ASHGROVE Dave Alvin Copyright 2004 ASHGROVE Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI) Well when I was a young boy I used to slip away Down to the ashgrove To hear the old blues men play There was Big Joe and Lightnin' And Reverend Gary too Well I'd sit and stare and dream Of doin' what they could do. Well it's been thirty years since the ashgrove burned down And I'm out on this highway travelin' town to town Tryin' to make a livin' Tryin' to pay the rent Tryin' to figure out where my life went. I wanna go back to the ashgrove That's where I come from I wanna go back to the ashgrove That's where I belong. Well you don't have to go searchin' Pretend to put on airs 'Cause the blues are gonna find you someday, somewhere Now my mother's gone Now my father's gone And all the old blues men have all passed on And I'm out on this highway travelin' town to town Settin' up my gear and then I'm tearin' it down Turnin' up my guitar Standin' on the stage I'm just tryin' to raise the ghosts up out of their graves. I wanna go back to the ashgrove That's where I come from Yeah I wanna go back to the ashgrove That's where I belong. Well I can't say I been all sinner Can't say I been all saint I've done some good deeds and I've made big mistakes I been in and out of love Said words I regret I been drunk, been sober Smoked too many cigarettes And I'm out on this highway travelin' town to town And the news on the radio just brings me down Intolerance and fear Ignorance and lies It's the same old same old I heard a million times And I'm thinkin' of friends and lovers And how they come and go Like look-alike houses on the side of the road Full of everyday people tryin' to get ahead Tryin' to find a reason just to get out of bed 'Cause we all need somethin' just to get us through Well I'm gonna play the blues tonight man 'Cause that's what I do. I'm goin' back to the Ashgrove That's where I come from I'm goin' back to the Ashgrove That's where I belong. RIO GRANDE Dave Alvin/Tom Russell (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI/Frontera Music, ASCAP) I guess she put her blue dress on And walked out late last night Left one silk stocking Dangling from the bedside light I sobered up and called her name Just before the dawn I saw her footprints in the sand And knew that she had gone Down the Rio Grande. I pulled out of Albuquerque Prayin' I wasn't late I got a couple cups of coffee At some joint off the interstate Passin' through Las Cruces I swear I saw her car She always said she'd go someday But never said how far Down the Rio Grande. Maybe she's in Brownsville She's got some family there She was always talkin' 'bout The salty Gulf Coast air Where the river ends Down the Rio Grande. I saw an old grey heron Flyin' south against the wind Storm clouds over Juarez Rollin' east to the Big Bend I drove down Highway Ninety Through a dusty desert wind I didn't know where it would lead me Or if I'd find her again Down the Rio Grande. I lit my last cigarette As the sky began to clear Black mountains up ahead A red sundown in my mirror Lost all the border 'Tween the future and the past One fading slowly And the other comin' fast Down the Rio Grande. Maybe she's in Brownsville She's got some family there She was always talkin' 'bout The salty gulf coast air Where the river ends Down the Rio Grande. I bought a bottle in Del Rio And I parked on the side of the road I stayed up all night Starin' at the lights of Mexico And I walked down to border bridge At the break of day And I threw that empty bottle off And I watched it float away Down the Rio Grande. Maybe she's in Brownsville She's got some family there She was always talkin 'bout The salty gulf coast air Where the river ends Down the Rio Grande Where the river ends. BLACK SKY Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI) Baby black sky Black sky is all I see Yeah baby black sky Black sky is all I see Please stand beside me baby Shine your light for me. Well I been all around the world Ain't nothin' I ain't seen From the Mekong River to the San Joaquin I made it down to Helena But it's just a ghost town And I got to Jackson But they tore old Jackson down. Yeah I been around the world Black sky is all I see Why don't you stand beside me baby Shine your light for me. Baby well I went to the graveyard To see my friend one last time People gathered 'round Some were prayin, some were cryin' They were talkin' about heaven And the final judgement day But all I could do was say goodbye to him Turn and walk away. Yeah I went to the graveyard But black sky was all I seen Please stand beside me baby Shine your light for me. I wake up every mornin' Try the best I can To make it one more day In a world I don't understand Now the sun baby's shinin' But there's darkness on the land And I can't find my way baby Unless you take my hand. Yeah I, I wake