Steve Earle

[fox69]

"Sweet Little '66"

"Sweet Little '66"



Now I'm a pretty big man around this town
I got me the hottest little Chevy around
My sweet little '66
She got a yellow front fender and a gray one on the back
But my income tax is comin' and I'm gonna paint her black
Sweet little '66
She got the 396, she got the four on the floor
And those stickers in the window ain't just for show
My sweet little '66

Now old Bubba and me built her back in '79
Then he went into the army so now she's all mine
Sweet little '66
I used to run her down on River Road and make a little dough
Can't afford another ticket so I'm laying kinda low
Me and my '66

Now she ain't too good on gasoline, she burns a little oil
But she was built by union labor on American soil
Sweet little '66
So when your Subaru is over and your Honda's history
I'll be blastin' down some back road with my baby next to me
In my sweet little 66

 

[fox69]

"Sweet Virginia"

"Sweet Virginia"


Wading through the waste stormy winter
And there's not a friend to help you through
Trying to stop the waves behind your eye-balls
Drop your reds drop your greens an blues

[Chorus:]
Come on, come on down, Sweet Virginia
Come on, honey Child I beg of you
Come on, come on down, you got it in you
Got to scrape that shit right off your shoes

Thank you for your wine California
Thank you for your sweet and bitter fruits
Yes I got the desert in my toe-nail
And I hid the speed inside my shoes

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Take It Or Leave It"

"Take It Or Leave It"



You can turn off and on more times
Than a flashin' neon sign
When you want you're bad
But you can be so kind

Just take it or leave it
Don't tell your friend
Just what you're gonna do now
You take it or leave it, it's just my life

There've been times when you tried
Makin' eyes at all my so called friends
Then you go, now you're back
But you can be so kind

Just take it or leave it
Don't tell your friend
Just what you're gonna do now
You take it or leave it, it's just my life

Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la-la
Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la
Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la-la
Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la

I'm sick and tired of the smile that you give
When you don't come home at night
You said you'd call, that's a lie
But you could be so kind

Just take it or leave it
Don't tell your friend
Just what you're gonna do now
You take it or leave it, it's just my life

Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la-la
Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la
Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la-la
Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la

Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la-la-la
Oh, la-la-la-ta-ta-ta-ta-la-la

 

[fox69]

"Taneytown"

"Taneytown"


I went down to Taneytown
I went down to Taneytown
To see what I could see
My mama told me never go
But I'm almost 22 years old
Sometimes I fear this holler swollow me
She ran off to Gettysburg
Went off with that new beau of hers
I snuck off after dark
Long way down the county road
Stars were bright
The moon was low
Down to where the black top highway starts

[Chorus:]
I went down to Taneytown
I went down to Taneytown
I went down to see what I could see

I could see everybody stared at me
You'd think that they ain't never seen
A colored boy before
They chunked at me at me
Called me names
They'd have whipped me sure but the sheriff came
I slipped off through the dry goods store
I ran down Division Street
Some of them boys followed me
Down to the railroad track
Four of them and I can't fight
But I had my old Randall knife
I cut that boy and I never did look back

[Chorus]

Cross the fields and woods I run
Like a bullet from a rabbit gun
Back home to my bed
Ma came in from Gettysburg
Her and that new beau of hers
"Boy you look like hell" was all she said

Month went by without a word
Somebody down the holler heard
About that boy they hung
He begged those men to spare his life
But I dropped my bloody Randall knife
He picked it up so they thought he was the one

I went down to Taneytown
I went down to Taneytown
I ain't goin' back there anymore

 

[fox69]

"Tecumseh Valley"

"Tecumseh Valley"



The name she gave was Caroline
The daughter of a miner
And her ways were free and it seemed to me
The sunshine walked beside her
She come from Spencer 'coss the hill
She said her Pa had sent her
'Cause the coal was low and soon the snow
Would tuwn the skies to winter

Well she said she'd come to look for work
She was not seeking favors
For a dime a day and a place to stay
She'd turn those hands to labor

The times were hard Lord the jobs were few
All through Tecumseh Valley
But she asked around and a job she found
Tending bar for Gypsy Sally

She saved enough to get back home
When spring replaced the winter
But her dreams were denied her Pa had died
The word came down from Spencer

She turned to whorin' out on the streets
With all the lust inside her
It was many a man returned again
To lay himself beside her

