# Music by Genre > Bluegrass, Newgrass, Country, Gospel Variants >  Great lyrics

## JeffD

I'll start this off with country music, only because I am more familiar with it. But do include blugrass, classsic and new. Here are a few of my favorite lyrics.


Don't get more than your hopes up			
       Girl Jessica Andrews Summer Girl

I never let a cowboy make the coffee
       Van Zant Help Somebody

If you wanna hear God laugh,
 tell Him your plans
       Van Zant Help Somebody

So I fiddle when I can and I work when I should
       Bob Denver Thank God Im a Country Boy

Sell your truck while its still running			   Bobby Pinson Dont Ask Me How I Know

Dont rush off the phone when your Mama calls,
 you aint that busy
	   Bobby Pinson Dont Ask Me How I Know

If you're gonna play in Texas,
 you gotta have a fiddle in the band
       Alabama If Youre Gonna Play in Texas

Now, they sound tired but they dont sound Haggard
 Theyve got money but they dont have Cash
       Dixie Chicks Long Time Gone

Your truck, or mine?						   Brooks & Dunn Play Something Country

----------


## Brady Smith

I'm going to build a bar in the back of my car and drive myself to drink.

If I could rate'em on a scale from 1 to 10
I'm lookin' for a 9 but 8 would slip right in
A few more drinks and I might slip to a 5 or even a 4
But when tomorrow morning comes, 
And I wake up with a number 1
I swear I'll never do it anymore.  Mickey Gilley

----------


## Bobbie Dier

> Now, they sound tired but they dont sound Haggard
>  Theyve got money but they dont have Cash
>        Dixie Chicks Long Time Gone


I believe Darrel Scott is the one who said that best.

My fav at the moment.

What have you got
at the end of the day 
what have you got 
they take away
a bottle of whiskey 
and a new set of lies
blinds on the windows 
and a pain by your eyes

----------


## kww

"Mr. Apollo" (Stanshall/Innes)
Five years ago, I was a four stone apology
Today, I am two separate gorillas 

John Hiatt (song forgotten)
There's only two things in this life
But I forget what they are

----------


## MartinD_GibsonA

> So I fiddle when I can and I work when I should
>  # # # # # # Bob Denver Thank God Im a Country Boy


Gilligan? # # #

Don Smith

----------


## Mikey G

Little Maggie.

----------


## Brad Weiss

> John Hiatt (song forgotten)
> There's only two things in this life
> But I forget what they are


Buffalo River home # - - John Hiatt has TOO many lyrics to fit on any such list!

----------


## Andrew Reckhart

"It seems to me that maybe pretty much always means no"
Jack Johnson

----------


## DryBones

"Red hair and black leather,my favorite color scheme" Del - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning

----------


## chirorehab

"Whatever you do, take care of your shoes"

Phish

----------


## Dave Gumbart

"She thought I was a saint, not a sinner gone astray." I love that line. Willis Alan Ramsey, The Ballad of Spider John (though around here, probably better known by the Sam Bush version)

"Nothing happens in the past." Poco, Consequently, So Long. Always thought discussing this quote would make for a good essay question on a test.

Dave G

----------


## glauber

John Hyatt... too many to mention. "Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars smash a perfectly good guitar!" ("He threw one down from the top of the stairs, etc")

Robert Johnson... also too many to mention. "I took her to the station with her suitcase in my hand. It's hard to tell, so hard to tell when all your love's in vain!"

And so on...

----------


## ourgang

Got a Zippo in my pocket, smokin' Camel cigaretts
Drivin' down this road with no regrets
Got a guitar in the back seat, a song in my head
I'm thinkin' about a girl I can't forget. (TJM)

----------


## Flowerpot

> "Mr. Apollo" (Stanshall/Innes)
> Five years ago, I was a four stone apology
> Today, I am two separate gorillas


Huh?

Maybe there's a fine line between profound and incomprehensible, but that there sounds like something I'd write down on a scrap of paper at 3:00 AM in the middle of a 104 degree fever. And throw away.

----------


## mandopete

Recently....

*I went to see the fortune teller at the fortune telling place,
She read my mind and then she slapped my face!*

Jimmy Rogers - _Brakeman's Blues_

BTW - It may interest some to know that there is a great article on Harley Allen in this month's edition of Bluegrass Unlimited. #Harley is (IMHO) one of the greatest bluegrass lyricists.

It's also interesting to me that most of the quotes here in this thread don't really come from the bluegrass genre.

----------


## sunburst

Many songs by John Prine, but one of my favorites:

"I wish I had a woman
she'd eat like a bird
and if I wrote a song
she'd know every single word."

It is, after all, a "big ol' goofy world".

----------


## kww

> *flowerpot:*
> 
> Quote
> "Mr. Apollo" (Stanshall/Innes)
> Five years ago, I was a four stone apology
> Today, I am two separate gorillas
> 
> 
> Huh?
> ...


First, I suspect that you don't understand the British system of measuring bodyweight, which would render the line complete gibberish.

Second, I suspect that it makes more sense if you know the complete saga of Mr. Apollo, or at least the context of these lines:




> Yes, just give me ten years of your life, and I'll
> trade in that puny flab for living muscle..
> Physique you deserve!
> 
> Strong!
> Chest and shoulders to hold your shirt!
> 
> Five years ago, I was a four stone apology
> Today, I am two separate gorillas
> ...


