Lyle Lovett

[fox69]

"Step Inside This House"

"Step Inside This House"


That picture hangin' on the wall
Was painted by a friend
He gave it to me all down and out
When he owed me ten
Now it doesn't look like much I guess
But it's all that's left of him
And it sure is nice from right over here
When the light's a little dim

Step inside my house Babe
I'll sing for you a song
I'll tell you 'bout where I've been
It shouldn't take too long
I'll show you all the things I own
My treasures you might say
Couldn't be more'n ten dollars worth
But they brighten up my day

Here's a book of poems I got
From a girl I used to know
I guess I read it front to back
Fifty times or so
It's all about the good life
And stayin' at ease with the world
It's funny how I love that book
And I never loved that girl

Hold this piece of glass
Up to the light comin' through the door
It's a prism glass I found on the road
Can you see that little rainbow
Well it's not really a prism I guess
It just broke in a funny way
I found it on my way from Texas
Headed for L.A.

This guitar was given me
By old man Thomas Gray
It's not too much to look at
But I pick it every day
It's been across the country
Four or five times I guess
Between me and old man Tom
It never got much rest

Well that's about all I own
And all I care to I guess
Except this pair of boots
And that funny yellow vest
And that leather jacket and leather bag
And hat hangin' on the wall
Just so it's not too much to carry
Could I see you again next Fall

 

[fox69]

"Straighten Up And Fly Right"
(from "Dear God")

"Straighten Up And Fly Right"
(from "Dear God")



A buzzard took the monkey for a ride in the air
The monkey thought that everything was on the square
The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back
But the monkey grabbed his neck and said-- Now listen, Jack

Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.
Ain't no use in divin'
What's the use in jivin'
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.

The buzzard told the monkey "You're chokin' me
Release your hold and I'll set you free
The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said
Your story's touching but it sounds like a lie

Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and do right
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.

[Instrumental interlude]

Straighten up and fly right
Straighten up and do right
Straighten up and fly right
Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.

 

[fox69]

"Summer Wind"
(from "For The Love Of The Game")

"Summer Wind"
(from "For The Love Of The Game")



The summer wind, came blowin' in from across the sea
It lingered there, to touch your hair and walk with me
All summer long, we sang a song and we strolled on golden sand
Two sweethearts, and the summer wind

Like painted kites, those days and nights they went flyin' by
The world was new, beneath a blue umbrella sky
Then softer than a piper man one day it called to you
I lost you, I lost you to the summer wind

The autumn wind, and the winter wind they have come and gone
Still the days, those lonely days that go on and on
Guess who sighs his lullabies through nights that never end
My fickle friend, summer wind, summer wind
Oh, summer wind, summer wind

 

[fox69]

"Sun And Moon And Stars"

"Sun And Moon And Stars"


The sun, the moon and the stars, they make the wind blow
It took me twenty years to understand
But lost to me is how the lives of friends go
Like autumn leaves in Oklahoma wind

But it made me strong to be on my own
It never did me no harm to live all alone
Oh, but now and then in the color of the evening
Drunken in a barroom with a fan turning, I've come to miss a few

This afternoon was cloudy then the rains came
Third day of my first day San Miguel
Seems lately that I'm doubling as storm bait
I've been followed like a shadow through the dell

But it made me strong to be on my own
It never did me no harm to live all alone
Oh, but now and then in the color of the evening
Drunken in a barroom with a fan turning, I've come to miss a few

Dear friends and relations, see what I have done
I've gathered all my fingers in one place
They breathe a breath that's deadly stale since they tooled a song for me
I guess mechanics never really set the pace

'Cause I'm back and I'm strong, I'm here on my own
It never did me no harm to live all alone
Oh, but now and then in the color of the evening
Drunken in a barroom with a fan turning, I've come to miss a few

The sun, the moon and the stars, they make the wind blow
It took me twenty years to understand
But lost to me is how the lives of friends go
Like autumn leaves in Oklahoma wind

Oh, now and then, it's in the color of the evening
Drunken in a barroom with a fan turning, I'll come to miss a few

 

[fox69]

"Teach Me About Love"

"Teach Me About Love"


Darlin' don't walk out on me
Tryin' to teach me a lesson
Thinkin' you'll come back to a better man
If you don't like the way things go
Just stay here and tell me so
'Cause there's one thing about me
You've got to understand

I've had enough lonesome
In my education
I don't want to study anymore
About a woman and a slammin' door
If I want to be blue
I've got enough information
I know about lonesome
Teach me about love

Now the words from your sweet lips
And the looks from your sweet eyes
Are lessons that I study day by day
Each day I pick up something new
Each night I learn a thing or two
But how can I learn anything
When teacher's gone away

I've had enough lonesome
In my education
I don't want to study anymore
How to make it through a barroom door
I've been down and out
I'm ready for inspiration
I know about lonesome
Teach me about love

 

[fox69]

"Texas River Song"

"Texas River Song"


We crossed the wild Pecos
We forded the Nueces
We swum the Guadalupe
And we followed the Brazos
Red River runs rusty
The Wichita clear
But down by the Brazos
I courted my dear

Singing li, li, li, le, le, le
Lend me your hand
Li, li, li, le, le, le
Lend me your hand
Li, li, li, le, le, le
Lend me your hand
There's many a river
That waters the land

Now the fair Angelina
Runs glossy and gliding
the crooked Colorado
Runs weaving and winding
The slow San Antonio
Courses and plains
But I never will walk
By the Brazos again

She kissed me and she hugged me
And she called me her dandy
The Trinity's muddy
But the Brazos quick sandy
She kissed me and she hugged me
And she called me her own
But down by the Brazos
She left me alone

Now the girls of Little River
They're plump and they're pretty
The Sabine and the Sulphur
Hold beauties a'many
The banks of the Neches
There are girls by the score
But down by the Brazos
I'll wander no more

 

[fox69]

"Texas Trilogy: Bosque County Romance"

"Texas Trilogy: Bosque County Romance"


Mary Martin was a schoolgirl
Just seventeen or so
When she married Billy Archer
About fourteen years ago
Not even out of high school
Folks said it wouldn't last
But when you grow up in the country
You grow up mighty fast

They married in a hurry
In March before school was out
Folks said that she was pregnant,
"Just wait and you'll find out."
It came about that winter
One gray November morn
The first of many more to come
A baby boy was born

And cattle is their game
And Archer is the name
They give to the acres that they own
If the Brazos don't run dry
And the newborn calves don't die
Another year from Mary will have flown
Another year from Mary will have flown

Now Billy kept what cattle
His father could afford
Bouncing across the cactus
In a 1950 Ford
The cows were sick and skinny
And the weed was all that grew
But Billy kept the place alive
The only thing he knew

And Mary cooked the supper
And Mary scrubbed the clothes
And Mary busted horses
And blew the baby's nose
And Mary and a shotgun
Kept the rattlesnakes away
How she kept on smiling
No one could ever say

Now the drought of '57
Was a curse upon the land
No one in Bosque county
Could give Bill a helping hand
The ground was cracked and broken
And the truck was out of gas
And cows can't feed on prickly pear
Instead of growing grass

Well the weather got the water
And a snake bite took a child
And a fire in the old barn
Took the hay that Bill had piled
The mortgage got the money
And the screw worm got the cows
The years have come for Mary
She's waiting for them now

 

[fox69]

"Texas Trilogy: Daybreak"

"Texas Trilogy: Daybreak"


Six o'clock silence
Of a new day beginning
Is heard in the small Texas town
Like a signal from nowhere
The people who live there
Are up and moving around
'Cause there's bacon to fry
And there's biscuits to bake
On the stove that the Salvation Army won't take
And you open the windows
And you turn on the fan
'Cause it's hotter than hell
When the sun hits the land

Walter and Fanny
Well they own the grocery
That sell most all that you need
They've been up and working
Since early this morning
They've got the whole village to feed
Well they put out fresh eggs
And throw bad ones away
That rotted because
Of the heat yesterday
The store is all dark
So you can't see the flies
That settle on round steak
And last Monday's pies

Sleepy Hill's drugstore
And the cafe are open
The coffee is bubbling hot
'Cause the folks that ain't working
Gonna sit there 'til sundown
And talk about what they ain't got
Someone just threw a clutch
In the old pickup truck
It seems like they're riding
On a streak of bad luck
The doctor bills came
And the well has gone dry
Seems their grown kids don't care
Whether they live or die

 

[fox69]

"Texas Trilogy: Train Ride"

"Texas Trilogy: Train Ride"


Well, the last time I remember
That train stopping at the depot
Was when me and my Aunt Veta
Came riding back from Waco
I remember I was wearing
My long pants and we was sharing
Conversation with a man
Who sold ball-point pens and paper

And the train stopped once in Clifton
Where my Aunt bought me some ice cream
And my Mom was there to meet us
When the train pulled into Kopperl

But now kids at night break window lights
And the sound of trains only remains
In the memory of the ones like me
Who have turned their backs on the splintered cracks
In the walls that stand on the railroad land
Where we used to play and then run away
From the depot man

I remember me and brother
Used to run down to the depot
Just to listen to the whistle
When the train pulled into Kopperl
And the engine big and shiny
Black as coal that fed the fire
And the engineer would smile and say,
"Howdy, how ya fellows?"

And the people by the windows
Playing cards and reading papers
Looked as far away to us
As next summer's school vacation

 

[fox69]

"That's Right (You're Not From Texas)"

"That's Right (You're Not From Texas)"


You say you're not from Texas
Man as if I couldn't tell
You think you pull your boots on right
And wear your hat so well

So pardon me my laughter
'Cause I sure do understand
Even Moses got excited
When he saw the promised land

That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

See I was born and raised in Texas
And it means so much to me
Though my girl comes from down in Georgia
We were up in Tennessee

And as we were driving down the highway
She asked me baby what's so great
How come you're always going on
About your Lone Star State

I said that's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

Oh the road it looked so lovely
As she stood there on the side
And she grew smaller in my mirror
As I watched her wave goodbye

Those boys from Carolina
They sure enough could sing
But when they came on down to Texas
We all showed them how to swing

Now David's on the radio
And old Champ's still on the guitar
And Uncle Walt he's home with Heidi
Hiding in her loving arms

That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

They're OK in Oklahoma
Up in Arkansas they're fair
But those old folks in Missouri
They don't even know you're there

But at a dance hall down in Texas
That's the finest place to be
The women they all look beautiful
And their men will buy your beer for free

And they'll say that's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

So won't you let me help you Mister
Just pull your hat down the way I do
And buy your pants just a little longer
And next time somebody laughs at you

You just tell 'em you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway

That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
That's right you're not from Texas
But Texas wants you anyway