lived to tell the tale We stopped for beans and cornbread at the Ed & Lois Cafe Then went to see the sherrif at the Leslie County Jail
They took us to the scene of that disaster I was so surprised to not find any sign of death at all Just another country hillside with some mudholes and some junk The mines were deadly silent like a rathole in the wall
"It was just like being right inside of a shotgun." The old man coughed and lit a cigarette that he had rolled Back in town I bought a heavy jacket from a store It was sunny down in Hyden but somehow the town was cold
The old man introduced the undertaker Who seemed refreshed despite the kind of work I knew he did We talked about the pretty lady from the Grand Ole Opry An' we talked about the money she was raisin' for the kids
Well, I guess the old man thought we were reporters He kept reminding me of how his simple name was spelled Some lady said, "They worth more money now than when they's a-livin'. " And I'll leave it there 'cause I suppose she told it pretty well
I met him in a hospital about a year ago And why I still remember him I guess I'll never know He'd lie there and cry out in a medicated fog, "Here I am in this dang bed and who's gonna feed them hogs?"
"Four hundred hogs, they just standin' out there My wife can't feed 'em and my neighbors don't care They can't get out and roam around like my old huntin' dogs Here I am in this dang bed and who's gonna feed them hogs?"
His face was lean and his hands were rough His way was hogs and his nature was tough His doctors tried to tell him that he may not live at all But all he ever talked about was who's gonna feed them hogs
"Four hundred hogs, they just standin' out there My wife can't feed 'em and my neighbors don't care They can't get out and roam around like my old huntin' dogs Here I am in this dang bed and who's gonna feed them hogs?"
Four hundred hogs comes to eight hundred hams And that's a lot of money for a hog-raisin' man Four hundred hogs comes to sixteen hundred feet The market's up and there are people a-waitin' on that meat
Well, the doctors say they do not know what saved the man from death But in a few days he put on his overalls and he left That's all there is to this small song but waitress, before you leave, Would you bring me some coffee and a hot ham sandwich, please?
Four hundred hogs they're just standing out there His wife couldn't feed 'em and his neighbors didn't care They couldn't get out and roam around like his old huntin' dogs...
