John Hiatt

[fox69]

"Down Around My Place"

"Down Around My Place"



The radio is busted, down around my place
Every tool is rusted, down around my place
Creeks and rivers dried up, down around my place
My woman's tears are cried up, down around my place

And before there came a flood
Some lost all, even blood
Now the sun and wind have come and left no trace
Down around my place
Down around my place

These hunting grounds were hallowed, down around my place
Exhausted fields lay fallow, down around my place
Kingdoms come and crumble, down around my place
My prayers are merely mumbles, down around my place

And I put my faith in you
Did you make that error too?
Bound to fail that he might show his grace
Down around my place

Down around my place
Down around my place

They said you wouldn't believe
What a paradise this was
'Til every Adam and Eve, Tom, Dick and Harry
Started fighting for what he loved

So, we fortified the ramparts
And we built the mighty towers
But it was plain to see, we never were free
From the tyranny of the hour

The family graves keep winkin', down around my place
At every thought I'm thinkin', down around my place
While the young ones crowd the table, down around my place
Bitchin' about no cable, down around my place

And my grandpa says, “Don't worry
It's always the last one in who's in a hurry
To try and slam the door in the next one's face”
Down around my place
Down around my place
Down around my place
Down around my place
Down around my place

 

[fox69]

"Down Home"

"Down Home"


The driver says it's gettin' late
But I know that he's lyin'
I got me no important dates
My, how time is flyin'

[Chorus:]
Well I keep on, keep on fallin'
I keep on, keep on fallin'
I keep on, keep on fallin'
Fallin' down home

Oh, la, la, la, la, Oh, la, la, la, la
A pretty lady smiled at me
Love that fancy dancin'
Get back home where we can see
Do up some romancin'

[Chorus]

You know I'm just hangin' around
Got to be there, Got to be there
When it all comes down,
Comes down down
Comes down home

Well now someone put firewater in my drink
Liked to make me drop it
Well now I know that this ain't no time to think
But you can't hardly stop it

[Chorus]

Here I go, Here I go

Oh la, la, la, la, la, la, la...

 

[fox69]

"Down In Front"

"Down In Front"


I spend so much time tryin'
To learn all your languages
I got nothin' to say
It's all cheap talk in kind
And a matter of time
Some fool gets his way
Down on his knees he says I got this feelin'
That you're not that kind of girl
And no one knows better as he takes off your sweater
Just what he means when he's promised you the world

[Chorus:]
Down in front
That's all they want
Just two square inches
He's a snake in britches

Shakin' your head as you lie with the enemy
So much louder than words
All that you felt one more notch in his belt
Well have you heard
You got no heart for these bullets he's loaded with
They just lite up the sky
And who needs a hero when it's zero to zero
I don't know baby it's just an alibi

[Chorus]

You could be any one
Who can't be both-ered with names
Turn off the lites turn the
Latch it's just more of the same

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Drive South"

"Drive South"


I didn't say we wouldn't hurt anymore
That's how you learn, you just get burned
But we don't have to feel like dirt anymore
Though love's not earned, Baby it's our turn
We were always looking for true north
With our heads in the clouds, just a little off course
I left the motor running, now if you're feeling down and out

[Chorus:]
Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love
Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love

I'm not talkin' 'bout retreatin' little girl
Gonna take our stand, in this Chevy van
Windows open on the rest of the world
Holdin' hands, all the way to Dixieland
We've been tryin' to turn our lives around
Since we were little kids, it's been wearin' us down
Don't turn away now Darlin' lets fire it up and wind it out

[Chorus]

I heard your mama callin', I think she was just stallin'

Don't know who she was talkin' to, baby me and you
We could go down with a smile on, don't bother to pack your nylons
Just keep them pretty legs showin', it gets hot down where we're goin'
We were always looking for true north
With our heads in the clouds, just a little off course
I left the motor running, now if you're feeling down and out
Come on baby drive, come on baby drive south, come on baby drive south

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Dust Down A Country Road"

"Dust Down A Country Road"


Could not get to sleep
It was on my wedding night
I was tangled in the sheets
And I was dreaming of a light
Pouring from her window
Coming up through the floor
Lifting up the darkness
Crashing through my kitchen door

Down to that old oak table
I went to take a look
And my whole life flashed before me
Just like a story book
She used to make me breakfast
Or sit around and talk
Have another cup of coffee
Or maybe take a little walk

[Chorus:]
Dust down a country road
Blowing int he wind
Behind an old truck load
Up before the rooster crowed
There's an old dog staring
At the dust down a country road

And that truck is going somewhere
I just can't be sure
When tomorrow's just the day
After all that's gone before
And I always thought of leaving
I never could stay too long
Now her memory's catching up
And our sweet dreams are all gone

[Chorus]

If I had a bullet I'd put it in this gun
And I'd catch that old dog napping
And I'd shoot him before he runs
Cause he ain't much good for nothin'
Except staring at the dust
Lord I wonder what he's looking at
Sneaking up on us

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Ethylene"

"Ethylene"


