Tom T. Hall

[fox69]

"The Harmonica Man"

"The Harmonica Man"


An old man stood and stared into the music store window
And he saw a sorta harmonica lyin' there in the sun
He thought of the music the harp could be playing
He closed his old eyes and he started to hum
He hummed an old song bout an unfaithful lover
He hummed the sweet tune about children at play
He hummed the bright song about beer drinking buddies
One about Jesus and uncloudy day
Well he bought the harmonica and he took it on home
With his youth all behind him and livin' alone
He soon learned to play it as pure and as cool as any great master musician could do
He played an old song bout an unfaithful lover
He played the sweet tune about children at play
He played the bright song about beer drinking buddies
And one about Jesus and uncloudy day
Well they found him one morning lying there on the sofa
Ah but they didn't find his harmonica there
They lowered him down and they put the dirt on him ashes to ashes to Jesus a prayer
Well the old man's gone and of course his music went with him
And there's a sadness about him you know it seems strange to say
For all of his music and as much as he loved it nobody else even knew he could play

 

[fox69]

"The Hitch-Hiker"

"The Hitch-Hiker"


I don't know why it is every time I take a trip
It's always raining somewhere down the line
This particular night was in Prestonsburg, Kentucky
I stopped to give a country boy a ride

I saw him running toward the car, he carried an old suitcase
A cigarette was dangling from his lips
He threw the suitcase in the back and as he got inside
He said, I'm sorry, but I'm awful wet.

I said, where are you headed, kid? and he said, to Louisville
Said he had an uncle there who ran a store
Said his daddy died three weeks ago and they didn't own the place
And they said he couldn't live there anymore

He said his education was that he could read and write
He quit school the time his dad got hurt
Ain't much goes on in Prestonsburg, and he was seventeen
And he had to go some place to find some work

He talked about the girl whose father had a lot of money
He said he'd send and get her if he could
His daddy taught him all there was about tobacco-farmin'
And he said he played the banjer pretty good

We stopped to get a sandwich and the waitress brought a menu
And I noticed that he read the prices first
He ordered him a hot dog with a lot of table ketchup
And water seemed to satisfy his thirst

Well, it took awhile but I insisted that I pay the ticket
Excused myself and went out to the car
He came out, got in the car and handed me a quarter
And he said, you left this layin' on the bar.

I dropped him off in Lexington and drove down to bowling green
And I thought, boy you'll never make it without help
And then I got to thinkin' about the days when I was younger
And I started out the same darn way myself

Well, I don't know why it is every time I take a trip
It's always raining somewhere down the line...

 

[fox69]

"The Letters"

"The Letters"


One night in the West Virginia mountains I got stranded in the deepening snow
I found important house and took a small room no TV magazines or radio
I've stood and watched the snow fall past the window
And as a traveling man would sometimes do
I've picked up the Bible and looked through it I found the stock of letters tied in blue
The letters had been left there by a young girl there were ten and as I read the first
I found that they were from a boy in Detroit
Who'd sent for her as soon as he got work
The first one mentioned her expected baby
The one and two and three were much the same
The fourth and fifth said that he might send to get her
The sixth and seventh offered her his name
The eighth and nineth were weeks apart in postmark
They were short and asked about her help
The tenth one was a tear stained on the pages
Said that he had married someone else
Next morning I felt guilty when I checked out
As the highway people cleared away the snow
I asked about the girl who used to live there
They said she passed away three weeks ago
Well I kept the letters but I never read them
Oh but somewhere up in Detroit there's a man
Who heard what happened down in West Virginia
And we're the only two who understand

 

[fox69]

"The Little Lady Preacher"

"The Little Lady Preacher"


Oh, the little lady preacher from the limestone church
I'll never forget her, I guess
She preached each Sunday mornin' on the local radio
With a big black Bible and a snow-white dress

She was 19 years of age and was developed to a fault
But I will admit she knew the Bible well
A little white lace hanky marked the text that she would use
She'd breathe into that microphone and send us all to hell

