Bobby Bare

[fox69]

"Million Miles To The City"

"Million Miles To The City"



I remember it now, we were kids back then
Living down on the farm
We were told that the city
Could only bring us harm.

Well, how far away is the city
You know that's a great big town
And Barbara said, "Why, it's a million miles
And then the story got around."

It's a million miles to the city
From the hills and valleys we know
It's a million miles to the city
And some day we all wanna go.

There was a town nearby but a town is a town
And a city that's somethin' else
Our daddy had been to a city
But he never was much help.

The buildings're taller than oak trees
Ah, but we knew better than that
'Cause ain't nobody could climb that high
The city was wide and flat.

It's a million miles to the city
From the hills and valleys we know
It's a million miles to the city
And some day we all wanna go.

The years have passed and we have grown
And traveled far and wide
The cities have changed the kids we were
We see it in each other's eyes.

Lord, I'd love to go back to those hills again
To the boy I used to be
Where the leaves in the wind and the whippoorwills
Were all just a part of the land like me.

It's a million miles to the city
From the hills and valleys we know
It's a million miles to the city
And some day we all wanna go...

 

[fox69]

"Mrs. Jones Your Daughter Cried All Night"

"Mrs. Jones Your Daughter Cried All Night"



I bought a ring and gave it to your daughter Mrs. Jones
She promised me that she would be my wife
But after she had talked to you she gave me back my ring
Mrs. Jones your daughter cried all night.

Mrs. Jones your daughter cried all night
You wouldn't give your blessings to our love
You said she should stop seeing me and maybe you are right
But Mrs. Jones your daughter cried all night.

Mrs. Jones some day some man may bring your daughter wealth
And all the things that I could never buy
But Mrs, Jones we love each other but wealth won't buy a love
And I guess that's why your daughter cried all night.

Oh, how I wish that I could be the man
Who has the wealth to win your daughter's hand
You know her life is in your hands and you hold on so tight
Mrs. Jones your daughter cried all night.

Mrs Jones your daughter cried all night
You wouldn't give your blessings to our love
You said she should stop seeing me and maybe you are right
But Mrs. Jones your daughter cried all night...

 

[fox69]

"My Better Half"

"My Better Half"



Kick my shoe off take my sock off pull my pant off
And I find my pyjama and put it on
Then I crawl into the bed and I cry my eye out
Now that my better half is gone.

I just lay there and as I lay there my arms feel so empty
And my lip longs to kiss her all night long
If I had the gut I'd blow my brain out
Now that my better half is gone.

I was a whole man when I was with her
Now I'm a plier, I'm a scissor
Half this, half that, half slow, half fast
Oh, I've got the blue and I'm up to my elbow in heartache
Now that my better half is gone.

One, three, four, two, now that my better half is gone...

 

[fox69]

"My Elusive Dreams"

"My Elusive Dreams"



I followed you to Texas, I followed you to Utah
We didn't find it there so we moved on
I followed you to Alabam, things look good in Birmingham
We didn't find it there so we moved on.

I know you're tired of following my
Elusive dreams and schemes
For they're only fleeting things
My elusive dreams.

I had your child in Memphis, you heard of work in Nashville
We didn't find it there so we moved on
To a small farm in Nebraska, to a gold mine in Alaska
We didn't find it there so we moved on.

Now we've left Alaska because there was no gold mine
But this time only two of us move on
And now all we have is each other
And a little mem'ry that we could to cling to
But still you won't let me go on alone.

I know you're tired of following
My elusive dreams and schemes
For they're only fleeting things
My elusive dreams.

For they're only fleeting things
My elusive dreams...

 

[fox69]

"New Cut Road"

"New Cut Road"



Coalman Bonner was a fiddle playin' fool.
He was a backwoods rounder and a breaker of mules.
Coalman Bonner's got a wor' out bow,
He been playin' two days down a new cut road.

