Townes Van Zandt

[fox69]

"Dead Flowers"
(originally by The Rolling Stones)

"Dead Flowers"
(originally by The Rolling Stones)



And when you're sitting there
In your silk upholstered chair
Talking to some rich folks that you know
Well, I hope you won't see me
In my ragged company
You know I could never be alone

Take me down, little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the queen of the underground
Send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flower by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

And you're sitting back
In your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby days
I'll be in my basement room
With a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away

Take me down, little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the queen of the underground
Send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

Take me down, little Susie, take me down
I know you think you're the queen of the underground
Send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave
No, I won't forget to put roses on your grave

 

[fox69]

"Delta Momma Blues"

"Delta Momma Blues"


Come away with me,
My little delta boy
I wanna be your delta mama for awhile
And if you stay you'll see
That I bring you lots of joy
I turn those little teardrops to a smile

Well, if you're blue don't cry
Just wander right downtown
You can find your delta mama waitin' there
Well, I thought you knew that I
Would never let you down
I can ease your mind and take away your cares

Come away with me,
My little delta boy
I wanna be your delta mama for awhile
And if you stay you'll see
That I bring you lots of joy
I turn those little teardrops to a smile

Well, if the grass goes brown
Don't you hang your head too low
Well, there ain't no need for you to sit and pine
If you'll just ask around
I'm sure someone will know
Just exactly what it takes to get you back to feelin' fine

Well, if you don't know by now
What I've been tryin' so hard to say
Well my delta boy I'm afraid you're up to tight
But you take it slow and somehow
You come meandering out my way
And I'll take you in my arms and make it right

Ah, come away with me,
My little delta boy
I wanna be your delta mama for awhile
And if you stay you'll see
That I bring you lots of joy
I turn those little teardrops to a smile

 

[fox69]

"Dollar Bill Blues"

"Dollar Bill Blues"


If I had a dollar bill
Yes, I believe I surely will
Go to town and drink my fill
Early in the morning

Little darling, she's a redhaired thing
Man, she makes my legs to sing
Gonna buy her a diamond ring
Early in the morning

Mother was a golden girl
I slit her throat just to get her pearls
Cast myself into a whirl
Before a bunch of swine

It's a long way down the harlan road

Busted back and a heavy load
Won't get through to save my soul
Early in the morning

I've always been a gambling man
I've roled them bones with either hand
Seven is the promised land
Early in the morning

Whiskey'd be my dying bed
Tell me where to lay my head
Not with me is all she said
Early in the morning

If I had a dollar bill
Yes, I believe I surely will
Go to town and drink my fill
Early in the morning

 

[fox69]

"Don't Let The Sunshine Fool Ya'"

"Don't Let The Sunshine Fool Ya'"


Me & this friend Streetlife Brown
We got a bottle of red and walked downtown
One hand on the jug and one on time
He said I bet you a dollar against this next line
Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine
Advice is fine if you've got a mind
To listen to the end that's got the time
But the muse'll get ya if you don't watch out
He's equipped to know what it's all about
Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine
Fannin' street in the afternoon
An easy way to get out of tune
But the hard soap salesman said no dice
When I asked politely for a better price
Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine
Here's a song for you child of mine
I hope you make it through this time
Get yourself a piece of that rainbow pie
No reason in the world you can't get by
Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine
Don't let the sunshine fool ya
Don't let the bluebirds tool ya
Don't let the women do ya
Put your hand in mine

 

[fox69]

"Don't You Take It Too Bad"

"Don't You Take It Too Bad"


Don't you take it too bad
If you're feelin' unlovin'
If you're feelin unfeelin'
If you're feelin' alone
Don't take it too bad

'cause it ain't you to blame, babe
Lord, it's just some kind of game made
Out of all of this living
That we got left to do

And if you go searchin'

For rhyme or for reason
Then you won't have the time
That it take just for talkin'
About the places you've been, babe
About the places you've seen, babe
And how soft the time flies
Past your window at night

And we just can't have that, girl
'cause it's a sad, lonesome, cold world
And a man need a woman just to stand by his side
And whisper sweet words in his ears about daydreams
And roses and playthings
And the sweetness of springtime
And the sound of the rain

 

[fox69]

"Dublin Blues"

"Dublin Blues"


I wish I was in Austin
In the Chili Parlour Bar
Drinkin' Mad Dog Margaritas
And not carin' where you are

But here I sit in Dublin
Just rollin' cigarettes
Holdin' back and chokin' back
The shakes with every breath

Forgive me all my anger
Forgive me all my faults
There's no need to forgive me
For thinkin' what I thought
I loved you from the git go
I'll love you till I die
I loved you on the Spanish steps
The day you said goodbye

I am just a poor boy
Work's my middle name
If money was a reason
I would not be the same

I'll stand up and be counted
I'll face up to the truth
I'll walk away from trouble
But I can't walk away from you

I have been to Fort Worth
I have been to Spain
I have been too proud
To come in out of the rain

I have seen the David
I've seen the Mona Lisa too
I have heard Doc Watson
Play Columbus Stockade Blues