Third, you either enjoy the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, or you don't. I haven't met many people that both knew who they were and possess no opinion on them.

Chords and complete lyrics can be found at Mr. Apollo if anyone is remotely interested. The author, Neil Innes, went on to greater fame in America as a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus, but older fans think of him as a Bonzo first.

----------


## allenhopkins

"You better pray to the Lord when you see those flying saucers,
It may be the coming of the Judgement Day."
- Buchanan Brothers/Charles River Valley Boys

"I'd be like a flower unwanted in spring
Alone and neglected, transplanted in vain
To a garden of sadness where its petals would fall
In the shadows of undying pain."
- Louvin Brothers

"But the road keeps stretching onward
From the cradle to the tomb,
And I guess I'll never see my home again."
- Dillards

"Where the snakes are vile and the zebras wild,
And the beavers paddle on walking canes,
I'll feast on the meat, and the honey so sweet,
'Way out on the mountain."
- Jimmie Rodgers

----------


## Gotterdamerung

> "Red hair and black leather,my favorite color scheme" Del - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning


Of course, that is a song written by Richard Thompson.

----------


## Fred Keller

My top 3 entries right now (until I think of some more)

Hi de diddle-dee ho de hum
Hi de diddle won't you kiss a me some

Don't tell me your troubles
Got enough of my own
Be thankful you're living
Drink up and go home

both sung by Jimmy Martin

and 

I ain't the doctor but the doctor's son
I can play the doctor til the doctor comes

sung by Charlie Poole

Sorry I don't know the authors

----------


## JeffD

Lets not forget this gem:

"Tempted and tried, we're oft made to wonder,
Why it should be thus, all the day long;
While there are others, living about us
Never molested, though in the wrong."

----------


## Flowerpot

"First, I suspect that you don't understand the British system of measuring bodyweight, which would render the line complete gibberish.

Second, I suspect that it makes more sense if you know the complete saga of Mr. Apollo, or at least the context of these lines: {snip}"

Aha, thanks. In context it makes sense... and if it were sung with a British accent, with some references to body mass, I'd be more apt to recall the definition of "stone" from across the pond. Standing alone, those lines were utter nonsense to me!

----------


## JeffD

Two countries separated by a common language.

I forget who said that.

----------


## JeffD

Another great one - country though, not bluegrass. But the song expresses a sentiment I have often felt.


Well, the sheriff arrived with his bathrobe on
The confrontation was a tense one
Shook his head said, "Bubba Boy,"
"You was always a dense one."
Reckless discharge of a gun
That's what the officers are claiming
Bubba hollered, "Reckless! Hell!" 
"I shot just where I was aiming."

Bubba Shot the Jukebox, Mark Chesnutt

----------


## David M.

Words to Devilish Mary per the Skillet Lickers:

_Hadn't been married but about six weeks
She got as mean as a devil
Every time I looked cross-eyed
She hit me in the head with a shovel

Along come a-dink come a-dary
Prettiest girl that ever I saw
Her name was Devilish Mary...
_

Fun song to play and sing, by the way.

----------


## gr_store_feet

Oh many don't get me started; i like too many to pick out favorites.

He sits in your room, his tomb, with a fist full of tacks
Preoccupied with his vengeance
Cursing the dead that can't answer him back
I'm sure that he has no intentions
Of looking your way, unless it's to say
That he needs you to test his inventions.
- Dylan

Dont die on me lady,
only good things can come to those who practice reason,
and recognize the fun
your absence is the bullet and the past is your gun,
and we all fall down.
- Avett Brothers

----------


## gr_store_feet

more...

put on yer muddy boots and walk out
in the yard 
so many things to bury but the
ground is hard
live like a raccoon stay
up all night
bind yer worries smokin and
Ya hold em tight
- Gourds

----------


## Steve Perry

I love to hear Loretty sing this...

Coal Miner's Daughter

The work we done was hard
At night we'd sleep, cause we were tard

 Steve Perry

----------


## tree

Along those lines, my favorite(s), from Rabbit In A Log:

"I'll get me a briar and twist it in his hair" #and #"I'll build me a fire and cook that old hare"

sung as only Carter and Ralph can.

----------


## Mandomax

"Mule and a rabbit eating ice cream,
Mule got sick so we laid him on a beam"
-Jim & Jesse, "Stay All Night"
I think those lyrics are right. It makes me giggle to think about a mule who ate so much ice cream he had to lie down. I'm goofy that way.

----------


## duuuude

"The woman I ove don't wear no watch,
she tells time by a bottle of scotch."

----------


## johnsmusic

I got a woman she's five feet short, she kicks and hollers, screams and snorts, rolls me over, pats me on the head, tickles my feet and throws me outta bed. She's a man eater...a meat grinder....bad loser.....  Bob Dylan

----------


## johnsmusic

The search light in the big yard
Swings round with the gun
And spotlights the snowflakes
Like the dust in the sun
Its christmas in prison
Therell be music tonight
Ill probably get homesick
I love you. goodnight
 John Prine

----------


## JeffD

I tried, but I could not resist adding this one.

"Well, I was drunk the day my Mom got outta prison."

The Perfect Country & Western Song David Allen Coe

----------


## Gary S

"He always wore his sunday feathers
and held his tomahawk."

I always get a chuckle out of Hank on that one.