Now Coalman's little sister said 'you better act right,
Your Daddy's going to Louisville, He'll be back tonight.
He gonna get another wagon and a good pair of mules.
Oh, we gonna move to Texas, We just waitin' on mules.

Now Coalman's Daddy, he pulled up in the yard
He said 'back up your lives kids, it's getting' too hard.
Kentucky's alright but there's too many people
Well, just the other day, I thought I saw a church steeple.

Now Coalman said 'Daddy don't you worry 'bout me,
I'm gonna stay here in Kentucky till the day I dee
I'm wanna drink that sour mash, I'm gonna raise that mare
Ya, I got me a woman with a foxy red hair

We all been movin' west since the day he got married
I'm getting' off the wagon, I'm too old to be carried
I'm gonna stay in Kentucky where the blue grass grows
I'm gonna play it all night down a new cut road.

Now Coalman's Daddy said, "What's it all comin' to,
Young people these days are just stubborn as mules."
He can't make um go, he's too old for that
It's that damned ol' fiddle and that bowler hat.

Now Coalman's Momma said, "Let the boy stay,
'Cause he's raised up solid, he can find his own way
But as for me, Honey, I'm with you
Well I always thought Kentucky was just passin' through.

Coalman's little sister, she started in a cry
And her Daddy shook his head for the very last time
Coalman's Momma said, "Somebody gotta do it,
Wouldn't be no Kentucky, less you didn't stick to it, Coalman.

Coalman Bonner stood on the porch of that cabin
Watched um all go to Texas in a covered wagon
He pulled out his fiddle and he rosined up his bow
And he played a little tune down a new cut road...

 

[fox69]

"New York City Snow"

"New York City Snow"



I was learning how to fly when I left Boise City
Like summer I was headin' for the fall
Now the bitter taste of truth it's gettin' hard to swallow
For a country boy who thought he knew it all.

So cold and tired and broke I can't even pay attention
And loneliness ain't fit and warm to wear
And home is just a word it hurts me now to mention
Yes, I've gone too far to get back there from here.

Hear the Salvation Army band a playin'
I hear questions but the answers I don't know
The silence fell the truth for me will soon be dead rain
Through this cold and lonely New York City snow.

These old New York City sidewalks sure did thrill me
I guess the right way was the wrong way after all
Lord, I'd sell my soul if just one friend could hear me callin' for 'im
I wish I could afford to make a call.

Hear the Salvation Army band a playin'
I hear questions but the answers I don't know
The silence fell the truth for me will soon be dead rain
Through this cold and lonely New York City snow.

Through this cold and lonely New York City snow...

 

[fox69]

"No Sad Songs For Me"

"No Sad Songs For Me"



I walk around imagining the way she'd say goodbye
And when she tries to tell me I hope that I won't cry
No sad songs for me soon our love will be
Just a memory, it's all over.

The glow has gone forever and our dreams have turned to dust
I don't know how I can go on and yet I know I must
No sad songs for me soon our love will be
Just a memory, it's all over.

It breaks my heart to feel this way although I try to smile
To think I'll be alone again in just a little while
No sad songs for me soon our love will be
Just a memory, it's all over.

It's all over...

 

[fox69]

"Noah's Ark"

"Noah's Ark"



The Lord looked down
And all he saw was sin
So he said, "I'm gonna start
This world all over again."

Well, the skies turned black and the rain came down
And it rained, rained, rained
The thunder roared with the terrible sound
And it rained, rained, rained.

So he said to Noah,
"Build that ark, build it strong and true
Then take two of everything
Upon this ark with you."

So Noah and his sons built the mighty ark
And it rained, rained, rained
They worked by day and they worked by dark
And it rained, rained, rained.

The people laughed at Noah's ark
Not knowing of their fate
And when they finally realized
By then it was too late.

On came the animals two by two
And it rained, rained, rained
People cried Noah let us come with you
And it rained, rained, rained.

But Noah said, "People you've lived in sin."
Paid the Lord no mind
Now there is no room for you
Upon this ark of mine.

Oh well, the earth became one mighty sea
And it rained, rained, rained
What was said had come to be
And it rained, rained, rained.

Gone was mountain, gone was land
'Neath the waters deep
Only Noah's ark was saved
Upon this mighty sea.

Now that you've heard
This story my friend
Don't think for a minute
This can't happen again...

 

[fox69]

"Numbers"

"Numbers"



I was sittin' in Friday's suckin' on a glass of wine
When in walked a chick who almost struck me blind
Had wet blue eyes and her legs were long and fine
On a scale of one to ten, I'd give her a nine.

Now on my scale there ain't no ten's, you know
Nine is about as far as any chick can go
So I flashed her a smile, but she didn't even look at me
So for brains and good judgement, I'd give her a three.

I said, "Hey sweet thing, you look like a possible eight
You and me could, uh! make eighteen, if your head's on straight."
She looked up and down my perfect frame
And said these words that burned into my perfect brain.

She said, well, another one of those macho-matician men
Kind who grade all women on scales of one to ten
And, you give me an eight, well, that's a generous thing to do
Now, let's just see, just how much I give you.

She said you comin' on to me with that phony numbers jive
Your style makes me smile, I give it a five
When you walked up I noticed that suit of (yores)
It's last year's double-knit frayed-cuffs, give it a four.

That must be your car parked out on the curb
That sixty-nine homemade convertible, a three and a third
Now, as for your build, I guess (yore) less than five
Except, for your pot belly, I'd give that a ten for size.

That wine you're pourin' might be fine to you
But I'm used to fine champagne, I give it a two
It's hard to tell what your flashin' smile is worth
I give it a six, you could use some dental work.

But, It's your struttin' rooster act that really makes me laugh
It may be a ten to these country hens, but to me a three and a half
And there really ain't much to add once the subtractin's done
Since there ain't no zeroes, I give you a one!.

She walked out, while up and down the line
The whole bar was laughin', said' Bare, what happened to your nine
Nine says I, hell soon as she started to talk I knew
She didn't have no class, I barely gave her a two.

Spoken:
Yeah! No matter how good they look at first
There's flaws in all of them
That's why on a scale of ten to one, friend
There ain't no ten.

 

[fox69]

"Ode To The Little Brown Shack Out Back"

"Ode To The Little Brown Shack Out Back"


They passed an ordinance in the town they said we'd have to tear it down
That little old shack out back so dear to me
Though the health department said its day was over and dead
It will stand forever in my memory.

Don't let them tear that little brown building down
Don't let them tear that precious building down
Don't let them tear that dear old building down
There's not another like it in the country or the town.

It was not so long ago that I went tripping through the snow
Out to that house behind my old hound dog
Where I would sit me down to rest like a snowbird on his nest
And I'd read that Sears and Roebuck catalog.

Oh, I would hum a happy tune peeping through the quarter moon
As my daddy's kin had done so much before
It was in that quiet spot daily cares could be forgot
And it gave the same relief to rich and poor.

Don't let them tear that little brown building down
Don't let them tear that precious building down
Don't let them tear that dear old building down
There's not another like it in the country or the town.

Now it was not a castle fair but I could dream of future there
Build my castle to the yellow jackets drone
I could orbit round the sun fight with General Washington
Or be a king upon a golden throne.

It wasn't fancy built at all we had newspapers on the wall
It was air-conditioned in the wintertime
Oh it was just an humble hut but its door was never shut
And a man could get inside without a dime.

Don't let them tear that little brown building down
Don't let them tear that precious building down
Don't let them tear that dear old building down
There's not another like it in the country or the town...

[Narrative by Bobby spoken after song:]

(He's hangin' around a saw mill town.)
I'm from the Saw Mill town myself and nobody ever bought my hometown
I don't think anybody wanted it after they shut down the saw mill.