 

[fox69]

"Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel"

"Fare Thee Well, Miss Carousel"


The drunken clown's still hanging round
But it plain the laughter's all died down
The tears you tried so hard to hide
Are flowin'
A blind man with his knife in hand
Has convinced himself that he understands
I wish him well, Miss Carousel
But I gotta be a-goin'

Won't you come and get me when
You're sure that you don't need me then
I stand outside your window
And proudly call your name

The ladies been told that all of gold
Is worth so much it can't be sold
No time to weep she'll need her sleep
Tomorrow
When she carries her face to the market place
And bets it on the opening race
She can ring her bells, Miss Carousel,
But her singing brings me sorrow

It's always done every mother's son
Is shown that grown men never run
And so they fight with all the might
Inside them
When the battle's been fought and they all been taught
That the trick is just not being caught
Will you give them hell, Miss Carousel,

When they're begging you to hide them

When the need arose your eyes fell closed
You clamped your fingers round your nose
Would you say that's any way
To judge him
You haven't got the authority
To kill him in the first degree
But would you feel compelled, Miss Carousel,
If you have something to begrudge him

On a velvet beach far beneath the reach
Of those that come to pray and preach
The natural man who tries to stand
Is fallin
How long will it be before he sees
You own his legs but his mind is free
Only you can tell, Miss Carousel,
How long will he be crawling?

The castle walls has grown so tall
Seem there ain't no hope at all
To reach the top even though you stop
For breathin'
But I ain't gonna try to make you cry
The tear drops couldn't find your eye
It's all been swell, Miss Carousel,
But the time has come for leavin'

 

[fox69]

"FFV"

"FFV"


Well along come the FFV the swiftest on the line
Running long the c&o road 20 min behind
Running in the subhill headquaters on the line
Receivin' their strict orders from a station just behind
Well Georgie's mother come to him with a bucket on her arm
Saying my darlin' boy be careful how you run
Well it's many a man has lost his life in trying to make lost time
But if you run your engine right you'll make it just on time
Aw but off of the road she darted and into the rocks she crashed
Well the engine she laid upside down and Georgie's breast was smashed
Well his head lay gainst the firebox door and the flames were rolling high
Well I'm proud to be born for an engineer on the c&o road to die
Well the doctor come to Georgie my darlin' boy be still
Well your life can yet be saved if it is god's bless it will
Oh no no it will not do. I wanna fly so free
Well I wanna die with the engine I love a hundred forty three
Then the doctor said to Georgie well you're life cannot be saved
Murdered out on the railroad, layed in a lonesome grave
But his face was all covered up with blood, his eyes they could not see
And the very last words that g spoke were near my god to thee

 

[fox69]

"Flyin' Shoes"

"Flyin' Shoes"


Days full of rain
Skys comin' down again
I get so tired
Of these same old blues
Same old song
Baby, it won't be long
'fore I be tyin' on
My flyin' shoes
Flyin' shoes
Till I be tyin' on
My flyin' shoes

Spring only sighed
Summer had to be satisfied
Fall is a feelin' that I just can't lose.
I'd like to stay
Maybe watch a winter day
Turn the green water
To white and blue
Flyin' shoes
Flyin' shoes
Till I be tyin' on
My flyin' shoes

The mountain moon
Forever sets too soon
Bein' alone is all the hills can do
Alone and then
Her silver sails again
And they will follow
In their flyin' shoes
Flyin' shoes
They will follow in their
Flyin' shoes

Days full of rain
Skys comin' down again
I get so tired
Of the same old blues
Same old song
Baby, it won't be long
Till I be tyin' on
My flyin' shoes
Flyin' shoes
Till I be tyin' on
My flyin' shoes

 

[fox69]

"For The Sake Of The Song"

"For The Sake Of The Song"


Oh, why does she sing her sad songs for me,
I'm not the one
Tenderly bring her soft sympathy
I've just begun
To see my way clear
And it's plain,
If I stop I will fall
I can lay down a tear for her pain
Just a tear and that's all

Oh, what does she want me to do?
She says that she knows
That moments are rare
I suppose that it's true
Then on she goes
To say I don't care,
Ah, she knows
That I do

Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song
And who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong

She'd like to think I was cruel,
But she knows that's a lie
For I would be
No more than a tool
If I allowed her to cry
All over me.

Oh my sorrow is real
Even though
I can't change my plan
If she could see how I feel
Then I know
That she'd understand

Oh does she actually think I'm to blame?
Does she really believe
That some word of mine
Could relieve
All her pain?
Can't she see that she grieves
Just because she's been blindly deceived
By her shame?

Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song
And who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong

Oh but nothin's what it seems,
Maybe she'll start someday to realize
If she abandons her dreams,
Then all the words she can say are only lies
Why can't she see that to gain
Is only to lose?
All that she offers me are her chains
And I got to refuse

Oh but it's only to herself that she's lied
She likes to pretend
There's something that she should defend,
With her pride
And I don't intend
To stand her and be the friend
From whom she must hide

Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song
And who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong