John Prine Album

I been thinking lately about the people I meet
The carwash on the corner and the hole in the street
The way my ankles hurt with shoes on my feet
And I'm wondering if I'm gonna see tomorrow.

Father forgive us for what we must do
You forgive us we'll forgive you
We'll forgive each other till we both turn blue
Then we'll whistle and go fishing in heaven.

I was in the army but I never dug a trench
I used to bust my knuckles on a monkey wrench
Then I'd go to town and drink and give the girls a pinch
But I don't think they ever even noticed me.

Fish and whistle, whistle and fish
Eat everything that they put on your dish
And when we get through we'll make a big wish
That we never have to do this again again

On my very first job I said thank you and please
They made me scrub a parking lot down on my knees
Then I got fired for being scared of bees
And they only give me fifty cents an hour.

Hey, there she goes
well I though she'd never leave
heaven knows
well it sure gives me the creeps
you know I went and loved that woman
to the power of height
we both got jivin' fever
screwed our heads uptight
then it came to blows
hey hey hey
there she goes.

Hey there she goes
just a walkin' down the street
I suppose
the next fellow that she meets
should have her head examined
by an x-ray machine
so he can see all of those pictures
that I've already seen
just so he knows
hey hey hey
there she goes.

Well, there must be something somewhere
that makes me want to hurt myself inside
yeah, we were regular Dr Jekyll
but together
we were Mr. and Mrs. Hyde
what a rough rough ride.

Hey there she goes
she's walking out on me
with all her clothes
lookin' fine as she could be
well, I seen her on down at the courthouse
I was sober as the judge
we'd tried to talk things over
but the grudge just wouldn't budge
I said adios
hey hey hey
there she goes.

If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
I know who
I'll give it to
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
anymore.

If you don't want the thrill
If you don't want the thrill
If you don't want the thrill
I know who
I know who will
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
anymore.

If that's the way that the world goes round
then that's the way
that it all comes down
and when you want me
I won't be around
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
I know who
I'll give it to
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
If you don't want my love
anymore.

I am the question to the world,
Not an answer to the earth,
Or a moment that's held in your arms.
And what do you think you'd ever say?
I wont listen anyway.
You don't know me and,
I'll never be what you want me to be.

And what do you think you'd understand,
I'm a boy no, I'm a man.
You can take me and throw me away,
And how can you learn whats never shown.
Yeah you stand here on your own.
They don't know me,
Cause I'm not here.

And I wanna moment to be real,
Wanna touch things I dont feel,
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.
And how can the world want me to change?
They're the ones that stay the same.
They dont know me,
Cause im not here.

And you see the things they never see,
All you wanted I could be.
Now you know me and I'm not afraid.
And I wanna tell you who i am,
Can you help be a man?
They can break me as long as I know who I am.

And I wanna moment to be real,
Wanna touch things I dont feel,
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.
And how can the world want me to change?
They're the ones that stay the same.
They can't see me,
but I'm still here.

They can't tell me who to be,
Cause I'm not what they see.
Yeah the world is still sleeping,
While I keep dreamin for me.
And their words are just whispers,
And lies I'll never believe.

And I wanna moment to be real,
Wanna touch things I dont feel,
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.
And how can they say I never change?
They're the ones that stay the same.
I'm the one now,
Cause I'm still here.
I'm the one,
Cause I'm still here,
I'm still here,
I'm still here,
I'm still here.

My heart's in the ice house come hill or come valley
Like a long ago Sunday when I walked through the alley
On a cold winter's morning to a church house
just to shovel some snow.

I heard sirens on the train track howl naked gettin' nuder,
An altar boy's been hit by a local commuter
just from walking with his back turned
to the train that was coming so slow.

You can gaze out the window get mad and get madder,
throw your hands in the air, say "What does it matter?"
but it don't do no good to get angry,
so help me I know

For a heart stained in anger grows weak and grows bitter.
You become your own prisoner as you watch yourself sit there
wrapped up in a trap of your very own
chain of sorrow.

I been brought down to zero, pulled out and put back there.
I sat on a park bench, kissed the girl with the black hair
and my head shouted down to my heart
"You better look out below!"
Hey, it ain't such a long drop don't stammer don't stutter
from the diamonds in the sidewalk to the dirt in the gutter
and you carry those bruises to remind you wherever you go.

The movie wasn't really doing so hot
said the new producer to the old big shot
its dying on the edge of the great Midwest
Sabu must tour or forever rest.

Hey look ma
here comes the elephant boy
bundled all up in his corduroy
headed down south towards Illinois
from the jungles of East St. Paul.

His manager sat in the office alone
staring at the numbers on the telephone
wondering how a man could send a child actor
to visit in the land of the wind chill factor.
Sabu was sad the whole tour stunk
the airlines lost the elephant's trunk
the roadie got the rabies and the scabies and the flu
they was low on morale but they was high on.

I could be as happy as a sardine in a can
Long as I got my woman
I could run stark naked and live in and old oak tree
Just as long as she's with me
My woman.

The cannibals can catch me and fry me in a pan
Long as I got my woman
I could get the electric chair for a phony rap
Long as she's sittin' in my lap
My woman.

I'd run a mile, just to see her smile
And put her lovin arms, around my neck
Aw heck
My spine starts a tingling, and bells start a ringling
When she's with me, can't you see.

They could torture me and stretch me like a rubber band
Long as I got my woman
I could jump off a cliff and never have no fear
Just as long as she is near
My woman.

Things got rough
things got tough
things got harder than hard
We were just trying to make a livin'
in our back yard

We were born too late died to soon
anxiety's a terrible crime
if you don't come now don't come at all
'cause it's a crooked piece of time.

It's a crooked piece of time that we live in
a crooked piece of time
all in all and all in all
It's a crooked piece of time.

Yesterday morning an ill wind came
blew your picture
right out of the picture frame
even blew the candle out
from underneath the flame
Yesterday morning an ill wind came.

I'm going steady with Iron Ore Betty
and she's goin' steady with me
we receive our mail in the same mailbox
and we watch the same TV
I got rug burns on my elbows
she's got 'em on her knees
yeah, I'm goin' steady with Iron Ore Betty
and she's going steady with me.

Hey, I been pickin' my brains out
I been workin' at the hardware store
I been trying to put a chicken in the window
chase away the wolf from the door
Betty's been down in the iron ore mine
bringing home energy
yeah, I'm goin' steady with Iron Ore Betty
and she's goin' steady with me.

I been speaking to her in English
she's been speakin' in the English too
we always speak the same language
'cause we're always gettin' thru
I met her at a dance at the union hall
it was a night with Daddy G.
yeah, I'm goin' steady with Iron Ore Betty
and she's goin' steady with me.

There was a time
when lonely men would wander
thru this land
rolling aimlessly along
so many times
I've heard of their sad story
written in the words
of dead men's songs.

Down through the years
many men have yearned
for freedom
some found it
only on the open road
so many tears of blood
have fell around us
'cause you can't always do what you are told.

Please tell me where
have all the hobos gone to
I see no fire burning down
by the rusty railroad track
could it be that time
has gone and left them
tied up in life's eternal traveling sack.

Last Sunday night
I wrote a letter
to my loved one
I signed my name
and knew I'd stayed away
too long
there was a time
when my heart was free to wander
and I remember as I sing
this hobo song.