Townes Van Zandt Album

By townes van zandt

Sunrise comes and I don't know why
Living loves and the day does fly
Soon the moon and baby and i
Will be lyin' side by side

How many of your skies are blue?
How much of your love is true?
Where to get them eyes of green?
I'm knowin' you know just what I mean

If I have to go I won't be long


Maybe we'll move to tennessee
Leave these texas blues behind
See susanna and guy

Well, I'm in this cold room all alone
I guess I'll try the telephone
It'll be busy or she won't be home
Tomorrow is another day

Sunrise comes and I don't know why
Living loves and the day does fly
Soon the moon and baby and i
Will be lyin' side by side

Living on the road my friend,
Is gonna keep you free and clean.
Now you wear your skin like iron,
And your breath as hard as kerosene.
You weren't your mama's only boy,
But her favorite one it seems.
She began to cry when you said goodbye,
And sank into your dreams.

Pancho was a bandit boys,
His horse was fast as polished steel,
He wore his gun outside his pants,
For all the honest world to feel.
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico,
And nobody heard his dying words.
Ah, but that's the way it goes.

And all the Federales say,
They could have had him any day.
They only let him hang around,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to.
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth.
The day they laid poor Pancho low,
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go,
There ain't nobody knows.

And all the Federales say,
They could have had him any day.
They only let him slip away,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

Well the poets tell how Pancho fell,
And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel.
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold,
And so the story ends we're told.
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too.
He just did what he had to do,
And now he's growing old.

And a few grey Federales say
They could have had him any day.
They only let go so wrong,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

A few gray Federales say
They could have had him any day.
They only let him so wrong,
Out of kindness, I suppose.

I don't want no wom',
If her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
I don't want no w'man,
If her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
Yeah, ya know, she ain't no good for nothin but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin rats all the time.

Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin, I's a-comin to go have some fun."
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
One from a burnin barn.
I just don't want, want no woman,
Boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
Whoa, ya know she ain't no good for nothin but trouble.
Vets keep ya buyin rats all the time.
Yeah, you know rats and wigs'll get ya killed.

Yeah, you know I got on the good side of my woman,
I told her, "Darlin, I's comin to go have some fun."
You know, I went to make her swing out when a rat fell from her head like,
One from a burnin barn.
I say, I don't want no woman,
Boy, if her hair it ain't no longer 'an mine.
You know she ain't no good for nothin but trouble, did ya know 'at?
Vets keep ya buyin rats all the time.

I saw three shrimp in the water, two were old and gray
I swam a little bit closer and .. I heard the third one say

Goodbye mama shrimp, papa shake my hand
Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian'
Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian'

He showed his mama and papa, the shrimp newspaper he read
An invitation to all the shrimp and this is what it said
Free ride, New Orleans, stay in grand hotel
Big Creole gal who help you come out of your shell
Big Creole gal who help you come out of your shell

If I should live to be ninety, I will never forget
The little shrimp and the song he sang as he jumped into the net

Goodbye mama shrimp, papa shake my hand
Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian'
Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian'

Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian'
Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian'
Here come the shrimper for to take me to Louisian'

When the wind don't blow in amarillo
And the moon along the gunnison don't rise
Shall I cast my dreams upon your love, babe
And lie beneath the laughter of your eyes

It's snowin' on raton
Come morning I'll be through them hills and gone

Mother thinks the road is long and lonely
Little brother thinks the road is straight and fine


Little darling thinks the road is soft and lovely
I'm thankful that old road is a friend of mine

Bid the years good-bye you cannot still them
You cannot turn the circles of the sun
You cannot count the miles until you feel them
And you cannot hold a lover that is gone

Tomorrow the mountains will be sleeping
Silently the blanket green and blue
All that I shall hear the silence they are keeping
I'll bring all their promises to you

There is no deeper blue
In the ocean that lies
As deep as the blue
Of your laughing eyes
No sweeter sound
Than your gentle sigh
No heart was ever so pure

Dream pretty dreams
Touch beautiful things
Let all the skies surround you
Swim with the swans
And believe that upon
Some glorious dawn
Love will find you

Well come some day
I'm bound away
Wind and wings on the water
But whatever may
You must stay
And remain my beautiful daughter

There is no deeper blue
In the ocean that lies
As deep as the blue
Of your laughing eyes
No sweeter sound
Than your gentle sigh
No heart was ever so pure

Good night Katie Belle, good night

By townes van zandt

If I had a dollar bill
Yes, I believe I surely will
Go to town and drink my fill
Early in the morning

Little darling, she's a redhaired thing
Man, she makes my legs to sing
Gonna buy her a diamond ring
Early in the morning

Mother was a golden girl
I slit her throat just to get her pearls
Cast myself into a whirl
Before a bunch of swine

It's a long way down the harlan road


Busted back and a heavy load
Won't get through to save my soul
Early in the morning

I've always been a gambling man
I've roled them bones with either hand
Seven is the promised land
Early in the morning

Whiskey'd be my dying bed
Tell me where to lay my head
Not with me is all she said
Early in the morning

If I had a dollar bill
Yes, I believe I surely will
Go to town and drink my fill
Early in the morning

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

[No lyrics]

[No lyrics]

(feat. Doug Sahm)

Well, the clouds didn't look like cotton
They didn't even look like clouds
I was underneath the weather
My friends looked a crowd
The swimmin' hole was full of rum
I tried to find out why
All I learned was this my friend
You got to swim before you fly

I got two girls
One's in heaven and one's below
Oh, one I love with all my heart
And one I do not know.