up every mornin' baby Black sky is all I see Please stand beside me baby Shine your light for me. Yeah black sky Black sky is all I see Please shine your light pretty baby Take this black sky away from me. NINE VOLT HEART Dave Alvin/Rod Hodges (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI/Blowout Music, ASCAP) His mama said "Baby, wait for me in the car," And she went lookin' for his daddy inside a bar So he sat and let the radio take him far away Listenin' to XPRS and KRLA. Plastic silver nine-volt heart You click it on and let the music start And the radio was his toy The radio was his toy. Well Rachel was twenty and he was seventeen years old Sittin' in a parked car on a country road Runnin' his fingers through her long black hair And the Staples singin' "Baby, I'll take you there." Plastic silver nine volt heart You click it on and let the music start And the radio was his toy The radio was his toy. Doin' the dishes long after midnight Talkin' about the evenin' news with his wife The baby wakes up and starts to cry So they turn the radio on for his lullaby. Plastic silver nine volt heart You click it on and let the music start Plastic silver nine volt heart You click it on and let the music start And the radio was his toy The radio was his toy. Plastic silver nine volt heart Plastic silver nine volt heart You click it on and let the music start. OUT OF CONTROL Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI) I scored some speed in San Berdino So me and baby could get a little bump And now she's in that motel room Puttin' on a show for some chump Yeah, well baby's gotta make a livin' And I don't mind waitin' out in the car 'Cause I got some nine millimeter muscle In case things go too far. You know I try to take it easy man And just go with the flow But sometimes things can get a little bit Out of control. Well my old man worked his whole life In the Kaiser steel slag pit And I worked there for awhile back when I was a kid But I got tired of all their shit But that was years ago man Before they tore that Fontana plant down And my old man smoked himself Into a six-foot hole in the ground. And I got the same bad habit And it'll probably take its toll But sometimes it's the only thing that keeps me From goin' out of control. Well my ex-wife's workin' evenings At a Sizzler makin' minimum wage And she's cleanin' up other people's houses Every day just like some slave She's livin' with the kids in a mobile home Just off the 60 freeway Some nights I go to see her And sometimes she lets me stay. Since she found Jesus She's always tryin' to save my soul Yeah but every now and then she still likes to get A little out of control. I used to work a little construction But I never got along with my boss So I do a little import/export Makin' enough just to cover my costs And I'm losin' my hair and I'm losin' my teeth But I'm tryin' to keep my grip And live to see one more day Without makin' any stupid slips. You know I could have played the game man And just done what I was told But I guess I was born just a little bit Out of control. When baby gets done in there I'm gonna Take her for a little ride Cruise up into the mountains Park the car and get a little high 'Cause baby likes to look at the shootin' stars And make wishes as they fly by And I like lookin' down at the city From way up there in the sky. Then I pull baby close to me When it starts gettin' cold Close my eyes for a little while and let the world Spin out of control. EVERETT RUESS Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI) I was born Everett Ruess I been dead for sixty years I was just a young boy in my twenties The day I disappeared. Into the Grand Escalante Badlands Near the Utah and Arizona line And they never found my body, boys Or understood my mind. I grew up in California And I loved my family and my home But I ran away to the High Sierra Where I could live free and alone. And folks said "He's just another wild kid And he'll grow out of it in time," But they never found my body, boys Or understood my mind. I broke broncos with the cowboys I sang healing songs with the Navajo I did the snake dance with the Hopi And I drew pictures everywhere I go. Then I swapped all my drawings for provisions To get what I needed to get by And they never found my body, boys Or understood my mind. Well I hate your crowded cities With your sad and hopeless mobs And I hate your grand cathedrals Where you try to trap God. 'Cause I know God is here in the canyons With the rattlesnakes and the pinon pines And they never found my body, boys Or understood my mind. They say I was killed by a drifter Or I froze to death in the snow Maybe mauled by a wildcat Or I'm livin' down in Mexico. But my end, it doesn't really matter All that counts is how you live your life And they never found my body, boys Or understood my mind. You give your dreams away as you get older Oh, but I never gave up mine And they'll never find my body, boys Or understand my mind. SINFUL DAUGHTER Dave Alvin/Shannon McNally (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI/Changeling Music, ASCAP) Sinful daughter Sinful daughter Sinful daughter, sinful girl. They call her shameless They call her wanted They say she poisoned every well They call her Delilah And Magdalena And they call her Jezebel. Sinful daughter Sinful daughter All alone in a sinful world Banished and branded Forced to wander Sinful daughter, sinful girl. Well the preacher in pulpit Says hell and damnation Is the destination she is bound Livin' in darkness Lost and forsaken Driftin' town to town. Sinful daughter Sinful daughter All alone in a sinful world Banished and branded Forced to wander Sinful daughter, sinful girl. Sisters and mothers Fathers and brothers They all shun her Unless she atones But let the one who is not sinful Yeah, they can throw the stone. Sinful daughter Sinful daughter All alone in a sinful world Banished and branded Forced to wander Sinful daughter, sinful girl. Sinful daughter Sinful daughter Sinful daughter, sinful girl. THE MAN IN THE BED Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI) The man in the bed isn't me Now I slipped out the door and I'm runnin' free Young and wild like I'll always be No the man in the bed isn't me. And these tremblin' hands, they're not mine Now my hands are strong and steady all the time They can swing a sledge hammer or soothe a baby that's cryin' These trembling hands, they're not mine. Now the nurse over there doesn't know That I ain't some helpless old so-and-so I could have broken her heart not that long ago Now the nurse over there doesn't know. That the man in the bed isn't me 'Cause I slipped out the door and I'm runnin' free Young and wild like I'll always be The man in the bed isn't me. I'm the man I've always been I'm the kid who rode the rails through the Great Depression I fought in the big war and marched for the Union I'm the man I've always been. So don't believe what the doctors say They're just makin' things up so they can get paid Yeah, and it ain't me they're talkin' about anyway So don't believe what the doctors say. 'Cause the man in the bed isn't me Well I slipped out the door and I'm finally free Young and wild like I'll always be No the man in the bed isn't me No the man in the bed isn't me No the man in the bed isn't me. BLACK HAIRED GIRL Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI) There's a black-haired girl Sittin' behind the bullet-proof glass And she takes my money Before I go and pump some gas As the cold rain falls on the parking lot The strip malls and housing tracts I smile at her But she don't smile back. Well the black-haired girl Is starin' at the gossip magazine And all the glossy pictures Of today's kings and queens But it's nearly three a.m. And the whole world is dead, except for her and me And the sound of the rain And the smell of gasoline. Well that black-haired girl Looks like a woman I used to know Back in some other world, several lifetimes ago Yeah, we'd lay in her bed Drinkin' wine and makin' love And lettin' time move slow Well we lost touch somehow But that's just the way things go. Well that black-haired girl Catches me lookin' her way And I feel a little uneasy Maybe there's something I should say Should I ask her name Or just warn her about all the tricks time can play But I don't say nothin' 'Cause she's gonna find out anyway. There's a black-haired girl Sittin' beneath a flourescent light Whatever fate has in store Well I hope that she'll be alright I hope she finds real love And all her dreams come true Or at least she makes it through tonight Then I drive away as she fades out of sight. SOMEWHERE IN TIME Dave Alvin/Louie Perez/David Hidalgo (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI/No Ko Music, BMI/Davince Music, BMI) I hear a voice singin' somewhere in time A song I knew long ago And it takes me back to places somewhere in time And everyone I used to know I see a face, I remember somewhere in time Someone I loved who's gone away. Gone away somewhere in time Gone away somewhere in time. Another night on a highway somewhere in time The darkness playin' tricks on me Far down the road in the shadows somewhere in time Am I the man I'm supposed to be? I see a light shinin' somewhere in time A lonely light to lead me on. And lead me on somewhere in time Lead me on somewhere in time. I wake from a dream, a dream from somewhere in time And rub my eyes so I can see You're standin' there before me, somewhere in time Waitin' for me patiently And I'll take your hand, someday, somewhere in time And forever I'll be here with you. I'll be with you somewhere in time I'll be with you somewhere in time I'm here with you somewhere in time.