I'm sitting on the toilet
With my sunglasses on
Wondering what you are up to
This hotel's got bathroom telephones
But I don't want to interrupt you
You might be painting your nails
With your hot curlers on
Each one a different color
Or listening to that Beach Boys sailing song
Sloop John B or another

[Chorus:]
Ethylene, my Ethylene
My love for you is just obscene
My deer you dress
My fish you clean
But you are nowhere to be seen
My Ethylene

Well you could bag your limit
With a bow and arrow
Yeah you could skin a cougar in the dark
Well I thought we were walking
Down the straight and narrow
How'd we ever drift so far apart

I took my eighteen wheels
On this road to nowhere
And you disappeared right up in the hills
Like smoke up a chimney
Girl, I go there
Yeah in my dreams I visit you still

[Chorus]

Now some men will drive
To the edges of nothing
So they can take a peak at the great abyss
Some men avoid love
Like it was a plague or something
So they can leave the seat down
When they piss

I miss that crocheted thing
You kept on the Kleenex box
I miss my feet
On your cold linoleum floor
Sippin hot coffee
After makin love till daybreak
Well Ethylene a fool would ask for more

[Chorus 2x]

My Ethylene, my Ethylene, my Ethylene

 

[fox69]

"Everybody Went Low"

"Everybody Went Low"



Well the prize was right there underneath our eyeballs
And when it all came down we were looking for the pitfalls
Until Junie said baby get yourself to going
And we were so far gone we had no way of knowing

Everybody went low
Everybody went low
Everybody went low

Well she was pretty as a junebug jumpy as a nerve end
And when she pulled the rug out my tires started swerving
And I was driving through the living room driving through the basement
Looking for the lowest spot in the pavement

Everybody went low
Everybody went low
Everybody went low
Everybody went low

Nothing there to corrupt you
Nothing there to live up to
There's no place further down
Turn it off or turn around

Well I was coming up for air I heard somebody breathing
And it was Junie Bug praying harder than a heathen
And she was smiling like the sole survivor in a lifeboat
Said if I jump in Junie do you think this thing will still float

Everybody went low
Everybody went low
Everybody went low
Everybody went low

Low, low, low...

 

[fox69]

"Face Of God"

"Face Of God"



Tell me how much more suffering
Before you see the face of God?
Tell me how much more suffering
Before you see the face of God?

Now my eyes are blind from crying
Don't know how many more tears I've got!

They say God is a devil,
Until you look him in the eye.
They say God is a devil,
Until you look him in the eye.

I can barely lift my head up,
And sometimes I don't even wanna try.

I'm not looking for love, baby
Looking how I'm looking,
Anybody tell me where all love go!?

I know I want something
Before you see the eyes of God
Cause I'm busting down to nothing
And its a long down road I'm on.

How does them show up yesterday?
Like a rain come down from the cloud.
I just didn't showed up yesterday
Like a rain come down from a cloud.

I was own blood from the enemy
Long before my neighbors got proud.

They ride a big fancy cars,
Then like to cut the grass they sow
They ride a big fancy cars,
Then like to cut the grass they sow

I'm doing cartwheel on the front lawn
I'm still coming to the kitchen door.

Tell me how much more suffering
Before you see the face of God?
Tell me how much more suffering
Before you see the face of God?

Now take my shit, baby
Why don't you tell me what you got?

 

[fox69]

"Face The Nation"

"Face The Nation"



My mind is finally clearing
What is this sound I'm hearing?
Chainsaws on bone and gristle
Carving out a new epistle
I've got my pencil sharpened
I will not be disheartened
I won't be disenchanted
Even though the news is slanted

Face the nation
Face the nation
Face the nation

I see you shaping nooses
Sixty minutes of excuses
Airwaves and wire service
Trying to make me nervous
Your problem's overrated
Your headaches are inflated
No talk now, only chatter
Little chipmunk, what's the matter?

Face the nation
Face the nation
Face the nation

I'm entertaining notions
Propelled by raw emotions
Put down your Time and Newsweek
Listen to me when I speak
There is no pulse to finger
No waves of grain to bring her
No purple mountain story
And no epoch of glory

Face the nation
Face the nation
Face the nation

 

[fox69]

"Falling Up"

"Falling Up"



I'm gonna lower my standards and raise my price
I'm gonna take your lunch and your bad advice
Until my worse idea gets the big reward
Until I get out of this raggedy Ford
And into a shiny new two seater
Dress my girlfriend up like a cheetah

I'm gonna sign my checks: Yours sincerely
For all the money that you hold dearly
When my ego swells and my output dwindles
You can tell the world that youve been swindled
By the man who would have been so bitter
Had he never reconsidered

Falling up
To the top of the junk pile wearing a big smile
Falling up
To the top of the heap with my tongue in cheek
I cant sit down cause I'm falling up

Well I used to think that I had some duty
Now I only want the booty
And unless youve recently been anointed
Then dont tell me youre disappointed
In the man who would have been so bitter
Had he never reconsidered

Now I pay no mind to innovation
Just over and over with the same sensation
Till I'm a short short subject on a long tape loop
That comes and goes like the hula hoop
In one ear and out the other
Nothing there to stop it, brother

Falling up