She had a guitar picker by the name of Luther short
A hairy-legged soul lost out in sin
She would turn and smile at Luther when the program would commence
With a voice as sweet as angels she would break out in a hymn

I was pickin' for her too with what we call the doghouse bass
I clung to every word that passed her lips
She was down on booze and cigarettes and high on days to come
And she'd punctuate the prophecy with movements of her hips

The lord knows how I loved her, he was there each time she preached
But ol' Luther took her home each Sunday morn'
Lookin' back I still recall the way it hurt my tender pride
I longed to be a hero but they're made not born

Sometimes ol' Luther showed up at the studio half-tight
And smokin' was a thing he liked to do
She never said a word to him but said a prayer for me
I told her in a way that I'd been prayin' for her too

One Sunday her old man showed up and said that she was gone
Said she and brother Luther had a call
I can see me standin' in that studio that day
I had to face the heartbreak, unemployment and all

I don't know where they are 'cause I ain't seen them people since
Lord if I judge 'em let me give 'em lots o' room
I know ol' Luther short and he's a hard ol' boy to change
And I've often sat and wondered who it was converted whom

 

[fox69]

"The Million Miles To The City"

"The Million Miles To The City"


Yeah, I remember it now, we were kids back then
Livin' down on the farm
We were told that the city
Could only bring us harm

"How far is the city?", somebody said
And, "Oh, that's a great big town"
And Barbara said, "Why, it's a million miles"
And the story got around

It's a million miles to the city
From the hills and valleys we know
It's a million miles to the city
And someday we all wanna go

There was a town nearby but a town is a town
And the city well, that's something else
Our daddy had been to a city
But he never was much help

Why the buildings are taller than Oak trees
Ah, but we knew better than that
Ain't nobody could climb that high
The cities were wide and flat

It's a million miles to the city
From the hills and valleys we know
It's a million miles to the city
And someday we all wanna go

Well, now time has passed and we have grown
And traveled far and wide
The cities have changed the kids we were
We see it in each others eyes

But I'd love to go back to those hills again
To the boy I used to be
Where the leaves and the wind and the whippoorwills
Were part of the land like me

It's a million miles to the city
From the hills and valleys we know
It's a million miles to the city
And someday we all wanna go

It's a million miles to the city
From the hills and valleys we know
It's a million miles to the city
And someday we all wanna go

 

[fox69]

"The Monkey That Became President"

"The Monkey That Became President"


I was there on the day the monkey came into this world
His face was round and reddish and his hair was slightly curled
He didn't look too different from the others I had seen
Who'd-a-thought he was the answer to the nation's dream?

At first he didn't seem to be intelligent at all
Each time he'd start to walk about he'd stumble and he'd fall
My first impression was to be a most mistaken thought
Lord a'mighty, what's this little hairy monkey wrought?

Because I witnessed his departure from his mother's womb
I felt inclined to check his progress every afternoon
One day the keeper of the zoo called in the live TV
"Frankly said, I think you'll be amazed at what you see".

The monkey walked and talked and waved his arms about his head
In the corner was the stack of books that he had read
"An educated monkey!" said the papers 'cross the land
It was more than weary sociologists could stand

Oh, his fame was universal, he was on the carson how
People talked about him kindly everywhere he'd go
His insight was amazing, his philosophy was fair
He became a politician welcome everywhere

His wit was not to be compared with any mind intact
He'd lace a phrase with irony and blend it all with fact
Conservatives applauded and the liberals were entranced
The bigots and the integrationists were in his camp

Nobody dared to meet him in an open press debate
He was nominated by the folks from every state
Yes, a monkey was the president, though maybe not the first
And there was peace and harmony throughout the universe

The dream I had last night has been related as it came
As for interpretation, well, it's really very plain
Would you rather have a monkey up in washington, d.c.
Or have those people making monkeys out of you and me?