----------


## johnsmusic

Ittin dittin little kitten oaten boaten little goaten it skiddly oaten doaten bo do da skeeten dotten wadda and chew  Popeye...honest

----------


## Brad Weiss

Joining the Dylan sub-topic (the Blues in Blugrass):

Well, I see you got a new boyfriend
You know, I never seen him before
Well, I saw him
Makin' love to you
You forgot to close the garage door
You might think he loves you for your money
But I know what he really loves you for
It's your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat

----------


## Mteresko

I know this by Mel Tillis; don't know who wrote it.


_
The power of the pyramid
I dont understand.
Its a mystery that gets bigger with every empty can
I stack them high and watch them fall
Like a castle in the sand
Then I drink one more and start another pyramid of cans_

----------


## pettyman

I'm gonna build a scaffold out on the mountainside, so I can watch those pretty girls as they go riding by!!

Down the old plank road! Gotta love it!

----------


## mandopete

_Two old maids, lyin' in a bed
One rolled over to other and said
Honey let me be your salty dog!_

Now that's bluegrass!

----------


## AlanN

"I think we're livin in the good old days
So cheer friend and be glad 
I think we're livin in the good old days
The best anybody's ever had"

----------


## Mandoe

A man walks down the street 
He says why am I soft in the middle now 
Why am I soft in the middle 
The rest of my life is so hard 
I need a photo-opportunity 
I want a shot at redemption 
Don't want to end up a cartoon 
In a cartoon graveyard

You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon

----------


## Jim Yates

Chris Wall wrote: 
I play classical music whenn it rains,
I play country when I'm in pain
I won't play Beethoven 'cause the mood's just not right
I feel like Hank Williams tonight.

I play jazz when I'm confused
I play country whenever I lose,
But Bird's saxophone just don't seem right;
No, I feel like Hank Williams tonight.

When I'm real high I play rock'n'roll
I play country when I'm losin' control.
I don't play Chuck Berry near as much as I'd like
But I feel like Hank Williams tonight.

I just gave the tag line for each verse, but I really love this song.

----------


## Mandoe

So many great lyrics (forgive me if they aren't all BG):

Shes got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
A million miles away
A Secret Garden by Springsteen

And when you ran to me
Your cheeks flushed with the night.
We walked on frosted fields of juniper and lamplight,
I held your hand.
And when I awoke and felt you warm and near,
I kissed your honey hair with my grateful tears.
Oh I love you, girl.
Oh, I love you.
For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her by Paul Simon

I'm like a John Deere tractor in a half acre field
trying to plow a furrow where the soil is made of steel
Oh I wish I was home Ma where the bluegrass is growin'
and the sweet country girls don't complain
John Deere Tractor by Larry Sparks

Son don't go astray was what they both told me
Remember that love for God can be found
But now they're both gone this letter just told me
For years they've been dead, the fields have turned brown
Fields Have Turned Brown by the Stanley Brothers

Well, I was born in the Southland
Twenty-some odd years ago
I ran away for the first time
When I was four years old

I'm a free born man 
My home is on my back
I know every inch of highway
And every foot of back road
Every mile of railroad track
Freeborn Man by Jimmy Martin

There's dishes to wash and a house to clean
There's washing to do, oh it seems so mean
There's a million words I can't explain
Think of this girl, before you change your name
True Life Blues by the Monroe Brothers

----------


## edguy

From a group in Minnesota, called Trampled By Turtles ...

"Well, there ain't no easy answers when the circus is in town
and troubled juries hang each other, dead
and the TV's filled with poets who only write in rhyme
and my brother works for the CIA when he's not doin' time."

Ed

----------


## A Brown

"As I take a long draft from my glass
Oh, I'm drinking alone here again
And I try not to think of my lass
For the old days will ne'er come again 
And if time was a thing man could buy
All the money that I have in store
I would give for one day by her side
In the valley of Strathmore" (Andy M Stewart)

"Now, depression's not a million laughs
But suicide's too dangerous.
Don't go leppin' out of buildings
In the middle of the night.
It's not the fall --- but landin'
That'll alter social standin'
So go first and ask your father
Oh, I'm sure he'll set you right" (Andy M Stewart)

"Is there for honest poverty 
That hings his head, an' a' that? 
The coward slave, we pass him by -- 
We dare be poor for a' that! 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
Our toil's obscure, an' a' that, 
The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
The man's the gowd for a' that. 

What though on hamely fare we dine, 
Wear hodden grey, an' a' that? 
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine -- 
A man's a man for a' that. 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
Their tinsel show, an' a' that, 
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor, 
Is king o' men for a' that. 

Ye see yon birkie ca'd 'a lord,' 
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that? 
Tho' hundreds worship at his word, 
He's but a cuif for a' that. 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
His ribband, star, an' a' that, 
The man o' independent mind, 
He looks an' laughs at a' that. 

A prince can mak a belted knight, 
A marquis, duke, an' a' that! 
But an honest man's aboon his might -- 
Guid faith, he mauna fa' that! 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
Their dignities, an' a' that, 
The pith o' sense an' pride o' worth 
Are higher rank than a' that. 

