Guy Clark Album

I wish I was in Austin
In the Chili Parlour Bar
Drinkin' Mad Dog Margaritas
And not carin' where you are

But here I sit in Dublin
Just rollin' cigarettes
Holdin' back and chokin' back
The shakes with every breath

Chorus

Forgive me all my anger
Forgive me all my faults
There's no need to forgive me
For thinkin' what I thought
I loved you from the git go
I'll love you till I die
I loved you on the Spanish steps
The day you said goodbye

I am just a poor boy
Work's my middle name
If money was a reason
I would not be the same

I'll stand up and be counted
I'll face up to the truth
I'll walk away from trouble
But I can't walk away from you

I have been to Fort Worth
I have been to Spain
I have been to proud
To come in out of the rain

I have seen the David
I've seen the Mona Lisa too
I have heard Doc Watson
Play Columbus Stockade Blues

Chorus

Repeat 1st half of verse 1

Chorus

Black Diamond Strings
Black Diamond Strings
Drinkin1 W. Harper
PlayinBlack Diamond Strings
Black Diamond Strings
Are like white flour and grits
You play Black Diamond Strings
�?ause it抯 all you can get

Black Diamond Strings on a Catalog Guitar
That抯 pretty high cotton whoever you are
You break one you change one, that抯 as good as it gets
You can play all year long on two or three sets

J.W. Crowell was a hell of a man
He played two nights a week in a hillbilly band
He played at the Ice House on Telephone Road
He played in the yard just to lighten his load

Chorus

Hey J.W play that frogline
Let Rodney sit in, hell, he抯 goinon nine
His fingers are bleedin but he抯 keepingood time
PlayinBlack Diamond Strings, he抣l never quit tryin

Causette told 慹m both
You boys pack t up, it抯 time to go home
We got church in the mornin it抯 cominup dawn
Don抰 make me say it again or I抦 gone
You can stay here forever, but you抮e gonna walk home

Love is never gonna be a solid bet
It抯 kinda like workinwithout a net
Don抰 be afraid to let your feelin抯 out
That抯 what lovinis all about
Come on Baby and give me a break
It抯 how do you feel, not what do you think
Stop rattlinyour keys
Shut up and talk to me


You know I抳e known you long enough to know
There抯 nothinyou can hide that still don抰 show
You ain抰 foolinanyone but you
When you put me through what you put me through
Come on Honey and tell me the truth
Gimme chicken fried steak, not a Baby Ruth
I抦 not that hard to please
Shut up and talk to me
Shut up and talk to me

Bridge

You can talk about the weather
Till it drives me nits
You can rattle on about
Why, who, what
A little conversation
Wouldn抰 hurt that much
A little somethin
With a human touch

Now, if you抮e hurtin Baby, tell me so
If you need attention let me know
I抦 not the one that you抮e hidinfrom
It doesn抰 matter what the ever you done
You can have your cake and eat it too
That抯 the kinda stuff I want from you
How hard can it be
Shut up and talk to me
Shut up and talk to me

I got an olblue shirt
And it suits me just fine
I like the way it feels
So I wear it all the time
I got an old guitar
It won抰 ever stay in tune
I like the way it sounds
In a dark and empty room

I got an olpair of boots
And they fit just right
I can work all day
And I can dance all night
I got an olused car
And it runs just like a top
I get the feelinit ain抰
Ever gonna stop

Chorus

Stuff that works, stuff that holds up
The kind of stuff you don抰 hang on the wall
Stuff that抯 real, stuff you feel
The kind of stuff you reach for when you fall

I got a pretty good friend
Who抯 seen me at my worst
He can抰 tell if I抦 a blessing
Or a curse
But he always shows up
When the chips are down
That抯 the kind of stuff
I like to be around

Chorus

I got a woman I love
She抯 crazy and paints like God
She抯 got a playground sense of justice
She won抰 take odds
I got a tattoo with her name
Right through my soul
I think everything she touches
Turns to gold

Chorus

One man's hawk is another man's dove, one man's hug is another man's shove
One man's rock is another man's sand, one man's fist is another man's hand
One man's tool is another man's toy, one man grief is another man's joy
One man's squawk is another man's sing, one man's crutch is another man's wing

One man's pride is another man's humble, one man's step is another man's stumble
One man's pleasure is another man's pain, one man's loss is another man's gain
One man's can is another man's grail, one man's curse is another man's sail
One man's right is another man's wrong, one man's curse is another man's song

For every father's daughter
For every mother's son
The only think the same
Is that is ain抰 for everyone
Hank Williams said it best
He said it a long time ago
"Unless you have made no mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you throw"

One man's deuce is another man's ace, one man's back is another man's face
One man's reason is another man's rhyme, one man's dollar is another man's dime
One man's tree is another man's post, one man's angel is another man's ghost
One man's rain is another man's drought, one man's hope is another man's doubt

One man's false is another man's fair, one man's toup is another man's hair
One man's hand is another man's stub, one man's feast is another man's grub
One man's dread is another man's dream, one man's sigh is another man's scream
One man's water is another man's wine, one man's daughter leave another man's cryin

For every father's daughter
For every mother's son
The only think the same
Is that is ain抰 for everyone
Hank Williams said it best
He said it a long time ago
"Unless you have made no mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you throw"