 

[fox69]

"The Old Side Of Town"

"The Old Side Of Town"


Ain't it strange how people change, and almost overnight
Who once was a country girl is now a socialite
We're proud for you, but when you're through and seek some common ground
Oh, we miss you on the old side of town

We still drink cokes and tell old jokes and bowl at splits and strikes
Country music still plays on the jukebox every night
Society is not for me, but I can still be found
Oh, we miss you on the old side of town

Rsvp is not for me, and black tie's not my style
I thought you'd like to know 'cause you ain't been here for awhile
We read about your tour-de-force, we're glad you get around
But we miss you on the old side of town

We still drink cokes and tell old jokes and we bowl at splits and strikes
George Jones is still a hero on the jukebox every night
Society is not for me, but I can still be found
Oh, we miss you on the old side of town
Babe, we miss you on the old side of town

 

[fox69]

"The Six O'Clock News"

"The Six O'Clock News"


She's been climbin' up in the world I've been slidin' on down
Her life is like a french poodle mine's like an old fox hound
You wouldn't believe that I know her it hurts me through and through
Here I am worried bout the weather forecast and my baby's on the six o'clock news

She's been eatin' off silver and I've been eatin' off tin
I bet her mink coat would just die if I ever showed up again
If she saw me in her mansion well they just give me the shoe
Here I am worried bout the weather forecast and she's on the six o'clock news

She rides around in a limo and I walk around in a transe
She's got a line of the white house I got a hole in my pants
She drank champagne coctails I drank brown bag booze
Here I am worried bout the weather forecast and my baby's on the six o'clock news

Page two

Well they say that he went to Harvard he'd likes to yacht and sail
The only thing I got in my background is the callouses on my tail
They say that she really loves him I can't say that I do
Here I am worried bout the weather forecast and she's on the six o'clock news
And that's the way it is on May 25 of 19..

 

[fox69]

"The Son Of Clayton Delaney"

"The Son Of Clayton Delaney"


On fourth street in louisville in 1978
Stranded in a honky-tonk, somewhere 'tween dates
There was a little band playin' as I sipped my beer
But I never thought that I'd hear what I'd hear

There was a young man a pickin' 'lectric guitar
Smokin' and a snippin', a learnin' how to be a star
He had a big blue bandanna tied around his head
A laid-back bass and a drummer named red

Well, his hair was cut long in the fashion of the time
Sandpaper vocal but he milked every line
His fingers like lightnin' on the guitar that he played
He did "lay down sally" and"hank didn't do it this way"

Well, I sat there and listened for over an hour
And the closest thing to country was a rockin' "wildwood flower"
And I got that feelin' that I had been there before
But I knew I had never been through that door

Well, the jukebox was turned on and the band took a break
I made my way up front to howdy and shake
I said, "son, I like your music and I kinda like your style."
But it seemed to me that I had seen that smile

Well, he stood there for a moment, then he laughed and he slapped his knee
He said, "you are one man I've wanted to see."
He said, "i know you, you story-tellin' son of a gun
And you know me I'm Clayton Delaney's son."

 

[fox69]

"The World According To Raymond"

"The World According To Raymond"


(That's the world according to Raymond) and a Raymond according to me
He lives down in old North Carolina makes moonshine from good cropper web
He carries a big thirty eight it's illegal but we know that Raymond don't care
Raymond explains his religion it's the air it's the earth it's the earth
Lord gives it to you and he takes it away and without it you ain't got a prayer
(That's the a world according to Raymond) he's rough he's tough and he's free
That's the a world according to Raymond that's Raymond according to me

Now Ray never killed anybody but he hurt some that got in his way
Raymond still makes it but Raymond quit drinkin' he got beat up in the friendly cafe
Now an old hog ain't got but one blood vein and it's located there in his neck
If you don't believe it come back next December but I ain't been back down there yet
hat's the a world according to Raymond...
(That's the a world according to Raymond) and that's Raymond according to me