Then let us pray that come it may 
(As come it will for a' that) 
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth 
Shall bear the gree an' a' that! 
For a' that, an' a' that, 
It's comin yet for a' that, 
That man to man the world o'er 
Shall brithers be for a' that". (Robert Burns)

----------


## good_ol_al_61

This one makes me laugh every time I sing it:

Not too many miles from here
Where I get my Milwaukee beer
There's a lady that's got me on a string
She's the worst you ever saw
She nearly broke my jaw
She made me carry my left arm in a sling.

1st Bridge:
She's my darlin, my daisy
She's knock-kneed, she's lazy
Humpbacked, box-ankled and she's lame
Oh, her nose is like a cork,
She's the terror of New York
My long, skinny, lanky Sarah Jane.

2nd Bridge:
Oh Jane, my good old Jane,
Won't you come back to your bonehead once again
Oh, they say she's mighty nice
But her armpits smell like spice
She's my long, skinny, lanky Sarah Jane.

Oh she promised to meet me when the clock struck seventeen
Down at the stockyards just three miles out of town
There are eat pigs feet and pigs ears and a couple of Texas Steers
And sirloin steaks at fourteen cents a pound

She's my darlin, my daisy
She's knock-kneed, she's lazy
Humpbacked, bow legged and she's lame
Oh, they say her teeth are false,
For they rattle when she walks,
Shes my long, skinny, lanky Sarah Jane.

Oh Jane, my good old Jane,
Won't you come back to your bonehead once again
Oh, they say her breath is sweet,
But I rather smell her feet,
She's my long, skinny, lanky Sarah Jane 

I really like how the chorus changes each time in this Stanley Brother's version.

----------


## Brian Baker

A couple of my bg faves...

I can see her standin' by the window
Nothin sadder in the world 
Than to see those green eyes
All red from cryin'
On my blue ridge mountain girl.

And...

As the frost grows on the windows
The wood stove smokes and glows
As the fire glows we can warm our souls
Makin' rainbows in the coals.

Brian

----------


## jim simpson

Aubrey by Jeffrey Cain - 1970 Racoon Records

When the preacher preaches 
Aubrey's in the back
Snorin' like a hound dog 
And slumpin' like a sack
He always comes on Sundays
And sleeps just like a log
But no one will sit near him
Cause he smells just like a hog.

But this is not unnatural
Cause hogs is what he keeps
He always says a prayer for them 
Each time before he sleeps
And when the praying's over
He does not lift his head
The preacher starts his preachin'
And Aubrey goes to bed

----------


## Jim Broyles

What? A couple of Dylan mentions and no SUBTERRANEAN HOMESICK BLUES???


Johnny's in the basement mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement thinking about the government
The man in the trench coat, badge out, laid off
Says he's got a bad cough, wants to get it paid off

Look out kid, it's somethin' you did
God knows when, but you're doing it again
You better duck down the alleyway, lookin' for a new friend
The man in the coonskin cap in the pig pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, but you only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot, face full of black soot
Talkin' that the heat put plants in the bed but
The phone's tapped anyway, Maggie says that many say
They must bust in early May, orders from the D.A.

Look out kid, don't matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes, don't tie no bows
Better stay away from those that carry around a fire hose
Keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes
You don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows

Ah, get sick, get well, hang around the Ink Well
Hang a bell? Hard to tell, if anything he's goin' to sell
Try hard, get barred, get back, write braille
Get jailed, jump bail, join the army, if you fail

Look out kid, you're gonna get hit
But losers, cheaters, six-time users
Hangin' 'round the theaters
Girl by the whirlpool's lookin' for a new fool
Don't follow leaders, and watch your parkin' meters

Ah get born, keep warm, short pants, romance, learn to dance
Get dressed, get blessed, try to be a success
Please her, please him, buy gifts, don't steal, don't lift
Twenty years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift

Look out kid, they keep it all hid
Better jump down a manhole, light yourself a candle
Don't wear sandals, try to avoid the scandals
Don't wanna be a bum, you better chew gum
The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handle

----------


## Jim Broyles

Gotta love these BG words:
"I got a pig, home in a pen, corn to feed him on, all I need's a pretty little girl to feed him when I'm gone."

----------


## J.Albert

I asked my cap'n for the time of day
He said he throwed his watch away...

(In The Pines)

----------


## Tighthead

Merle Haggard:

Down every road there's always one more city 
I'm on the run, the highway is my home
I raised a lot of cane back in my younger days 
While Mama used to pray my crops would fail 
I'm a hunted fugitive with just two ways: 
Outrun the law or spend my life in jail

I'd like to settle down but they won't let me 
A fugitive must be a rolling stone 
Down every road there's always one more city 
I'm on the run, the highway is my home

I'm lonely but I can't afford the luxury
Of having one I love to come along
She'd only slow me down and they'd catch up with me
For he who travels fastest goes alone

I'd like to settle down but they won't let me 
A fugitive must be a rolling stone 
Down every road there's always one more city 
I'm on the run, the highway is my home

I'm on the run, the highway is my home

----------


## DryBones

From Stomp CD "How You want It Done?"

I got a little woman
She's as sweet as she can be
I got a little woman
She's as sweet as she can be
She is low and squatty
But she's all right with me.

----------


## Bob Simmers

"I wish I was a headlight.......on a northbound train" Rider by Seldom Scene
"Are the youg girls still so pretty in the city in the fall" Did she mention my name by Larry & Wyatt Rice (Lightfoot song)
"Dealin' cards with the old men in the club car.........penny a point there ain't no one keepin' score" City of New Orleans by Steve Goodman
"The queen would surely knight me if I could get back down, but it's closer here to heaven than it is back to the ground." Matterhorn by Country Gentlemen (Mel Tillis wrote it, I think)
That's a few!

----------


## Gotterdamerung

On the new Old Crow Medicine Show album_ Big Iron World_, they do a cover of "Down Home Girl," which contains some nuggets:

"Well I swear your perfume is made out of turnip greens:
Every time I kiss you, it tastes like pork and beans." 

"Girl you know that dress your wearin' is made out of fiberglass:
Every time you move like that, I got to go to Sunday Mass."

----------


## Landgrass

Anything by John Prine.

I particularly like "Mexican Home". The man can certainly paint a picture with his words.


MEXICAN HOME 

It got so hot, last night, I swear
You couldn't hardly breathe
Heat lightning burnt the sky like alcohol
I sat on the porch without my shoes
And I watched the cars roll by
As the headlights raced
To the corner of the kitchen wall.

Chorus:
Mama dear 
Your boy is here
Far across the sea
Waiting for
That sacred core
That burns inside of me
And I feel a storm
All wet and warm
Not ten miles away
Approaching
My Mexican home.

My God! I cried, it's so hot inside
You could die in the living room
Take the fan from the window
Prop the door back with a broom
The cuckoo clock has died of shock
And the windows feel no pane
The air's as still
As the throttle on a funeral train.

Chorus:

My father died on the porch outside
On an August afternoon
I sipped bourbon and cried
With a friend by the light of the moon
So its hurry! hurry! Step right up
It's a matter of life or death
The sun is going down
And the moon is just holding its breath.

----------


## bush-man

Anything by Guy Clark. This one brings tears to the eye.


I played the Red River Valley
He'd sit in the kitchen and cry
Run his fingers through seventy years of livin'
And wonder, "Lord, why has every well I've drilled gone dry?"

We were friends, me and this old man
We's like desperados waitin' for a train
Desperados waitin' for a train

He's a drifter, a driller of oil wells
He's an old school man of the world
He taught me how to drive his car when he was too drunk to
And he'd wink and give me money for the girls
And our lives was like, some old Western movie
Like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

From the time that I could walk he'd take me with him
To a bar called the Green Frog Cafe
There was old men with beer guts and dominos
Lying 'bout their lives while they played
I was just a kid, they all called me "Sidekick"
Just like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

One day I looked up and he's pushin' eighty
He's got brown tobacco stains all down his chin
Well to me he was a hero of this country
So why's he all dressed up like them old men
Drinkin' beer and playin' Moon and Forty-two
Jus' like desperados waitin' for a train
Like a desperado waitin' for a train

The day 'fore he died I went to see him
I was grown and he was almost gone.
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen
And sang one more verse to that old song
(spoken) Come on, Jack, that son-of-a-bitch is comin'

We're desperados waitin' for a train
Was like desperados waitin' for a train

----------


## stevem

ATOMIC POWER - UNCLE TUPELO. A light-hearted nod to the bluegrass gospel genre...

do you fear this man's invention
that they call atomic power
are we all in great confusion
do we know the time or hour

when a terrible explosion
may rain down upon our land
leaving horrible destruction
blotting out the works of man

are you, are you ready
for that great atomic power
will you rise and meet your savior in the air
will you shout or will you cry
when the fire rains from on high
are you ready for that great atomic power

----------


## Peter Hackman

Radio Station S-A-V-E-D (Roy Acuff)
Bringing Mary Home (John Duffey)
Cool Water (Bob Nolan)
Five Nights Drunk
The Frozen Logger

----------


## Tim Conroy

Well, you can't have that- but if you're an American citizen you ARE entitled to:

- a heated kidney shaped pool
- a microwave oven (don't watch the food cook)
- a DynaGym (personally demonstrated in the privacy of your own home)
- a king-size Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with Polybendum
- a foolproof plan 
- an airtight alibi
- real simulated Indian Jewelery
- a Gucci Shoe Tree
- a year's supply of antibiotics
- a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth
- Bob Dylan's new unlisted phone number
- a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick
- Rosemary's Baby!
- a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams
- a new Matador, a new Mastedon, a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego
- a Merc Montclair, a Mark 4, a Meteor, a Mercedes, an MG
- a Malibu, a Moriarti, a Maserati, a Mack Truck
- a Mazda, a new Monza
- a Winnebago, hell, a herd o' Winnebagos, we're givin' 'em away!
- or, how 'bout a McCullough Chain saw 
- a Las Vegas wedding
- a Mexican divorce
- a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot, or
- a baby's arm holding an apple.  

The Tubes,
_What do You Want From Life?_

----------


## chirorehab

More Phish....

The Helping Friendly Book, it seemed, possessed the ancient secrets
Of eternal joy and never-ending splendor
The trick was to surrender to the flow

From the song Lizards...

At the exact moment I heard those lyrics, it was as if life completely made sense to me, and I knew what I had to do...

----------


## hellindc

> "Red hair and black leather,my favorite color scheme" Del - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning


Not by Del. By Richard Thompson. But you and Del have excellent taste!

Some Jesse Winchester excerpts:

"Her body was as liquid and as perfect as a wave
As tender and as vicious as a bird that I once saved."

Another: "If the wheel is fixed
      I would still take a chance
      If we're skating on thin ice
      Then we might as well dance."

