Johnny Cash

[fox69]

"Let The Lower Lights Be Burning"

"Let The Lower Lights Be Burning"



Brightly beams our Father's mercy from his lighthouse evermore
But to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore

Let the lower lights be burning, send a gleam across the wave
Some poor fainting struggling seaman, you may rescue you may save

Dark the night of sin has settled loud the angry billows roar
Eager eyes are watching longing for the lights along the shore

Let the lower lights be burning, send a gleam across the wave
Some poor fainting struggling seaman, you may rescue you may save

Trim your feeble lamp my brother, some poor sailor tempest tossed
Trying now to make the harbor in the darkness may be lost

Let the lower lights be burning, send a gleam across the wave
Some poor fainting struggling seaman, you may rescue you may save

 

[fox69]

"Let The Train Blow The Whistle"

"Let The Train Blow The Whistle"



I don't want no aggravation
When my train has left the station
If you're there or not,
I may not even know
Have a round and remember
Things we did that weren't so tender
Let the train blow the whistle when I go

On my guitar sell tickets
So someone can finally pick it
And tell the girls down at the Ritz
I said hello
Tell the gossipers and liars
I will see them in the fire
Let the train blow the whistle when I go

Let her blow, let her blow
Long and loud and hard and happy
Let her blow No regrets, all my debts will be paid
When I get laid Let her blow, let her blow, let her blow

You'll be left without excuses
For the evils and abuses
Down to today from years and years ago
And have yourself another toke
From my basket full of smoke
And let the train blow the whistle when I go

Let her blow, let her blow
Long and loud and hard and happy
Let her blow No regrets, all my debts will be paid
When I get laid Let her blow, let her blow, let her blow

 

[fox69]

"Let There Be Country"

"Let There Be Country"



Tom T Hall is forty now and so is Bobby Bare
Willie Nelson's gettin' grey and Faron Young don't care
But the young ones keep on coming on the old are slow to go

Let there be country and let the country grow
Let there be country let the music roll along
Let there be country and let me share the song

No one picks like Bill Monroe and don't George Jones sing great
I can tell that the people care by the people at my gate
Webb Pierce invites the tourists in and Ray keeps them away
Let there be country and let the country play

Let there be country and let the country grow
Let there be country let the music roll along
Let there be country and let me share the song

Ernest Tubb's got all of the soul he's had for all these years
Porter Wagoner's recitation still bring me to tears
And when they do play Kitty Wells you know she's still the Queen
Let there be country and keep the country green

Let there be country and let the country grow
Let there be country let the music roll along
Let there be country and let me share the song

Little Jimmy Dickens still sends shivers through the crowd
Mother Maybelle whispers now but the heart comes through real loud
Gene Autry don't sing no more good old Tex Ritter's gone
And somewhere downtown Nashville a young man just got off the bus
With a guitar in his hands a pocket full of songs
A lot of talent and a heart full of hope
And he's gonna be the next big country star and the country wheels roll on

Let there be country and let the country grow
Let there be country let the music roll along
Let there be country and let me share the song

Let there be country and let the country grow
Let there be country let the music roll along
Let there be country and let me share the song

 

[fox69]

"Letters From Home"

"Letters From Home"



A cowpoke rode in one hot dusty day to a store down in old San Antone
He stood at the window and I heard him say do I have a letter from home
The postmaster looked through the mail that had come
Then smilingly shook his grey head
The cowboke looked sadly a moment at him and these are the words that he said

No letter from home no letter from home there's never a letter from home
(No message from mother and none from the other) there's never a letter from home

That night he was shot on the wrong side of town no more of those plains will he roam
I reached for my Bible and gave it to him and said son here's your letter from home
If only I had just a little more time to read it the young cowpoke said
I can't take it with me and I must go on then he died with his letter unread

The letter from home the letter from home no time for the letter from home
(The cowboy laid dead with his letter unread) too late for the letter from home

 

[fox69]

"Life Goes On"

"Life Goes On"



My baby left me just the other day
I guess the things will never be the same
But I must forget that she is gone
Cause time goes by and life goes on

Making plans, shaking hands
Try to prove that I'm a man
It's hard to do but I must try
Cause life goes on and so will I

It's been kinda tough these last few days
Trying to act normal and be gay
It's not easy to be all alone
But time goes by and life goes on

If I see her anywhere
I hope she thinks that I don't care
For after night there comes the dawn
Yes time goes by and life goes on

 

[fox69]

