John Hiatt

[fox69]

"Hangin' Around The Observatory"

"Hangin' Around The Observatory"



Hangin' around the observatory.
We were waitin' to see the moon.
Well we thought that we was all gypsies,
Come to escape these lousy ruins.

Well that telescope; that mighty eye.
It's bigger, Jack, that you or I.
Oh, it sees the stars, it sees the moon.
You might as well stay in the room.

Professor, Professor, I forgot how it looks.
Could I just take another peak?
Is there really a man who lives up there?
Is it all green cheese so to speak?

Well now listen boy. These are the facts.
The moon is white. The sky is black.
And you are a speck on this crummy Earth,
And a dollar and a half is all you're worth.

Why did I come here?

Let all the tender scientist,
Get lost in poetry.
And let all these moist romantic guys,
Turn back to history.

Hangin' around the observatory.
Waitin' to see the moon.
Well we thought that we was gypsies
Come to escape these lousy ruins.

 

[fox69]

"Hangin' Round Here"

"Hangin' Round Here"



If I could go back to love's first blush
Oh my lordy it would be a big rush
But I know you can't go back
You gotta keep moving that's a natural fact

So here we are still in love
I swear to you honey by the stars above
It's an old man's dreams that a young man fears
Well I learned that honey just hangin' round here

I'm proud of my mistakes
And all the love and the trouble that I ever did make
I never mean to hurt no one
And when I did it wasn't any fun

But all the roads lead me straight to you
It's all good every little thing that you do
It gets me going just to have you near
Well I learned that honey just hangin' around here

Round here a man has to stand up tall
Round here a man has gotta learn to crawl
Got to go to the bottom to see the top
It's a one way ticket and it never does stop

If I could go back I'd be alone
Cause there's nothing back there just dust and bones
I guess it's you and me
Stumbling to the twenty-first century

My mind's half gone but I don't care
Ain't thinking ahead I'm just getting there
And if you want you can help me steer

Well I learned that honey just hangin' round here
Well I learned that baby just hangin' round here
Well I learned that honey just hangin' round here

 

[fox69]

"Haulin'"

"Haulin'"



Haulin', I'm haulin'
Fort Smith to Louisville
I'm gonna see my baby
See my baby with time to kill

Well, I'm flyin', flyin'
No one on the road tonight
My radar detector's not buzzin'
No eighteen wheeler, not a cop in sight

Got a little gig in Nashville
Beat it back to Arkansas
Followed me all the way to Little Rock
Sayin' something I done was against the law

So I'm haulin', haulin'
Fort Smith to Louisville
Gonna see my baby
Gonna see my baby with time to kill

So I'm haulin', haulin'
I'm gonna get there
Rollin' in the bluegrass of Kentucky
I'm gonna get there

V-8 slappin out real time
Deeper than a 808
Leakin'red eye gravy from my manifold
Spoutin' hot coffee from the boiler plate

I'm chewin' up the road like biscuits
Makin' all the time in the world
Sun comes up and I'm crossin'
Kentucky state line gonna see my girl

She likes it early in the mornin'
Like it in the evening too
In between she don't mind it
Just about any old time will do

So I'm haulin', haulin'
Fort Smith to Louisville
I'm gonna see my baby
See my baby with time to kill

And I'm haulin', haulin'
I'm gonna get there
Rollin' in the green grass of Kentucky
Yeah I'm gonna get there

I tell her not to worry
They couldn't pin nothin' on me
Club owner short a hundred dollars
I do it for fun, but I still gotta eat

I cut him and I coasted through Conway
Put him by the side of the road
Made Fort Smith that evening
Packed me a bag now I'm ready to go

And I'm haulin', haulin'
Fort Smith to Louisville
I'm gonna see my baby
Gonna see my baby with time to kill

Flyin', flyin'
I'm gonna get there
Rolling in the green grass of Kentucky
Oh, I'm gonna get there

Flyin', flyin'
I'm gonna get there
Rolling in the green grass of Kentucky
Oh, I'm gonna get there

Yeah

 

[fox69]

"Have A Little Faith In Me"

"Have A Little Faith In Me"


When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me

And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
And have a little faith in me
And

[Chorus:]
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me

When your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darlin'
From a whisper start
To have a little faith in me

And when your back's against the wall
Just turn around and you will see
I will catch, i will catch your fall baby
Just have a little faith in me

[Chorus]

[Sung Over Fade:]
Well, I've been loving you for such a long time girl
Expecting nothing in return
Just for you to have a little faith in me
You see time, time is our friend
'Cause for us there is no end
And all you gotta do is have a little faith in me
I said I will hold you up, i will hold you up
Your love gives me strength enough
So have a little faith in me

 

[fox69]

"Here To Stay"

"Here To Stay"



Leaves are fallin',
Winters on my mind
Leaves are fallin' babe,
Winters on my mind

My heaters a busted,
I need you to treat me kind
Come back baby, come back to my bed
Come back baby, oh come back to my bed

I treat you good,
Don't say our love is dead
I know girl, I love you,
But you walk on front door
Back on the halaa way,
run off on front door

My stove is cold baby
why you wanna leave so
Spring has dried up,
since the summer is blow away
Spring has dried up,
summer has blown away
Even if you ride please don't leave me

Our love is here to stay
You can put it on me baby,
but you don't the pain
You can put it on me baby,
you don't know the pain
But I know you don't know how to leave
But my love is here to stay

 

[fox69]

"Hold On For Your Love"

"Hold On For Your Love"



Streets are all empty, the network's deveined
Buildings walled up, electricity drained
Shots in the square where they mowed them all down
River runs red from the center of town

I worked for my daddy, he worked for his paw
'Til they came from the city and they took what they saw
We rented back land and we worked what we could
But they built it and they stripped it 'til it wasn't no good

And I know I
Yes I know I
Gotta hold on
Hold on for your love

Out in the woods, my old truck is on fire
Burning the last drops of my enormous desire
Men eating men and there's no time for crying
I'm tired of the blood and I'm sick of the dying

And I know I
Yes I know I
Gotta hold on
Hold on for your love

Burn down the cabin and put out the stars
Tear up the fields and leave everything scarred
I've been here before but I don't know this place
I've been here with you but I can't see your face

And I know I
Yes I know I
Gotta hold on
Hold on for your love
I gotta hold on
Hold on for your love

 

[fox69]

"Homeland"

"Homeland"



Well, I jumped so high
Knocked the table over
Thought I saw a ghost
Come out of the clover
She lived in this house
Forty odd years or so

She was buried in the back
With the English and the natives
Slaughtered like sheep
Women and babies
A lot of blood and tears
Three hundred years ago

It's like they're caught up in the trees
In the webs of spiders
Spun out of leaves
Ghostly riders
Lookin' for a trail
To find their way back home

But there's nothing back there or tomorrow
No place they can put their sorrow
Heavy as death
Cold as a broken stone

And I call this place my homeland
And I claim this land I own
But it belongs to another people
They possess it in their bones

Well, I can hear them in the night
Like a hundred televisions
Hummin' down low beneath the subdivisions
All they really want is if we can hear 'em now

They been troublin' this plain
Looking for attention
Making crazy tracks
They need an intervention
All they really want
Is to get back home somehow

So build up a fire
Say a little prayer
Cook a little meat
Pull 'em up a chair
And offer them a plate
Maybe we can all find peace

You can't bury anything, men or nations
Old memories, old vibrations
The pain doesn't stop just because the killing ceased

And I call this place my homeland
And I claim this land I own
It belongs to another people
They possess it in their bones

Well, I jumped so high
Straight up off the bedsheet
Nightmare sky
Bloody with the red heat
Started to shake
Cause I couldn't find my way back home

Well, I landed in the ditch
Landed in the gutter
Landed in arms of my long lost mother
Cryin' like a child
While the Bayou Pierre groaned

And I call this place my homeland
And I love this land I own
It belongs to another people
They possess it in their bones

Yeah, I call this place my homeland
And I claim this land I own
But it belongs to another people
They possess it in their bones

 

[fox69]

"How Bad's The Coffee"

"How Bad's The Coffee"


How long you been workin' here?
Well what do you know about that?
Its been thirty years or so
Since i bothered lookin' back
It was right in front of me
But now i'm runnin' behind
To get my butt caught up well i need a cup
Of the nastiest shit you can find

[Chorus:]
How Bad's the coffee
How good's the pie
If you call me " honey"
Honey, i'm gonna cry
A whole lot of sugar
A little pinch of salt
You cut my bitter
With your sweet talk

I don't want no cappuccino
A whole lotta latte won't get me through
I got an iron will, and a gut like a still
I could use a stronger brew
One eye doubles my eyesight
So things don't lock half bad
Be twice as good, honey if i could
Even make you a little bit mad

[Chorus:]
How Bad's the coffee
How good's the pie
If you call me " honey"
Honey, i'm gonna cry
A whole lot of sugar
A little pinch of salt
You cut my bitter
With your sweet talk

I would call you an angel
But honey, you'd know better than that
Just a trucker's dream whit a coconut cream
And a nasty old cup of black
Not a word about faded glory
Not an trace of bitterness
You leave irony to the likes of me
Cause we don't share your finesse

[Chorus:]
How Bad's the coffee
How good's the pie
If you call me " honey"
Honey, i'm gonna cry
A whole lot of sugar
A little pinch of salt
You cut my bitter
With your sweet talk

 

[fox69]

"Howlin' Down The Cumberland"

"Howlin' Down The Cumberland"



Caught like a deer in my own headlights
Frozen on this road tonight
I had a fix on the brightest star
Now I'm not sure where you are

North is south and east is west
Where's the love that I knew best
Shifting in this icy wind
Howlin' down the Cumberland

You're in this valley that I love
Cold and far as the stars above
Do I have to wait 'til spring is here?
Just to hold you warm and near

Dead of winter, dead of night
Not much time to make it right
I know where that lonesome sound begins
Howlin' down the Cumberland

Just a creature in the dark
Longing for one blessed spark
To burn the sky and hear the night
With love reborn by morning light
But nature doesn't heed the call
Nature just commands that's all

Now my love's a cutting wind
Howlin' down the Cumberland
Now my love's a cutting wind
Howlin' down the Cumberland

 

[fox69]

"Hurt My Baby"

"Hurt My Baby"



No need to be explicit
Anyone can see
Injury was permanent
The wound was really deep
Doesn't talk about it much
I listen when she does
And when she's in that distant place
I know it's just because

Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt my girl
Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt somebody in this mean ol' world

She's developed all these nervous ticks
To prove she's still alive
Does ninety down to zero
Back in over drive
Her sleep is just a nightmare state
She really gets no rest
Till someone has come forward
Till one of us confess

Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt my girl
Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt somebody in this mean ol' world

Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt my girl
Somebody hurt my baby
Somebody hurt somebody in this mean ol' world