----------


## Fred G

I met her accidently, down in St. Paul, Minn.... Big RIver, J. Cash
Someday, life will be smooth just like a rapsody, when I paint my materpiece. Masterpiece, Bob Dylan

----------


## cooper4205

"she's long; she's tall
lord, she's six feet from the ground/
she's tailor-made; ain't no hand-me down"

love them lyrics, even if they're old as dirt

----------


## kww

Paul Barrere: "If the phone don't ring, you know it's me."

----------


## johnwalser

Yesterday's dead and tomorrow is blind.....I live one day at a time.

John

She's my wife, she's my lover...to my children she's their mother
She is the best thing in my life
She's my wife, she's my lover, she's my friend

----------


## fretmasher

"I spent all my money on women and booze. The rest was just plain blown."

Scott Copeland -- "Devil in my Soul"

----------


## JGWoods

> On the new Old Crow Medicine Show album_ Big Iron World_, they do a cover of "Down Home Girl," which contains some nuggets:
> 
> "Well I swear your perfume is made out of turnip greens:
> Every time I kiss you, it tastes like pork and beans." 
> 
> "Girl you know that dress your wearin' is made out of fiberglass:
> Every time you move like that, I got to go to Sunday Mass."


Yup- Rolling Stones- 1965 written by Jagger, Richards

----------


## James P

Deadwood, South Dakota by Eric Taylor

Well, the good times scratched a laugh
From the lungs of the young men
In a Deadwood saloon, South Dakota afternoon
And the old ones by the door
With their heads on their chests,
They told lies about whiskey on a womans breath

Yes, and some tell the story of young Mickey Free
Who lost an eye to a buck deer in the Tongue River Valley
Oh and some tell the story of California Joe
Who sent word through the Black Hills
There was a mountain of gold

[Chorus:]
And the gold she lay cold in their pockets
And the sun she sets down on the trees
And they thank the Lord
For the land that they live in
Where the white man does as he pleases

Some flat-shoed fool from the East comes a-runnin'
With some news that he'd read in some St. Joseph paper
And it was "Drinks all around" cause the news he was tellin'
Was the one they called Crazy
Has been caught and been dealt with

And the Easterner he read the news from the paper
And the old ones moved closer so's they could hear better
"Well it says here that Crazy Horse
Was killed while trying to escape,
And that was some time last September,
It don't give the exact date"

[Chorus]

Then the talk turned back to whiskey and women
And cold nights on the plains, Lord
And fightin' them indians
And the Easterner he says he'll have one more
'fore he goes
He gives the paper to the Crow boy
Who sweeps up the floor

And the gold she lay cold in their pockets
And the sun she sets down on the trees
And they thank the Lord
For the land that they live in
Where the white man does well as he pleases

----------


## fatt-dad

May the Bird of Paradise fly up your nose.
May an elephant caress you in his toes.
May your wife be blessed by the runners in her hose.
May the Bird of Paridise fly up your nose.

f-d

----------


## s1m0n

> ATOMIC POWER - UNCLE TUPELO. A light-hearted nod to the bluegrass gospel genre...


I believe this cheerful gem springs from the pen of Ira Louvin.

----------


## glauber

One more:

Your Latest Trick (Mark Knopfler):

Dire Straits - Your Latest Trick Lyrics

All the late night bargains have been struck
Between the satin beaus and their belles
And prehistoric garbage trucks
Have the city to themselves
Echoes roars dinosaurs
They're all doing the monster mash
And most of the taxis and all of the whores
Are only taking calls for cash

I don't know how it happened
It all took place so quick
But all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick


(Winner of the mixed metaphor category!  )

I love those prehistoric garbage trucks, and how this song sets up the tired feeling of late, late night in the city. I love how Mark Knopfler's songs often tell stories, and he does it so effortlessly. Plays guitar a little, too.

----------


## glauber

I like the surprise ending in "Me and My Uncle" (John Phillips) as sung by the Grateful Dead:

Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
I love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, I grabbed that gold
And I left his dead ### there by the side of the road

----------


## fatt-dad

Work your fingers to the bone and what to you got?
Boney Fingers.
Boney Fingers.

----------


## Mike Bunting

> On the new Old Crow Medicine Show album Big Iron World, they do a cover of "Down Home Girl," which contains some nuggets:
> 
> "Well I swear your perfume is made out of turnip greens:
> Every time I kiss you, it tastes like pork and beans."
> 
> "Girl you know that dress your wearin' is made out of fiberglass:
> Every time you move like that, I got to go to Sunday Mass."
> Back to top


By Leiber and Stoller, was on the first Rolling Stones album back in very early '60's

----------


## Linda Binder

"How can I miss you when you won't go away?" -- Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks

----------


## Bob Simmers

I listened to "The Master's Call" by Marty Robbins this weekend. #What a really good gospel cowboy ballad.

----------


## G'DAE

And then one day I met Diamond Lil
And she was a sweet thing, I declare, as the summer wind
had ever blown my way.....

----------


## JeffD

I meant to post this around Holloween.

She walks these hills 
In a long black veil 
She visits my grave 
When the night winds wail 
Nobody knows, nobody sees, 
nobody knows but me 

Lefty Frizzell (I think.)

----------


## kyblue

From our friend Bruce Harvie (Spruce):

Leave me alone, or I'll find somebody who will.

