Townes Van Zandt Album

Well I was born in Mississippi
On a fine Spring day
I quit second day,
Joined the KKK,
The recruiter said,
"Sorry man, there ain't no way.
You got too damned much education"

I said,
"Please sir, please,
You gotta take me
'Cuz I believe in the bible and democracy
I believe all real Americans oughtta be free
I believe in Jesus and the great salvation."

He said,
"I don't know kid."
Said,
"I make a pretty good molotov cocktail, too"
And he said,
"You're in."

Well it's not all the blacks we gotta worry about
It's the poor white trash
Jaqueline Kennedy and John Lindsey

Well he gave me a hood
That looked real neat
Gave me a big ol' long white sheet
It hit the floor and tucked under my feet

He said,
"That's so it won't leave no toe prints."
I said,
"Man, I never did realize that anything could be so secretized."
He said,
"Yes sir, so our breath won't be recognize at the meetings we burn incense."
Said,
"Crap man, that's kinda extreme."
He just grinned and thanked me.

Well I had a bad day when I first started off
I had a miserable failure on my first molotov
Didn't explode and all the fellas scoffed
Through it in a church and it just fizzed

Out comes this boy and he hits me with a right
Then he gives me a left with all of his might
I said,
"Hang on a minute man, you're not supposed to fight."
And my eyes turned as black as his

Damn bully's what he was
And a barbarian

Well now don't ask me how I got to where I am
Working in the office of the head Klan man
Mr. Sheldon 'bout got killed in Birmingham
But he's invincible, pretty near

How I got so important is kinda hard to say
I guess my award kinda paved the way
It's an award you just don't get everyday
They made me Bigot of the Year
'Course, I don't like to brag about it none
It's all in a day's prejudice.

By townes van zandt
Proofread and authorized by jeanene van zandt

I used to wake and run with the moon
I lived like a rake and a young man
I covered my lovers with flowers and wounds
My laughter the devil would frighten
The sun she would come and beat me back down
But every cruel day had it's nightfall
I'd welcome the stars with wine and guitars
Full of fire and forgetful

My body was sharp the dark air clean
And outrage my joyful companion
Whisperin' women how sweet did they seem
Kneelin' for me to command them
And time was like water but I was the sea
I'd have never noticed it passin'
Except for the turnin' of night into day


And the turnin' of day into cursin'

You look at me now, and don't think I don't know
What all your eyes are a sayin'
Does he want us to believe these ravings and lies
They're just tricks that his brains been a playin'?
A lover of women he can't hardly stand
He trembles he's bent and he's broken
I've fallen it's true but I say unto you
Hold your tongues until after I've spoken

I was takin' my pride in the pleasures I'd known
I laughed and thought I'd be forgiven
But my laughter turned 'round eyes blazing and
Said my friend, we're holdin' a wedding
I buried my face but it spoke once again
The night to the day we're a bindin'
And now the dark air is like fire on my skin
And even the moonlight is blinding

By townes van zandt
Her face was crystalFair and fineAnd her breath was morningAnd her lips were wineAnd her eyes were laughterAnd her touch divineAnd her face was crystalAnd she was mine
If only sheCould feel my painBut feelin' is a burdenShe can't sustainSo like a summer ThursdayI cry for rainTo come and turnThe ground to green again

If only sheCould hear my songs'bout the empty difference'tween the rights and wrongsThen I know that ICould stand aloneAs well as theyNow that she's gone
Her face was crystalFair and fineAnd her breath was morningAnd her lips were wineAnd her eyes were laughterAnd her touch divineAnd her face was crystalAnd she was mine

By townes van zandt

You're wakin' next to me
Tears splash across the sun
You whisper soft to me
That I ain't the only one
To breathe your yellow hair
Caress your bosom fair
Do you think I really care?
Do you think it matters?

What do your feelings mean?
Do you think I'd love more
If you stood pure and clean
Of those you'd known before
Would your words be sweeter then
Upon November's wind
If you began again
Could your smile be softer?

Would your eyes more brightly shine?
Would your laughter be so tender?
If you'd been only mine
For as long as you remember?

I don't want tears from you
Don't build your love on shame
All that we've done is through
And all we can do remains
My lady can't you see
I love not jealously
But for all you are to me
And all you'll be tomorrow

She came and she touched me
With hands made of heaven
Reflections sent spinnin'
Through a face laced in mist
Now I stand where she left me
Buried deep 'neath her shadow
And the mirror pleads sadly
Has it all come to this?
And I wonder, will she call my name?

