Guy Clark

[fox69]

"Indian Head Penny"

"Indian Head Penny"


I rolled off the San Francisco mint in 1909
The last one they ever made, you should've seen me shine
When I landed on the counter they gave me to a kid
Making change for a jaw breaker was the first thing that I did

I got traded for a pocket knife, two marbles and some string
Wound up on a railroad track waiting for a train
Snatched up by a hobo and turned right into wine
Pitched up against the wall at least a thousand times

[Chorus]
'Round and 'round a penny goes
'Round and back again
Listen and I'll tell you
The places that I've been

I got stolen from a banker by Pretty Boy Floyd and then
He gave me to a farmer who was trying to save his land
I was good luck to a soldier back in W.W.II
He lost me in a poker game the day the war was through

I got stuck behind the back seat of a '51 Chevrolet
Spare change in the sixties, getting worth less every day
Now it's piggy banks and gum machines and occasional wishing wells
Or laying on a barroom floor, Indian heads or tails

[Chorus]

I'm a pretty lucky penny, Lord it happens every time
Just when I start feeling lost and left behind
Some kid will pick me up and wonder where I've been
Put me in his pocket, and here I go again

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Instant Coffee Blues"

"Instant Coffee Blues"


He washed all the road dirt from his face and from his neck
And sat down at her table and she picked up his check.
And she took him home for reasons that she did not understand.
And him, he had the answers but did not play his hand.
For him he knew the taste of this wine very well.
It all goes down so easily but the next day is hell.

Morning - "Man was I drunk," she wispered in the shower.
While he lay there and smoked his way there through the final hour.
And she felt wholly empty like she'd felt it every time.
And he was feelin' just the same, 'cept he was tryin' to make it rhyme.
Time was of the essence so they both did their best,
to meet up in the kitchen feelin fully dressed.
She just had to go to work, and he just had to go.
And she knew where and he knew how to blow it off and so.

They shot the breeze quite cavalier to the boilin' of the pot.
And sang the Instant Coffee Blues and never fired a shot.

And him he hit the driveway with his feelin's in a case.
And her she hit the stoplight and touched up her face.
So you tell them the difference between caring and not.
And that it's all done with mirrors, lest they forgot.

I said it's all done with mirrors, of which they have none.
To blend the instant coffee blues into the morning sun

 

[fox69]

"It's About Time"

"It's About Time"


Hear that old tune come driftin' down the hall
Trying to put a stop to clocks on the wall
Free flowin', free flown, Lord, momma
How that old thief time carries on

Take off your old coat and let down your hair
Kick off them boots, hon', I don't care
It's only time and only time will tell

Looks like a chance with no reason, not to take it
Looks like our dance while the record player fakes it
Hold on, King's X, I think I'll be a captain
Standin' on a burnin' deck

Take off your old coat and let down your hair
Kick off them boots, hon', I don't care
It's only time and only time will tell

So come waltz you around this old room with me
As if we were some old pair of high degree
Round and round again don't let old fickle sickle
Catch you keepin' time with a friend

Take off your old coat and let down your hair
Kick off them boots, hon', I don't care
It's only time and only time will tell

 

[fox69]

"Jack Of All Trades"

"Jack Of All Trades"


Now I don't mind workin' hard
You can't burn me down
They ain't made a job
That I can't work my way around
Sometime I do it for the money
Sometime for the glamour
Sometime I use my head
Sometime I get a bigger hammer

I worked on the railroad
I worked in the fields
I'm a steeple jack and it's a fact
I drive anything on wheels
I can frame a house drive pilin'
Pour that wet concrete
Take a weldin' rig and build a bridge
And I can do it in my sleep

[Chorus]
I'm the jack of all trades
I love every lick I get
If I ain't got the job done son
I might not want to quit
I'm the jack of all trades
That makes me the boss
You gonna get your money's worth
No matter what it costs

I don't work assembly line
Doin' the same ol thing
Same ol shop the same ol clock
Playin' the same ol game
I don't want no desk job man
It don't suit my clothes
I don't need no engineer
Just to show me how it goes
Hmm hmm show me how it goes

[Chorus]

There ain't no need to do a job
It I can't do it right
I may not be gettin' rich
But I'm sleepin' good at night
Some call me a gypsy
Some call me a flake
But I'll kiss your ass if I don't earn
Every dime I make

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"L.A. Freeway"

"L.A. Freeway"


Pack up all your dishes.
Make note of all good wishes.
Say goodbye to the landlord for me.
That son of a bitch has always bored me.
Throw out them LA papers
And that moldy box of vanilla wafers.
Adios to all this concrete.
Gonna get me some dirt road back street

If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without getting killed or caught
I'd be down that road in a cloud of smoke
For some land that I ain't bought bought bought

Here's to you old skinny Dennis
Only one I think I will miss
I can hear that old bass singing
Sweet and low like a gift you're bringing
Play it for me just one more time now
Got to give it all we can now
I believe everything your saying
Just keep on, keep on playing

If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without getting killed or caught
I'd be down that road in a cloud of smoke
For some land that I ain't bought bought bought

And you put the pink card in the mailbox
Leave the key in the old front door lock
They will find it likely as not
I'm sure there's something we have forgot
Oh Susanna, don't you cry, babe
Love's a gift that's surely handmade
We've got something to believe in
Don't you think it's time we're leaving

If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without getting killed or caught
I'd be down that road in a cloud of smoke
For some land that I ain't bought bought bought.