One man's famine is another man's feast, one man's pet is another man's beast
One man's bat is another man's ball, one man's art is another man's scrawl
One man's friend is another man's foe, one man's Joesph is another man's Joe
One man's hammer is another man's nail, one man's freedom is another man's jail

One man's road is another man's rut, one man's if is another man's but
One man's treasure is another man's trash, one man's landinis another man's crash
One man's word is another man's lie, one man's dirt is another man's sky
One man's skin is another man's color, one man's killer is another man's brother

For every father's daughter
For every mother's son
The only think the same
Is that is ain抰 for everyone
Hank Williams said it best
He said it a long time ago
"Unless you have made no mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you throw"

Eight years old with a flour sack cape tied all around his neck
He climbed up on the garage, he's figurin' what the heck, well
He screwed his courage up so tight that the whole thing come unwound
He got a runnin' start and bless his heart, he's headed for the ground

Well, he's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape

Now, he's all grown up with a flour sack cape tied all around his dream
And he's full of spit and vinegar and he's bustin' at the seam
Well, he licked his finger and he checked the wind, it's gonna be do or die
And he wasn't scared of nothin', boys, he was pretty sure he could fly

Well, he's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape

Now, he's old and gray with a flour sack cape tied all around his head
And he's still jumpin' off the garage and will be till he's dead
All these years the people said, he was actin' like a kid
He did not know he could not fly and so he did

Well, he's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape
Yes, he's one of those who knows that life is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape

She did not want to drive
She did not want to fly
She did not want to wait
For a bus to come by

She did not want to hassle
She did not want to hurry
She didn抰 want to know
What is cost, don抰 worry

Chorus

Baby took a limo to Memphis
Seemed like the thing to do
Baby took a limo to Memphis
She did it 慶ause she wanted to

She was not lookinback
She was lookingood
She was not in the mood
To be knockinon wood

She knows what she wants
She knows how to get it
She knows what it takes
Just do it, don抰 regret it

The shortest distance between two towns
Is ridinin a limo with the windows down

Don抰 ask why she抯 goin
She might let you know
Don抰 ask when she抯 cominback
�?ause she don抰 know

Don抰 let her fool you
She抯 nobody抯 fool
She knows what抯 tacky
She knows what抯 cool

I threw a rock through your window
Just to let you know I love you
Just to let you know I care and I ain't scared
To have you see how I feel

I blew a kiss through your keyhole
Just to let you know I'm breathin'
Just to try and smack you in the heart,
if I was smart
I'd give up and go back home

Chorus

I'm not tryin' to say I'm sorry
I'm trying to say I love you
I'm not tryin' to make excuses
Nor set myself above you
I'm not tryin' to rearrange it
I'm not sayin' I can change it
The only thing I'm tryin' to do is try

I was hidin' by the back porch
Just to try and catch you leavin'
Just to try and catch you unaware
I don't care
If that ain't fair, I ain't proud

Chorus

I leaned on your doorbell
Just to see if you would answer
Just to see if you would open up,
no such luck
I'll come back when you calm down

Chorus Twice

I used to be Juanita's old boyfriend
We sure gave 'em some stories to tell
Now I can't even find her picture
I guess I'm finally through foolin' myself

I used to be an ex-bullrider
Livin' on the edge of life itself
Now I can't even find my buckle
Looks like I'm finally through foolin' myself

Chorus

Hang on just as long as you can
Get up whenever you fall
Shake it off, Boys, and go 'round again
Don't be hangin' your life on the wall

I used to be forever chasin' firetrucks
I sure could raise me some hell
I don't know why I like to do that kinda stuff
I guess I wasn't through foolin' myself

I used to have a smokin' little fastball
I sure could show 'em some stuff
Now I can't even make it on the
church team anymore
I guess I'm finally through foolin' myself

Chorus Twice

Shake it off, Boys, and go 'round again
Don't be hangin' your life on the wall

My father had a Randall knife
My mother gave it to him
When he went off to WWII
To save us all from ruin
If you've ever held a Randall knife
Then you know my father well
If a better blade was ever made
It was probably forged in hell

My father was a good man
A lawyer by his trade
And only once did I ever see
Him misuse the blade
It almost cut his thumb off
When he took it for a tool
The knife was made for darker things
And you could not bend the rules

He let me take it camping once
On a Boy Scout jamboree
And I broke a half an inch off
Trying to stick it in a tree
I hid it from him for a while
But the knife and he were one
He put it in his bottom drawer
Without a hard word one

There it slept and there it stayed
For twenty some odd years
Sort of like Excalibur
Except waiting for a tear

My father died when I was forty
And I couldn't find a way to cry
Not because I didn't love him
Not because he didn't try
I'd cried for every lesser thing
Whiskey, pain and beauty
But he deserved a better tear
And I was not quite ready

So we took his ashed out to sea
And poured 'em off the stern
And threw the roses in the wake
Of everything we'd learned
When we got back to the house
They asked me what I wanted
Not the lawbooks not the watch
I need the things he's haunted

My hand burned for the Randall knife
There in the bottom drawer
And I found a tear for my father's life
And all that it stood for