"Life Has Its Little Ups And Downs"

"Life Has Its Little Ups And Downs"



I don't know how to tell her I didn't get that raise in pay today
(That's all right John)
Cause I know how much she wanted that dress in Baker's window
And it breaks my heart to tell her she'll have to wait
And cancel all the plans we made to celebrate
But I just know that she can take it with a smile and not a frown

Cause she knows life has its little ups and downs like ponies on a merry-go-round
And no one grabs a brass ring every time but she don't mind (I don't mind)
She wears a gold ring on her finger and it's mine

Those new house plans we've had so long I guess will gather dust another year
And the daffodils are bloomin' that she planted way last fall upon the hill
And over by the gate God knows I hate to say again we'll have to wait
But I just know that she can take it with a smile and not a frown

Cause she knows life has its little ups and downs like ponies on a merry-go-round
And no one grabs a brass ring every time but she don't mind (No I don't mind)

She wears a gold ring on her finger and it's mine
She wears a gold ring on her finger and it's mine

 

[fox69]

"Life Of A Prisoner"

"Life Of A Prisoner"



He drinks a cup of coffee and way before the sun he's up and goin'
Out on a work detail cause he knows soon the morning whistle will begin to blowin'
All day out in that hot sun with no reward for any work he'll do
And then he'll come back in the evening
And dreams a lot of dreams that can't come true

This is the life of a prisoner forgotten man that's there to stay
He lives on faith and hope and courage and a few old dreams of yesterday

Well no one cares about him or it seems at way to him as time goes by
One day is like the other and every time he prays he prays to die
He's been there for so long now he wouldn't know how to talk to men outside
And though it's the life he lives for he fears the day the gates swing open wide

This is the life of a prisoner...
He lives on faith and hope and courage and a few old dreams of yesterday

 

[fox69]

"Like A Soldier"

"Like A Soldier"



With the twilight colors falling
And the evening laying shadows
Hidden memories come stealing from my mind
As I feel my own heart beating out
The simple joy of living
I wonder how I ever was that kind

But the wild road I was rambling
Was always out there calling
And they said a hundred times I should have died
But now my present miracle
Is that you're here beside me
So, I believe they were roads that I was meant to ride

Like a soldier getting over the war
Like a young man getting over his crazy days
Like a bandit getting over his lawless ways
Every day is better than before
I'm like a soldier getting over the war

There were nights I don't remember
And there's pain that I've forgotten
Other things I choose not to recall
There are faces that come to me
In my darkest secret memory
Faces that I wish would not come back at all

In my dreams parade of lovers
From the other times and places
There's not one that matters now, no matter who
I'm just thankful for the journey
And that I've survived the battles
And that my spoils of victory are you

 

[fox69]

"Like A Young Colt"

"Like A Young Colt"



Like a young cold the country was now growing fast
Passenger trains in the east were traveling a hundred miles an hour
People in the country could buy clothes by mail order
And get 'em back within two weeks

After twenty years or more the South
Was still mending its wounds from the civil war
But with all the country's problems
The union was solid

Red American novelists and poets
Were coming into their own
People were expressing their love
For America in song and in poem

And in South Carolina
A high tone southern gentleman
Expressed his love and admiration
For his president James A Garfield in such a way

 

[fox69]

"Like The 309"

"Like The 309"



It should be a while before I see Dr. Death
So it would sure be nice if I could get my breath
Well I'm not the crying nor the whining kind
'Till I hear the whistle of the 309

Of the 309, of the 309
Put me in my box on the 309

Take me to the depot, put me to bed
Blow an electric fan on my gnarly old head
Everybody take a look, see I'm doing fine
Then load my box on the 309

On the 309, on the 309
Put me in my box on the 309

Hey sweet baby, kiss me hard
Draw my bath water, sweep my yard
Give a drink of my wine to my Jersey cow
I wouldn't give a hootin' hell for my journey now

On the 309, on the 309

I hear the sound of a railroad train
The whistle blows and I'm gone again
It will take me higher than a Georgia pine
Stand back children, it's a 309

It's a 309, it's a 309
Put me in my box on the 309

A chicken in the pot and turkey in the corn
Ain't felt this good since jubilee morn
Talk about luck, well I got mine
As me comin' down like a 309

Write me a letter, sing me a song
Tell me all about it, what I did wrong
Meanwhile I will be doing fine
Then load my box on the 309

On the 309, on the 309
Goin' to get out of here on the 309