(check out the song on his myspace page)

Paula

----------


## ben_wv

John Prine:

_They could torture me
and fry me in a pan
long as I got
my wo-man

I could take the electric chair
for a phony rap
long as she's
sitting in my lap

my wo-man
mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm_

brilliant.

----------


## tree

lowell george:

"_2 degrees in Bebop, a PhD in Swing
He's a Master of Rhythm, he's a Rock and Roll king_"

Rest in peace, Rock and Roll Doctor.

----------


## G_Smolt

Not exactly fun-loving and peaceful, but a great lyric nonetheless...


If the ladies were blackbirds and the ladies were thrushes
I'd lay there for hours in the chilly cold marshes
If the ladies were squirrels with high bushy tails
I'd fill up my shotgun with rock salt and nails

"Rock Salt and Nails", U. Phillips


Aaaaand...probably not AS peace-lovin, but definitely in the Bluegrass heart-song tradition (Remember, there are NO love songs in BG)

"Carolyn" I was thinkin', as I cleaned my gun
"Go out and Have a good time, it's your last night of fun"
12 o'clock, 1 o'clock, quarter 'til two
I'm still burnin' the midnight oil, waitin' up for you

"Carolyn the Teenage Queen", W. Smith (performed by LRB)

Lest you think this exposes some mysogynistic streak, Dear Reader, it should be pointed out that much of the bluegrass "heartsong" tradition has to do with the losing side of love, and the simple solution to the problem was to eliminate the problem. Of course, this is probably why there are so many prison and death songs, too.

Not espousing or embracing, just taking at ear-level.

----------


## mandopete

Mark - Does your wife know you're using the computer again?

 

My favorite one-liner...

"When your phone don't ring that'll be me!"

----------


## mando bandage

"It's those rock and roll lovers, early graves without flowers. Please, please darlin' put my mind at rest."

Little Feat (Lowell George?)

"To the hobo, I'm imprisoned by all the things I own."

Leon Russell

"You're spookin' the horses
They're wild and they're scared
By that bright colored makeup
And those clothes that you wear
I seen you dancin' last night 'neath the trees
You're spookin' the horses, and you're scarin' me."

Fred Eaglesmith

"He sits upon the stone in a south-easterly direction
I know my charts, I know that he is thinking of his home
I've never been the sort to say I'm into intuition,
But I swear I see the faces of the ones he calls his own.

Their skin is brown as potter's clay, their eyes void of expression,
Their hair is black like as widows' dreams, their dreams are all but gone
They're ancient as the vision of a sacrificial virgin
Innocent as crying from a baby being born."

Robert Earle Keen

This could go on a while.

R

----------


## kww

> *mando bandage:* 
> "It's those rock and roll lovers, early graves without flowers. Please, please darlin' put my mind at rest."
> 
> Little Feat (Lowell George?)


Yeah, Lowell George, but it's "rock and roll hours", not "rock and roll lovers".

----------


## kww

Just gave it a listen: "It's those rock and roll hours, they dig graves without flowers."

----------


## mando bandage

This from the official Little Feat website:

"Somethin' real, somethin' to feel 
I can't find a soul who'll take on this mess 
It's those rock and roll hours, early graves without flowers 
Please, please darlin' put my mind at rest "


I stand corrected, but I like all three versions. Just goes to show that music, as art, requires a bit of interpretation from the observer. 

And while we're at it with Little Feat, this from a Bill Payne/Fran Tate composition. 

"Oh the city she makes 
Sometimes your soul to feel floating just like a leaf in the wind 
Street is stream so it carries you past your present schemes 'til there is no end 
Left right in the alley 
No one catches you but the gentle wind 

There ain't no Jane, no Jill, no Sally to see you through 
There ain't no Jane, no Jill, no Sally to see you through "

Oh, to play keyboard like that guy....


R

----------


## anchorman86

Reflecting my eclectic taste....

_I hope you meet someone your height
So you can see eye to eye
With someone as small as you_
- Nickel Creek, "Somebody More Like You"

_The summer days are gone too soon
You shoot the moon and miss completely
And now you're left to face the gloom
The empty room that once smelled sweetly_
-Norah Jones, "Shoot the Moon"

_Never knowing, we're shocking but we're nothing
We're just moments, we're clever but we're clueless
We're just human, bemusing and confusing
We're helpless, all we got is questions
We'll never know_
-Jack Johnson, "Never Know"

----------


## tree

Declan McManus:

_There was a Checkpoint Charlie, he didn't crack a smile.
But it's no laughing party when you've been on the murder mile
All it takes is one itchy trigger, one more widow one less white ******
Oliver's Army is here to stay, Oliver's Army are on their way . . ._

----------


## mando bandage

Uh-oh, here we go:

"Falling for you without a second look
Falling out of your open pocketbook
Giving you away like motel matches."

Declan McManus

R

----------


## Landgrass

Yea....Elvis!

"You try to love her but she's so contrary
Like a chainsaw runnin' through a dictionary"

or

"She said that she was working for the ABC News
it was as much of the alphabet as she knew how to use"

----------


## acousticphd

How many biscuits can you eat this morning?
How many biscuits can you eat this evening?
How many biscuits can you eat?
Forty-nine more, with ham and meat
This morning, this evening, right now.

