Steve Earle

[fox69]

"The Note"

"The Note"



If you can't find your way back
Turn around, you left a track
One that leads right up to our back door

Pieces that you left behind
And the day I woke to find
Your note I found there on the floor

Some who will come and go
Those, heaven only knows
Those who can't take it anymore

I sure hope you will understand
Find yourself a better man
That's all it said and nothing more

I cant run and hide
No place for me to go
This is the only life Ill ever know

Don't come around here
Don't knock on my door
Looking for your wife, she don't live here anymore

Things around here wont be the same
I'll remarry, I'll change my name
I'll change the lock upon the door

And the only thing you will find
Among the dust I left behind
Your note I left there on the floor

I don't read it anymore

 

[fox69]

"The Other Kind"

"The Other Kind"



I woke up this morning and I took a look around at all that I got
These days I've been lookin' in the mirror and wondering if that's me lookin' back or not
I'm still the apple of my mama's eye
I'm my daddy's worst fears realized
Here of late all this real estate don't seem all that real to me sometimes
I'm back out on that road again
Turn this beast into the wind
There are those that break and bend
I'm the other kind, I'm the other kind

Now my old buddy, what's his name, says, "Man what the hell are you thinkin' 'bout
Fool, you got two of everything, but you hang your head just like you was down and out"
And I'm damn sure not suffering from a lack of love
There's plenty more where that came from
Ah - but leave it up to me to say something wrong and hurt someone before I'm done

You see it used to be I was really free
I didn't need no gasoline to run
Before you could say Jack Kerouac you'd turn your back and I'd be gone
Yeah nowadays I got me two good wheels and I seek refuge in aluminum and steel
Aw, it takes me out there for just a little while
And the years fall away with every mile

 

[fox69]

"The Other Side Of Town"

"The Other Side Of Town"


When I'm sad and blue
And I'm feeling all alone
There's a place that I go to
That no one knows
Where no matter what I do
Won't nobody put me down
That's why I'm going to
The other side of town

[Chorus:]
On the other side of town
Where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody walks around
With a shadow cross their minds
When that midnight train rolls by
And they hear that lonesome sound
They just hang their heads and cry
On the other side of town

Well it isn't very far
And it's not that hard to find
You just follow all the other lonely souls
Take a walk down lonesome lane
'Til you see the dead end sign
And your broken heart will tell you where to go

To the other side of town
Where the sun don't ever shine
Everybody walks around
With a shadow cross their minds
When that midnight train rolls by
And they hear that lonesome sound
They just hang their heads and cry
On the other side of town

So if you've find someone
Who won't ever let you down
Hurry home before the sun goes down
No matter what you do
Don't let night fall like a shroud
And catch you on the other side of town

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"The Rain Came Down"

"The Rain Came Down"



The old man loaded up everything that he owned
On a wagon and headed out west
The old woman fearlessly faced the unknown
'Cause she figured he knew what was best
And they settled down hard on a government grant
With six mouths to feed and forty acres to plant
And the rain came down
Like an angel come down from above
And the rain came down
It'll wash you away and there ain't never enough

Fall turned to winter another year gone
Over and over again
Some took their lives from their land and moved on
And some stayed on to plow it back in
And the good Lord he giveth and he taketh away
And the restless shall go and the faithful shall stay

Now my grandaddy died in the room he was born in
Twenty-three summers ago
But I could have sworn he was beside me this morning
When the sheriff showed up at my door
So don't you come around here with your auctioneer man
'Cause you can have the machines but you ain't taking my land

 

[fox69]

"The Revolution Starts Now"

"The Revolution Starts Now"



I was walkin' down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin' to a beat
That I'd never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written 'cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now

The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now

Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin' standin' around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now

Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered 'round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now

 

[fox69]

"The Revolution Starts..."

"The Revolution Starts..."



I was walkin' down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin' to a beat
That I'd never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written 'cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now

The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now

Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin' standin' around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now

Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered 'round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now

 

[fox69]

"The Seeker"

"The Seeker"



I was eight years old when my granddaddy died
He that showed me the signs I still miss him sometimes
Been a long time ago but his words still ring true
Whatever you do be a seeker

All these years I have wandered and wherever I roamed
I was never alone or forsaken I know
Somewhere way out yonder I know I will find
That a bright beacon shines for a seeker

You can't always believe your eyes
It's your heart that sees through all the lies
And the first answer follows the first question asked
The mystery unmasked by the seeker

In a world full of sorrow, hunger and pain
It's so hard to explain why I'm still travelin'
But there's a new day tomorrow and maybe I'll hold
Something brighter than gold to a seeker

 

[fox69]

"The Tennessee Kid"

"The Tennessee Kid"



On Mardi Gras day the Tennessee kid
Awoke in a puddle
Of his own worst fears
Haunted by the ghost
Of vague remembrance
No corporeal beast he could name
So the kid invoked Lucifer himself
With oaths most grievously discourteous
And charged him submit
Forthwith to atone
At the crossroads
Celebrated in song
Come on
Up jumped the devil
In the middle of the thoroughfare
“Who dares to utter my most secret name?”
He roared
But the kid yielded not so much as an inch
To uncertainty
Steadfast he rejoined the enemy in kind
“old patch then, satan, mephistopheles,
Beelzebub
By any other name you ain’t nothin’
Like a rose”
Then he girded his loins for the
Ensuing onslaught
But the devil only shrugged and the kid
Shuddered when he hissed he said
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
The balance comes due someday
Wait just one goddamn minute cried the kid
From the cumberland
You never mention nothin’
‘bout no kinda note
Just said - sign here - it’s just a soul -
You’ll never miss it
I ain’t set foot in a church since I was just
A little ol’ thang
Reckoned I was headed straight to hell
By the highway
No matter how long and how hard
That I prayed
So I might as well learn how to make
This guitar talk
Somebody said ol’ Bob Johnson
Came down this way
Devil say
And the monster raised himself up
To the fullness of his stature
Black wings eclipsing a sanguine
Mississippi moon
Behold behemoth the trampler
Of infidels,
He who sweeps away nations
With a flick of his tail
Theopolis, Agrrippa, Faustus, Paganini
Lurid and long is the tale of my prey
Question not the ironclad bond
Of my surety
Set down here in blood
In your very own hand
And the Tennessee kid cast an eye
On the list where his mark
Was indeed clearly inscribed
And he fell to his knees
But it was too late to pray
And with his very last breath he did say
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey
The balance comes due someday

 

[fox69]

"The Truth"

"The Truth"



In the blue of the evenin' when the sun is low
There's a shadow that creeps across my cell block floor
And it comes to remind me what I'm in here for

No, I'm not admittin' that I done the crime
I'm only gettin' down to doin' time
And the passin' of days is no concern of mine

There's a guard on the second shift comes on at three
And he's always about a half inch off of me
Like he needs to keep remindin' me that I'm not free

God forgive him 'cause he doesn't see
He's no less a prisoner 'cause he holds a key
And God forbid he turn his back on me

For every wall you build around your fear
A thousand darker things are born in here
And they're fed on contempt for all that you hold dear

The truth is it doesn't matter what you do
'Til you gaze in that mirror with an eye that's true
And admit that what scares you is the me in you

 

[fox69]

"The Unrepentant"

"The Unrepentant"



In the middle of the night
In the middle of a lonely night
Stands alone in the pale moonlight
Screams out in defiance
He's got no one to turn to
You could talk 'til you turn blue
He'd just turn his back on you
Ain't no compromising
'Cause he's totally untamed
No fear of the unnamed
But he'll take the blame
'Cause someone's gotta do it

Now he's out on the highway
He's got the key and the right of way
His tank is full and his toll's paid
Hellbound and determined
He run a dangerous payload
When he comes to the crossroads
Ah, man it's all times to explode
You'll just see the sky burnin'

Now he's standin' at hell's door
With a bad attitude and a forty-four
The devil said, "What's up man
Now what you come here for?"
He said, "Man, let's just get to it"
He said, "I always heard that you were the bad one
There's a few places I ain't been, a few things I ain't done
You got your pitchfork and I got my gun"
Someone's gotta do it