Two lonesome dudes on an ugly horse
Passed by not long ago
They asked me where the action was
I said I did not know
As they disappeared into the brush
I heard the driver say
He's a little slow between the ears
He's always been that way.

Jolly jane just lays around
And listens with her mouth
She's had about a dozen husbands
But the last one pulled out
Now, who's gonna bring her dinner
Through the weary years ahead
All she'll get from me is sympathy
Got no time to see she's fed.

It's cold down on the bayou
They say it's in your mind
But the moccasins are treadin' ice
And leavin strange designs
Cajuns say the last time
That this happend they weren't here
All beaumont's full of penguins
And I'm a-playin' it by ear

(feat. Willie Nelson)

I stood in line and left my name
Took about six hours or so
Well, the man just grinned like it was all a game
Said they'd let me know
I put in my time till the pocono line
Shut down two years ago
I was staying at the mission till I met marie
Now I can't stay there no more

Fella 'cross town said he's lookin' for a man
To move some old cars around
Maybe me and marie could find a burned-out
Van and do a little settlin' down
Aw, but I'm just dreamin', I ain't got no ride
And the junkyard's a pretty good ways
That job's about a half week old besides
It'd be gone now anyway

Unemployment said I got no more checks
And they showed me to the hall
My brother died in georgia some time ago
I got no one left to call
Summer wasn't bad below the bridge
A little short on food that's all
Now I gotta get marie some kind of coat
We're headed down into fall

I used to play the mouth harp pretty good
Hustled up a little dough
But I got drunk and I woke up rolled
A couple of months ago
They got my harp and they got my dollar

Them low life so and so's
Harps cost money and I ain't got it
It's my own fault I suppose

The pocono's down but the chesapeak's runnin'
Two freights everyday
If it was just me I'd be headed south
But marie can't catch no train
She's got some pain and she thinks it's a baby,
Says we gotta wait and see
In my heart I know it's a little boy
Hope he don't end up like me

Well, the man's still grinnin' says he lost my file
I gotta stand in line again
I want to kill him but I just say no
I had enough of that line my friend
I head back to the bridge, it's getting kinda cold
I'm feelin' too low down to lie
I guess I'll just tell marie the truth
Hope she don't break down and cry

Marie she didn't wake up this morning
She didn't even try
She just rolled over and went to heaven
My little boy safe inside
I laid them in the sun where somebody'd find them
Caught a chesapeak on the fly
Marie will know I'm headed south
So's to meet me by and by

Marie will know I'm headed south
So to meet me by and by

By townes van zandt

Won't say I love you, babe,
Won't say I need you, babe,
But I'm gonna get you babe
And I will not do you wrong.
Living's mostly wasting time
And I'll waste my share of mine
But it never feels to good,
So let's don't take to long.
You're soft as glass
And I'm a gentle man;
We got the sky to talk about
And the earth to lie upon.

Days, up and down they come
Like rain on a congadrum
Forget most, remember some
But don't turn none away.
Everything is not enough
And nothin' is to much to bear.
Where you been is good and gone
All you keep is the getting there.

To live is to fly
Low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes.

Goodbye to all my friends
It's time to go again
Think of all the poetry
And the pickin' down the line
I'll miss the system here
The bottom's low
And the treble's clear
But it don't pay to think to much
On things you leave behind.
I will be gone
But it won't be long
I will be a'bringin' back the melodies
And rhythm that I find.

We all got holes to fill
Them holes are all that's real.
Some fall on you like a storm,
Sometimes you dig your own.
The choice is yours to make,
Time is yours to take;
Some sail upon/dive into the sea,
Some toil upon the stone.

To live is to fly
Low and high,
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes;

Shake the dust off of your wings
And the tears out of your eyes.

There's no stronger wind than the one that blows
Bown a lonesome railroad line
No prettier sight than looking back
On a town you left behind
There is nothin' that's as real
As a love that's in my mind

Close your eyes
I'll be here in the morning
Close your eyes
I'll be here for a while

There's lots of things along the road
I'd surely like to see
I'd like to lean into the wind
And tell myself I'm free
But your softest whisper's louder
Than the highways call to me

All the mountains and the rivers
And the valleys can't compare
To your blue lit dancin' eyes
And yellow shining hair
I could never hit the open road
And leave you layin' there

Lay your head back easy, love,
Close your cryin' eyes
I'll be layin' here beside you
When the sun comes on the rise
I'll stay as long as the cuckoo wails
And the lonesome bluejay cries