Guy Clark

[fox69]

"Off The Map"

"Off The Map"


He's down a dead end road
And he don't know where
The right front tire
Is gonna need some air
Up around the bend
Just a two pump place
So he pulls in
To get his bearings straight

And he thumbs back
Through his life
The pages cut
Just like a knife
One by one
He tears them out
How he got this lost
He don't know how

In a nowhere town
With a nowhere name
He's nowhere closer to where he came from
Dead sure no one's to blame
He's just off the map again

Well it starts to rain
He's gonna wait it out
Gonna rest his eyes
Gonna face his doubts
And he pours a drink
In a paper cup
He goes to sleep
And he don't wake up

In a nowhere town
With a nowhere name
He's nowhere closer to where he came from
Dead sure no one's to blame
He's just off the map

In a nowhere town
With a nowhere name
He's nowhere closer to where he came from
Dead sure no one's to blame
He's just off the map

 

[fox69]

"Old Friends"

"Old Friends"


It's like when you're making conversation
And you're trying not to scream
And you're trying not to tell 'em
You don't care what they mean
And you're really feeling fragile
And you really can't get home
And you really feel abandoned
But you want to be alone

[Chorus]
Old Friends they shine like diamonds
Old Friends you can always call
Old Friends Lord you can't buy 'em
You know it's Old Friends after all

And when the house is empty
And the lights begin to fade
And there's nothing to protect you
Except the window shade
And it's hard to put your finger
On the thing that scares you most
And you can't tell the difference
Between an angel and a ghost

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"One Paper Kid"

"One Paper Kid"


Cowboys and Indians and trees he could climb
Tomorrow came too fast but he didn't mind
Ah the distance was short so light it again
It don't take no time to get where I am
But one paper kid wasn't really so mean
Just a little bit scared and a little bit green
And he'd heard of a place it was legal to dream
So he sat with his coffee in a blue Texas wind
And he wrote on a rock the one paper kid is rolling again

Ah the driver was drunk or he just didn't see
The future was there it'll happen to me
And all the time that he wasted was his once again
Ah it never gets long to get where you've been
The broken hearts scattered all over the past
Old glad memories trying to last
Whiskey and women and growing up fast
Fussing and loving and itching like grass
Hell that one paper kid wasn't really so mean
Just a little bit weird cause times were so lean
Now he's gone to a place where it's legal to dream
No Camels no coffee no cold morning winds
It was wrote on a rock the one paper kid he's rolling again
Ah the one paper kid he's rolling again

 

[fox69]

"Out In The Parkin' Lot"

"Out In The Parkin' Lot"


I was sittin' on the fender of someone else's truck
Drinking Old Crow whiskey, hot 7-up
Out in the parking lot

You can hear the band a playin right through the wall
Ain't no cover charge, there ain't no last call
Out in the parking lot

Now there's a couple of cowpokes puttin' up there dukes
Wasn't much to it after both of 'em puked
Out in the parking lot

Now someone called the police and the police finally came
And they wrote 'em a couple of tickets and they took a couple of names
Out in the parking lot

[Chorus:]
I love to see the neon dancin' on the gravel
I love to hear the pickup trucks come unraveled
And some have given up, some have given in
Looks like everybody's looking for a friend
Out in the parking lot

Oops there's a couple who could not wait to get home
They're probably in love so let's leave them alone
Out in the parking lot

The band is on the bus, they're all loaded up to leave
But the drummer's got a girlfriend and she's tuggin at his sleeve
Out in the parking lot

[Chorus]

Everybody's gone, they've shut out all the lights
The dust begins to settle and it's never been so quiet
Out in the parking lot

 

[fox69]

"Picasso's Mandolin"

"Picasso's Mandolin"


Like Picasso said in 1910
“I'm gonna paint me a mandolin”
Could be cubes, it could be curves
I like to mix the paint with nerve
I'm load my brush and fire away
Paint me a hole in the light of day

Well, you can play it straight or play it from left field
You got to play it just the way you feel
Come on boys, play it again
Play it on Picasso's mandolin

Well, it's colorin' books and drinkin' wines
It’s hard to stay between the lines
Now there ain’t no rule if you don't break it
Ain’t no chance if you don't take it
Said the damndest thing he'd ever heard
Was tryin' to learn to sing from a mockingbird

Well, you can play it straight or play it from left field
You got to play it just the way you feel
Come on boys, play it again
Play it on Picasso's mandolin

Like Picasso said before he died
“There’s one more paintin' I'd like to try”
Well, the doctor held his breath
And then Picasso nailed a mandolin
He’s born in Spain and died in France
He was not scared of baggy pants

Well, you can play it straight or play it from left field
You got to play it just the way you feel
Come on boys, play it again
Play it on Picasso's mandolin

Play it straight or play it from left field
You got to play it just the way you feel
Come on boys, play it again
Play it on Picasso's mandolin

 

[fox69]

"Queenie's Song"

"Queenie's Song"


Some S.O.B. shot my dog
I found her under a tree
If I hadn't loved that dog so much
It wouldn't mean nothin' to me

You son-of-a-bitch I'll tell you what, I will not be deterred
I'll find you out and track you down
On that you got my word