Well they found her down beneath the stairs
That led to Gypsy Sally's
In her hand when she died
Was a note that cried
Fare thee well Tecumseh Valley

 

[fox69]

"Telephone Road"

"Telephone Road"


My brother Jimmy, my other brother Jack
Went off down to Houston and they never come back
Mama wasn't gonna let her baby go yet
But there ain't nobody hirin' back in Lafeyette
I'm workin' all week for the Texaco check
Sun beatin' down on the back of my neck
Tried to save my money but Jimmy says no
Says he's got a little honey on Telephone Road

[Chorus:]
Come on come on come on let's go
This ain't Louisianna
Your Mama won't know
Come on come on come on let's go
Everybody's rockin' out on Telephone Road

Telephone Road is ten miles long
Fifty car lots and a hundred honky-tonks
Jukebox blastin' and the beer bottles ring
Jimmy banging on a pinball machine

[Chorus]

Mama never told me about nothin' like this
I guess Houston's 'bout a big as a city can get
Sometimes I get lonesome for Lafeyette
Someday I'm goin' home but I ain't ready yet

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"Tennessee Blues"

"Tennessee Blues"



Sunset in my mirror, pedal on the floor
Bound for New York City and I won't be back no more
Won't be back no more, boys won't see me around
Goodbye guitar town

Ghosts out on the highway, voices on the wind
Tellin' me that we may never pass this way again
Voices on the highway angels beckonin'
Like a long lost friend

Fare thee well I'm bound to roam
This ain't never been my home

Stranger in my mirror, lines around my eyes
String around my finger but I don't remember why
Don't remember why, boys don't remember how
Goodbye guitar town

Fare thee well I'm bound to roam
This ain't never been my home

Blue dog on my floorboard, redhead by my side
Cross the mighty Hudson river to the New York City side
Redhead by my side, boys sweetest thing I've found
Goodbye guitar town

 

[fox69]

"Texas Eagle"

"Texas Eagle"



My Grandaddy was a railroad man
When I was young he took me by the hand
Dragged me to the station at the break of dawn
Said "boy I got to show you somethin' 'fore it's gone"
She was blue and silver - she was right on time
We rode that Texas Eagle on the Mopac line

We had some sandwiches that Granma packed
We rode to Palestine and hitchhiked back
Home in time for supper with a tale to tell
That night I dreamed I heard that lonesome whistle wail

When I got old enough to take the train alone
I rode that Texas Eagle down to San Antone

Nowadays they don't make no trains
Just the piggyback freighters and them Amtrak things
They shut the Eagle down awhile ago
Sold it to the railroad down in Mexico
But every now and then that whistle's on my mind
I ride that Texas Eagle 'cross the borderline

 

[fox69]

"That All You Got?"

"That All You Got?"



Nothin’ ever comes from outta nowhere
Ain’t nobody ever rides for free
There’s a hundred million heartaches out there
In between the devil and the deep blue sea
And all the troubles of the wide world flow
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
Here it comes again
Ready or not
Worry and pain?
That all you got?
That all you got?
Good lord wasn’t playin’ honey
The day that he invented New Orleans
And there ain’t no amount of blood or money
Ever gonna wash the pavement clean
But everybody on the night shift knows
Might as well keep on dancin’ till the next wind blows
Gonna spoil my day
Give it your best shot
Another hurricane?
That all you got?
That all you got?
Bon temps roulet
No matter what
Holler fee nah nay
That all you got?
That all you got?

 

[fox69]

"The Boy Who Never Cried"

"The Boy Who Never Cried"



Long ago and far away
In a land no map can find
There lived in long forgotten days
A boy who never cried
He was his mother's only child
So she never wondered why
Until the news spread far and wide
Of a boy who never cried

From fabled lands the pilgrims came
To behold the silent child
In ancient tones they sang his name
Over every lonely mile
There were those who came in reverence
There were those who stood outside
And whispered low in quatrains dim
Of a boy who never cried

Days grew long and short until
The seasons turned to years
The child grew strong and fairer still
With a face unstained by tears
And every maid and lady fair
Held her breath when he passed by
For their mothers bid them all beware
Of a man who never cries

He lived alone for all his years
And then on the day he died
He shed a single precious tear for a boy who never cried