Well the wind careens madly
Through wide windows paneless
Fragrancies mingle
In a room full of shade
The peons pick partners
And waltz 'cross the ceilings
But the violins whisper
That I've been betrayed
Tryin' not to look ashamed

Well the drunkards drink deeply
From cups full of nothingness
Ghost lovers laugh
At the games that they play
While the moments do somersaults
Into eternity
Cling to their coattails
And beg them to stay
Saying I got nothing to hide


Well Illusions projected
On walls made of tiffany
Mad minuets to
A sad satin song
A harlequin mandolins
Harmonize helplessly
Hoping that endlessly
Won't last for long
Praying that their God ain't dying

Then I turn and I see her
In a dress made of moonlight
Teardrops like diamonds
Run slow down her face
And her arms surround me
Like chains made of velvet
And the demons fall faithfully
Into their place
And the river runs with jewels

Now the morning lies open
The night went quite quickly
Memory harmlessly
Fractures and fades
All the poets do push-ups
On carpets of rubber foam
Loudly they laugh
At some joke that's been made
And the wise men speak like fools

Well, won't you lend your lungs to me?
Mine are collapsing
Plant my feet and bitterly breathe
Up the time that's passing.
Breath I'll take and breath I'll give
Pray the day ain't poison
Stand among the ones that live
In lonely indecision.

Fingers walk the darkness down
Mind is on the midnight
Gather up the gold you've found
You fool, it's only moonlight.
If you try to take it home
Your hands will turn to butter
You better leave this dream alone
Try to find another.

Salvation sat and crossed herself
Called the devil partner
Wisdom burned upon a shelf
Who'll kill the raging cancer
Seal the river at its mouth
Take the water prisoner
Fill the sky with screams and cries
Bathe in fiery answers

Jesus was an only son
And love his only concept
Strangers cry in foreign tongues
And dirty up the doorstep
And I for one, and you for two
Ai'nt got the time for outside
Just keep your injured looks to you
We'll tell the world we tried

The name she gave was caroline
Daughter of a miner
Her ways were free
It seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her

She came from spencer
Across the hill
She said her pa had sent her
'cause the coal was low
And soon the snow
Would turn the skies to winter

She said she'd come
To look for work
She was not seeking favors
And for a dime a day
And a place to stay
She'd turn those hands to labor

But the times were hard, lord,
The jobs were few
All through tecumseh valley
But she asked around
And a job she found
Tending bar at gypsy sally's

She saved enough to get back home
When spring replaced the winter
But her dreams were denied
Her pa had died
The word come down from spencer

So she turned to whorin' out on the streets
With all the lust inside her
And it was many a man
Returned again
To lay himself beside her

They found her down beneath the stairs
That led to gypsy sally's
In her hand when she died
Was a note that cried
Fare thee well... tecumseh valley

The name she gave was caroline
Daughter of a miner
Her ways were free
It seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her

[No lyrics]

By townes van zandt

Among the strangest things I ever heard
Was when a friend of mine said "man, let's get some thunderbird"
I said "what's that? " he just started to grin
Slobbered on his shirt, his eyes got dim
He said "you got fifty-nine cents? "

I said "yeah, I got a dollar, but don't be a smart-aleck
I ain't gonna spend it on no indian relic"
And he said "thunderbird's not an old indian trinket,
It's a wine, man, you take it home and drink it."
I said "it sure don't sound like wine to me"
And he said he'd bet me the change from my dollar

We hustled on down to the nearest u-tate-um
The guy wanted my id, I whipped her out and showed him
He got a green bottle from the freezing vault
My friend started doing backward somersaults
Through the cottage cheese


Took it back to his house, started drinkin'
Pretty soon I set in to thinkin'
"man, this thunderbird tastes yummy, yummy, yummy
And I know it's doing good things to my tummy, tum..., t..."
It's so you reason when your on that crap

Got a few more bottles, chugged them down
I pulled myself up off the ground
Decided I go see my dearest sweet wife
Who met me at the door with a carving knife
Said "get them damn grape peel from between your teeth."

I could see we're gonna have a little misunderstanding
I said "dear, I better get in touch with you later"
She said "forget it, man, you're never touchin' me again!"

Now I've seen the light and heard the word
And I'm staying away from that ol' dirty thunderbird
A message come from heaven radiant, and fine,
All I drink now is communion wine
Six days a week

Ira Hayes,
Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Gather round me people there's a story I would tell
About a brave young Indian you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indian, a proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land

Down the ditches for a thousand years
The water grew Ira's peoples' crops
'Till the white man stole the water rights
And the sparklin' water stopped

Now Ira's folks were hungry
And their land grew crops of weeds
When war came, Ira volunteered
And forgot the white man's greed

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill,
Two hundred and fifty men
But only twenty-seven lived
to walk back down again

And when the fight was over
And when Old Glory raised
Among the men who held it high
Was the Indian, Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Ira returned a hero
Celebrated through the land
He was wined and speeched and honored
Everybody shook his hand

But he was just a Pima Indian
No water, no crops, no chance
At home nobody cared what Ira'd done
And when did the Indians dance

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Then Ira started drinkin' hard
Jail was often his home
They'd let him raise the flag and lower it
like you'd throw a dog a bone

He died drunk one mornin'
Alone in the land he fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch
Was a grave for Ira Hayes

CHORUS:
Call him drunken Ira Hayes
He won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian
Nor the Marine that went to war

Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes
But his land is just as dry
And his ghost is lyin' thirsty
In the ditch where Ira died