Well I loved my wife and I loved my baby this morning,
ll I loved my wife and I loved my baby this evening,
I loved my wife and I loved my baby, 
and loved my biscuits sopped in gravy
This morning, this evening, right now.

----------


## glauber

"What can you do in a case like that?
What can you do when they step on your hat,
or your mother, or your toothbrush,
or everything that's helpless?"

From the same song ("A Horse Named Bill"):

"I knew a girl, her name was Daisy,
when she sang the cat went crazy!"

and 

"She sang a song one day about
a man who turned himself inside out
and jumped... in the river...
he was so very sleepy!"

----------


## Strange1

"Thank God and Greyhound, you're gone" Roy Clark.
"I'm gonna hire a wino to decorate our home" David Frizzell.
"I'm gonna drink Canada Dry" (artist?)
"Tequila makes her clothes come off" Joe Nichols.
"don't pet the dog, he gets it mixed up with romance" (artist?)

Jack

----------


## James P

Was it a millionaire who said "Imagine no possessions"?
A poor little schoolboy who said "We don't need no lessons..."

(there's just no end to great Elvis lyrics!)


Well the night came undone like a party dress
And it fell at her feet in a beautiful mess
The smoke and the whiskey came home in her curls
And crept through the dreams of the barroom girls
-Gillian Welch

----------


## johnsmusic

"Tell Fats and Washboard Sam, that everybody gonna to jam
Tell Shaky and Boxcar Joe, we got sawdust on the floor
Tell Peg and Caroline Dye, we gonna have a time
When the fish scent fill the air, there'll be snuff juice everywhere
We gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all night long"
Wang Dang Doodle- the great Willie Dixon

----------


## tree

Reminds me of that Hot Tuna nugget, Keep On Truckin'

"What's that smell like fish oh baby, I really would like to know"

----------


## EasyEd

Hey All,

Way Way too many to list but here's few off the top of my head that have certainly touched my life...

Well I woke up Sunday mornin with no way to hold my head that didn't hurt
An the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad so I had one more for desert...
by Kris Kristoferson

When I was a kid uncle Remus he put me to bed
with a picture of stonewall jackson above my head 
then daddy came in to kiss his little man 
with gin on his breath an a bible in his hand 
he talk about honor and things I should know 
then he stagger a little as he went out the door

I can still hear the soft southern wind in the live oak trees 
and those williams boys they still mean a lot to me 
hank an tennesee 
I guess were all gonna be what were gonna be 
so what do ya do with good ol boys like me
by the gentle giant

Sleepin under a table in a roadside park 
a man could wake up dead 
but it sure is warmer sleepin here than in our king size bed is anybody goin to san antone or phoenix arizona 
anyplace is allright as long as I can forget I ever known ya...
By Charlie Pride

an I think God must be a cowboy at heart 
cause he made wide open spaces from the start 
he made grass an trees and mountains 
an a horse to be a friend 
an trails to lead old cowboys home again...
by Dan Seals?

he stopped lovin her today
they placed a wreath upon his door 
and soon they'll carry him away 
he stopped lovin her today..
by the possom

The chev got stuck and the ford got stuck and the chev unstuck when the dodge showed up but dodge got stuck in the tractor rut which eventually pulled out the ford 

well it was truck after truck an we all got stuck except for the big ol 4by hutterite truck and we all thought lord are we in luck but he wouldn't come anywhere near us 
mighty neighborly mighty neighborly...
by the corb lund band

well there's no place that I'd rather be than right here with my rednecks white socks and blue ribbon beer
by Johnny Paycheck

when I became a father in the spring of 81 there was no doubt that stubborn boy was just like my father's son..
by George Strait

heres to the past they can kiss my glass I hope she's happy with him... Love's gone to hell an so have I...
By Joe Nichols

that ain't my truck in her drive 
man this aint my day tonight 
looks like shes in love an i'm outta luck
that ain't my shadow on her wall 
lord this don't look good at all
that's my girl an my whole world 
but that ain't my truck...
by Rhett aikins

...a worn out tape a chris ledoux
lonely women and bad booze
seem to be the only friends I've left at all
and the white lines getting longer 
and the saddles getting cold 
Now I'm much to young to feel this damn old 

My cards are on the table 
with no ace left in the hole 
I'm much too young to feel this damn old...
by Garth Brooks

And of course Hayseed Dixie's - Keepin Your Poop In A Jar

I don't even wanna start on bluegrass, blues, merle, Van Zandt, Jackson Brown, LeDoux, Cash, etc

-Ed-

----------


## Mandojulie

'threw a drunk man in my jail cell
took fifteen dollars from that man.
Left him my watch and my old house key
don't want folks thinkin' that I'd steal.
I thanked him as I was leaving and headed out to Bakersfield.

That would be DeeeWight!

Okay, to be fair the liner notes say it's by Homer Joy

----------


## newbreedbrian

that's a buck owens song, great one at that

----------


## levin4now

I have to add this one even though it isn't bluegrass. 

"I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve.
I have a history of losing my shirt."

That's deep!

Barenaked Ladies "One Week"

----------


## dillo

If I'da' killed you when I first wanted to, I'd be out on parole by now - Jimmy Dean

----------


## tree

_You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You're a nasty-wasty skunk
Your soul is full of unwashed socks
Your heart if full of gunk, Mr. Grinch
The 3 words that describe you most are as follows and I quote:
Stink!
Stank!
Stunk!_

----------

