Robert Earl Keen

[fox69]

"Undone"

"Undone"


Fire one up and you toss one down
Everybody knows you been downtown
Been downtown late last night
Busted your head in a barroom fight
Fightin' with your brother fightin' with your wife
Seems you been fightin' every day of your life
Can't stand still, still can't run
You put it all together but it came undone

Your soul is junk, your brain is dust
All your memories are eaten up with rust
Your nightmares real, dreams too stark
You love the night but you hate the dark
Your mother your daddy little sister too
Told you a secret they were countin' on you
You were dying to tell but your dad said son
Button your lip but it come undone

So they turned you out when you turned them in
They told you don't come back again
Now the years stack up like old beer cans
Dead end jobs payment plans
Broke down trucks welfare checks
Child support and back-seat sex
You'd kill yourself but you hocked your gun
You built a noose but it come undone

So you're livin' in a shack bu you wanna be rich
And you would if it wasn't for the sonovabitch
The sonovabitch the dirty old whore
The butcher the baker the grocery store
You hate them they hate you
What in the world are you gonna do
It ain't your fault but they need someone
To blame it on when they come undone

Now the storm's comin' in the sky's turned black
It's too late now you can't turn back
Lightnin' strikes on the telephone wire
You're drunk as a skunk your shack's on fire
The wife took the baby and the other two kids
The dogs are a-howlin' and the chickens are dead
It's your last night out and you're gonna have fun
They'll read it in the papers when you come undone

 

[fox69]

"Village Inn"

"Village Inn"


Where the open range
Meets the endless sky
On a broad highway
The Big trucks fly

Purple neon sign
Is flashing off and on
Theres a vacancy
Your almost home

The Village Inn Motel
So affordable
For a King or a Queen
Clean and Comfortable
If you aint been, you should go
Village Inn Motel, in Challis, Idaho

Midnight thunderstorm
Is blowin into town

Wind is kicking up
Rain is falling down

The years have come and gone
Like lightin in the sky
Here inside your room
The world is safe and dry

The Village Inn Motel
So affordable
For a King or a Queen
Clean and Comfortable
If you aint been, you should go
Village Inn Motel, in Challis, Idaho

The Village Inn Motel
So afforadable
For a King or a Queen
Clean and Comfortable
Free WiFi H-B-O
Village Inn Motel, in Challis, Idaho

 

[fox69]

"Walkin' Cane"

"Walkin' Cane"


I got high and I got in jail
I got high and I got in jail
I got high and I got in jail
Weren't nobody to pay my bail
My sins they have overtaken me

Hand me down my walkin' cane
Hand me down my walkin' cane
Hand me down my walkin' cane
I'm a gonna leave on the mornin' train
My sins they have overtaken me

If I die in Tennessee
If I die in Tennessee
If I die in Tennessee
Ship me back by C.O.D.
My sins they have overtaken me

Hand me down my walkin' cane
Hand me down my walkin' cane
Hand me down my walkin' cane
I'm a gonna leave on the mornin' train
My sins they have overtaken me

Hand me down my bottle of corn
Hand me down my bottle of corn
Hand me down my bottle of corn
I'm gonna get drunk as sure as you're born
My sins they have overtaken me

Hand me down my walkin' cane
Hand me down my walkin' cane
Hand me down my walkin' cane
I'm a gonna leave on the mornin' train
My sins they have overtaken me

 

[fox69]

"Walls Of Time"

"Walls Of Time"


The wind is blowing 'cross the mountains
And down on the valley way below
It sweeps the grave of my darling
When I die that's where I want to go

Lord send the angels for my darling
And take her to that home on high
I'll wait my time out here on earth love
And come to you when I die

I hear a voice out in the darkness
It moans and whispers through the pines
I know it's my sweetheart a calling
I hear her through the walls of time

Our names are carved upon the tombstone
I promised you before you died
Our love will bloom forever darling
When we rest side

 

[fox69]

"Waves On The Ocean"

"Waves On The Ocean"


There's a day of reckoning coming
In my heart I know your gonna go
I'll believe it when I see it
When I see it I'll know

[Chorus:]
When the rain falls, when the sun sets
When the mountains tumble to the sea
And the waves on the ocean wave bye-bye baby bye-bye
The waves on the ocean wave bye-bye baby bye-bye

I don't need you to paint me a picture
I don't need for you to write me a song
It's written on every inch of you
Only a matter, girl, when you'll be gone

[Chorus]

You know how I feel about it
How I feel won't keep you here

When the rain falls, when the sun sets
When the mountains tumble to the sea
The waves on the ocean wave bye-bye baby bye
When the rain falls, when the sun sets
When the mountains tumble to the sea
And the waves on the ocean wave bye-bye baby bye
When the rain falls, when the sun sets
When the mountains tumble to the sea
The waves on the ocean wave bye-bye baby bye-bye

 

[fox69]

"Wayfaring Stranger"
(with Natalie Maines)

"Wayfaring Stranger"
(with Natalie Maines)



I am a poor wayfaring stranger
While traveling through this world of woe
Yet there's no sickness, toil or danger
In that bright world to which I go

I'm going there to see my father
I'm going there no more to roam
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me
I know my way is rough and steep
Yet beauteous fields lie just before me
Where God's redeemed their vigils keep

I'm going there to see my mother
She said she'd meet me when I come
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

 

[fox69]

"Whenever Kindness Fails"

"Whenever Kindness Fails"


I crossed the desert on a dining car
In the spring of ninety-one
I met some people drinking at the bar
They were laughing, having fun

I told 'em that I hadn't heard the joke
That was so hilarious
They said that I was just a dumb cowpoke
I didn't want to make a fuss

So I shot 'em down, one by one
Then I left 'em 'long the rails
I use my gun
Whenever kindness fails

The moon was in the sign of Scorpio
The sun was at my back
I didn't know how far the train would go
Until the law would find my track

I saw the brakeman and the engineer
Drinking wine and eating Brie
I asked 'em who would brake and who would steer
They started pointing back at me

So I shot 'em down, one by one
Then I left 'em 'long the rails
I use my gun
Whenever kindness fails

I only have a moment to explain
Just a chance to let you know
When it's time for you to board the train
There are two ways you can go

You can ride the wheels into the sun
Feel the wind upon your face
Or you can laugh into a loaded gun
And you'll likely lose your place

So I shot 'em down, one by one
Then I left 'em 'long the rails
I use my gun
Whenever kindness fails

Yeah I shot 'em down, one by one
Then I left 'em 'long the rails
When I use my gun
That lonesome whistle wails

 

[fox69]

"White Dove"

"White Dove"


In the deep rolling hills of old Virginia
There's a place that I love so well
Where I spent many days of my childhood
In the cabin where we loved to dwell

White dove will mourn in sorrow
The willows will hang their heads
I'll live my life in sorrow
Since mother and daddy are dead

We were all so happy there together
In our peaceful little mountain home
But the Savior needs angels up in heaven
Now they sing around the great white throne

As the years roll by I often wonder
If we will all be together someday
And each night as I wander through the graveyard
Darkness finds me as I kneel to pray

 

[fox69]

"Who Do Man"

"Who Do Man"


I ride around in a Cadillac
Three fancy ladies dancin' in the back
A million dollars in the trunk for fun
And a Bengal tiger ridin' shotgun

[Chorus:]
I'm the who do man, the who do man
I got the fire, the fryin' pan
Hot dog I'm the who do man

Now I was born my momma's child
The angels sang and the good Lord smiled
I tipped the doctor, the doctor says
Who in the hell does he think he is

[Chorus]

I got the skinny, I got the goods
I got the antenna on the neighborhood
I know your baby, I know her cuz
I know who doesn't and I know who does

[Chorus]

If you want the dirt on so-and-so
Don't go askin' just any old Joe
Jack or Jimmy or Boudreaux
Don't waste your money 'cause they don't know

The prosecutor told the deputy
Have the police pin a tail on me
How I lost 'em, they never knew
'Cause they ain't dealin' with just any who

[Chorus]

So when you're sittin' on your porch at night
You spy a shadow in the long moonlight
You hear a rumble, a tiger growl
Ask for who, don't ask me how

I'm the who do man, the who do man
I got the answer, a perfect plan
No use in tryin' to understand
Got the fire, the fryin' pan
Hot dog I'm the who do man
The who do man
The who do man, oh

 

[fox69]

"Who'll Be Looking Out For Me"

"Who'll Be Looking Out For Me"


What the hell is wrong with me?
I can't do nothin' right?
I sleep away the whole day long
And I stay awake all night.

I'm fightin' things that I can't see
And I never seem to win.
Who'll be lookin' out or me
When I start givin' in?

It's always hard to trust yourself
When everything goes wrong.
It's hard to be with someone else
When you're feeling all alone.

It's hard to find your sanity
When you can't find a friend.
Who'll be lookin' out for me
When I start givin in?

When I say I can't take no more
And throw away my dreams.
Quit believing in myself.
Who'll believe in me?

I'm torn between my love for you
And the life I dream about.
I don't know what I'm gonna do
If we can't work it out.

I can't imagine how it'd be
To change the way it's been.
Who'll be looking out for me
When I start givin' in.