Queenie's getting buried
It's time to dig the hole
New years day in Santa Fe
Broke mean and it broke cold

I don't predict the world will end
And I don't presume it won't
And I don't pretend to give a damn
If it do or if it don't

And I bet you got a gun for Christmas
That don't make it right
What in the hell were you thinkin'
With little Queenie in your sights

Queenie's getting buried
It's time to dig the hole
New years day in Santa Fe
Broke mean and it broke cold

Now brother death and father time
Are almost loaded up
And they're headed for the border line
In a stolen pick-up truck

For old acquaintance not forgot
For old dogs left behind
I won't forgive and I can't forget
The year of '99

Screamin' Auld Lang Syne

Queenie's getting buried
It's time to dig the hole
New years day in Santa Fe
Broke mean and it broke cold

 

[fox69]

"Rain In Durango"

"Rain In Durango"


She's a long way from Houston, long way from those Texas blues
And she came down from Telluride on a steam train bound for somewhere new.
There's a rainbow in the mountains and she's waiting on the sun to shine on through.
You can't tell the tears from the rain if you ain't walked a mile in her boots.

Standing in the rain in Durango
Right side of wrong, wrong side of gone
Standing in the rain in Durango
She's waiting on some cowboy to lasso her heart and take her home.

Fell in with some field hippies went needle dancing in a tie dye dress.
Then a Rocky Mountain rain came and they all got soakin' wet.
She wound up with a backstage pass, hangin' with the pickers in the band,
'Til her heart got broke by a banjo man, now she's had all the bluegrass she can stand.

Standing in the rain in Durango
Right side of wrong, wrong side of gone
Standing in the rain in Durango
She's just waiting on some cowboy to lasso her heart and take her home.

She had all of her belongings in a cardboard suitcase sittin' by her side.
And she had no destination, she was just lookin' for a ride.
So he pulled up in a Mustang, she got in and they just rode away.
Headed west into the sunset, mascara runnin' down her face.

Standing in the rain in Durango
Right side of wrong, wrong side of gone
Standing in the rain in Durango
She's waiting on some cowboy to lasso her heart and take her home.

Standing in the rain in Durango.

 

[fox69]

"Ramblin' Jack And Mahan"

"Ramblin' Jack And Mahan"


Now, a ramblin' Jack Elliot said, "I got these lines in my face
Tryin' to straighten out the wrinkles in my life
When I think of all the fools I've been
It's a wonder that I've sailed this many miles"

To which Larry Mahan replied, he said, "The sweet bird of youth
Was sittin' on my shoulder yesterday
But she's always changin' partners
And I always knew she'd up and fly away"

Let's stayin' up all night in the Driskill Hotel
Ramblin' Jack and Mahan was cowboyed all to hell
And the room smelled like bulls, the words sound like songs
Now, there's a pair to draw to boys, I would not steer you wrong

So, ol' ramblin' Jack said, he said, "I recall a time
I set my soul on fire just for show
All it ever taught me was
The more I learn the less I seem to know"

Ol' Mahan crawled out from behind a couch and said, "Jack"
He said, "As far as I can see, mistakes are only horses in disguise
Ain't no need to ride 'em over
'Cause we could not ride them different if we tried"

And let's stayin' up all night in the Driskill Hotel
Ramblin' Jack and Mahan was cowboyed all to hell
And the room smelled like bulls, the words sound like songs
Now, there's a pair to draw to boys, I would not steer you wrong, ooh

Stayin' up all night in the Driskill Hotel, ooh
Ramblin' Jack and Mahan was cowboyed all to hell
And the room smelled like bulls, the words sound like songs
Now, there's a pair to draw to boys, I would not steer you wrong

Yes, certainly my fair [?], ooh

 

[fox69]

"Red River"

"Red River"


From Palo Duro Canyon outside Amarillo Texas
The prairie dog town fork of the Red River flows
Headed cross the plains along the coast of Oklahoma
To the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico

Red River I know you I know you of old
You have filled up my pockets with quicksand and gold
Susanna oh Susanna when it comes my time
Bury me south of that Red River line

My great grandfather came to that Red River line
And camped on the north side until it was time
To cross or to stay to be sooner or not
He headed south to San Antone they said he liked it hot

Here's to Charlie Goodnight and Mr. Loving too
Here's to Coronado, the Comanche, and the blues
Here's to the bootleggers and the oilfield crews
Here's to the one and all of us Red River fools

 

[fox69]

"Rex's Blues"

"Rex's Blues"


Ride the blue wind high and free
She'll lead you down through misery
Leave you low come time to go
Alone and low as low can be

If I had a nickel I'd find a game
If I won a dollar I would make it rain
If it rained an ocean I'd drink it dry
And lay me down dissatisfied

Legs to walk and thoughts to fly
Eyes to laugh and lips to cry
A restless tongue to classify
All born to grow and grown to die

Tell my baby I said so long
Tell my mother I did no wrong
Tell my brother to watch his own
Tell my friends to mourn me none

Chained upon the face of time
Feeling full of foolish rhyme
There ain't no dark 'til something shines
I'm bound to leave this dark behind

Ride the blue wind high and free
She'll lead you down through misery
Leave you low come time to go
Alone and low as low can be