Pack up all your dishes.
Make note of all good wishes.
Say goodbye to the landlord for me.
That son of a bitch has always bored me.

 

[fox69]

"Let Him Roll"

"Let Him Roll"


He's a wino, tried and true.
Done about everything there is to do.
He worked on freighters, he worked in bars.
He worked on farms, 'n he worked on cars.

It was white port, that put that look in his eye
That grown men get when they need to cry
And he sat down on the curb to rest
And his head just fell down on his chest

He said "Every single day it gets
A little bit harder to handle and yet..."
And he lost the thread and his mind got cluttered
And the words just rolled off down in the gutter

Well he was elevator man in a cheap hotel
In exchange for the rent on a one room cell
He's old in years beyond his time
Thanks to the world, and the white Port wine

So he says "Son," he always called me son
He said, "Life for you has just begun"
And he told me a story that I heard before
How he fell in love with a Dallas whore

Well he could cut through the years to the very night
When it ended, in a whore house fight
And she turned his last proposal down
In favor of being a girl about town

Now it's been seventeen years right in line
And he ain't been straight none of the time
Too many days of fightin' the weather
And too many nights of not being together

So he died...

Well when they went through his personal affects
In among the stubs from the welfare checks
Was a crumblin' picture of a girl in a door
An address in Dallas, and nothin' more

The welfare people provided the priest
A couple from the mission down the street
Sang Amazing Grace, and no one cried
'Cept some woman in black, way off to the side

We all left and she was standing there
Black veil covering her silver hair
And 'ol One-Eyed John said her name was Alice
And she used to be a whore in Dallas

Let him roar, Lord let him roll
Bet he's gone to Dallas Rest his soul
Lord, let him roll, Lord let him roar
He always said that heaven
Was just a Dallas whore.

 

[fox69]

"Like A Coat From The Cold"

"Like A Coat From The Cold"


I found comfort and courage from bottles of whiskey
I swear to you friends these old high times sure seem risky
I have backed away gently from those who tried to burn me
And blocked up my ears that no one should learn me

But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold

I have flown like a bird from every cage that confined me
And broken every one of the ties that bind me
I have danced me around some sad ol' sad ol' situations
And taken my share of those sweet invitations

But the lady beside me is the one I have chosen
To walk through life with me
Like a coat from the cold

 

[fox69]

"Lone Star Hotel"

"Lone Star Hotel"


The Lone Star Hotel Café is nothing but a
Dive, and Florence Smith showed up there,
Lord every day at five
Florence was a waitress
Have I mentioned that before?
Serving beer to strangers and to some she’d seen before

Florence used to ride a little Apaloosa mare
in the barrel race at the rodeo with all that beehive hair
There’s a picture of her on the wall, as you pay your check
Lord, didn’t she look good back in nineteen fifty six?

I was lovin’ Florence and she was ignorin’ me
Florence had experience, it was the first time out for me
Lord, I tried to tell her, but the only words I found
Were "Give me greasy enchiladas and a beer to wash it down"

Florence quit the Lone Star Hotel, and never was seen again
And me, I quit west Texas, and I ain’t been back since then
That was years ago, Lord, too many can I recall?
But I remember Florence and them pictures on the wall

So here’s to you west Texas, you old rodeo queen
How I miss your beer joints and shuffle board machines
Here’s to you west Texas, how I miss the smell
Of greasy enchiladas, at the old Lone Star Hotel

 

[fox69]

"Madonna w/Child Ca. 1969"

"Madonna w/Child Ca. 1969"


Oh, the beautiful red-haired Madonna with child
Sat on the curb wearin' a smile
That doubled up the years and trebled the miles
And comforts the babe in the softest of style

She woke up in San Francisco on the day she turned 16
Haight St. was somethin' then, hey man you should have seen
And she took up with this drummer in some good time Texas scene
And she loved him till the day they shipped him back home to Killeen

She said she danced up in North Beach when the need arose
She’s tryin' to start a little trade of makin' people clothes
To feed the child and pay the rent and everybody knows
She’s a little hard for 21, that's the way she goes

She's livin' on next to nothin' and memories from the past
Just a fading flower child tryin' to make it last
She’s got answers to some questions I would not dare to ask
Survival’s never graceful when the changes come that fast

Oh, the beautiful red-haired Madonna with child
Sat on the curb wearin' a smile
That doubled up the years, trebled the miles
Comforts the babe in the softest of style

 

[fox69]

"Magdalene"

"Magdalene"


I ain't lookin' for trouble
I can't stay here tonight
I got to leave here on the double
If I want to see the morning light
Don't need no pistol for the tickets
I've got just enough to get us down the line
I don't know what happens next
Your guess is just as good as mine

Move with me Magdalene
I'm tired of the same old scene
There's a greyhound leaving at midnight
If you came with me it'd be like a dream
Come on Magdalene
Move with me Magdalene

I've heard Mexico is easy
I wouldn't stay here if I could
Don't come along just to please you
Let's go while the going's good

Move with me Magdalene
I'm tired of the same old scene
Let's go down to San Miguel
Let's go be somebody else tonight
Come on Magdalene
There's a greyhound leaving at midnight
If you came with me it'd be like a dream
Come on Magdalene
Move with me Magdalene