BLACKJACK DAVID Dave Alvin Copyright 1998 BLACKJACK DAVID Traditional, Arranged by Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Blackjack David came a-ridin' through the wood Singin' so loud and merry His voice was a-ringin' through the green, green fields And he spied a fair-haired maiden Spied a fair-haired maiden. "Listen here lass my name is Jack And I come from afar Lookin' for a fair-haired lass like you Won't you come and be my bride Come and be my bride?" "Now would you forsake your husband, dear Would you forsake your baby Would you forsake your fine, fine home To go with a Blackjack David Go with Blackjack David?" "Yes, I'd forsake my husband, dear And I'd forsake my baby And I'd forsake my fine, fine home Just to go with you Blackjack David Go with you Blackjack David." She put on her high-heeled boots Made of Spanish leather And he pulled her up behind him then And they both rode off together Both rode off together. Well last night she slept in a fine, fine bed Beside her husband and baby Tonight she sleeps on a cold, cold ground Beside old Blackjack David Beside old Blackjack David Beside old Blackjack David Beside old Blackjack David. ABILENE Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) There's a greyhound bus Leavin' the great Northwest Takin' her tonight Back down south to Texas She's been dancing on tables To pay rent and be able To just get by and maybe stay clean. Abilene, Abilene Abilene, Abilene. Well her daddy'd get drunk Then he'd hit her hard And her mama'd lie in bed High on pills and talkin' to God But like her beautiful tattoos These old memories she can't lose Since she ran away at fifteen. Abilene, Abilene There's a town ahead that you've never seen Maybe it's better if you get off there and try to Forget everything Abilene. Starin' out the window At the long cold night Ahead on the horizon Is another string of bright lights She's dreamin' of a man she's goin' to meet In a bar on an Austin street Maybe this one won't be so mean. Abilene, Abilene There's a town ahead that you've never seen And maybe it's better if you get off there and try to Forget everything Abilene. In a Texas bar there's a man sittin' alone Thinkin' of a girl he swore he'd wait there for But he's drinkin' beers and he's feelin' old Rememberin' every lie he's told 'til he changes his mind and he leaves. Abilene, Abilene There's a town ahead that you've never seen Maybe it's better if you get off there and try to Forget everything Abilene, Abilene Oh Abilene, Abilene. NEW HIGHWAY Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Well I'm leavin' this mornin' baby Gonna ride that new highway Yeah I'm leavin' this mornin' baby Gonna ride that new highway And the more you cry the more you gonna drive me away. I ain't got no family Ain't got no wife or no child I ain't got no family Ain't got no wife, no child Ain't got no religion, I'm just out here runnin' wild. Well a rich man's got money And a poor man's only got his soul Yeah rich man's got the money baby Poor boy only got his soul But I got this new highway and I don't care where I go. Well this new highway baby Takes me from town to town Yeah this new highway baby Takes me from town to town Where some sweet angel always lets me lay down. Well my Kansas woman's got Skin as white as snow Yeah my Kansas City baby's got Skin as white as snow But my Deep Ellum woman's got hair as black as coal. Well your lovers will leave you baby Good friends will come and go Yeah your lovers will leave you baby Good friends come and go But this new highway's the best friend I've ever known. Now the gold sun's settin' baby Silver moon on the rise Yeah the gold sun's settin' baby Silver moon on the rise Gonna ride this highway 'til the day I die. CALIFORNIA SNOW Dave Alvin/Tom Russell (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, and Frontera Music, ASCAP, administered by Bug Music) I'm just tryin' to make a livin' I'm an old man at thirty-nine With two kids and an ex-wife Who moved up to Riverside I'm workin' down on the border Drivin' back roads every night Mountains east of El Cajon North of the Tecate line. Where the California summer sun Will burn right through your soul But in the winter you can freeze to death In the California snow. I catch the ones I'm able to And watch the others slip away I know some by their faces And I even know some by name I guess they think that we're all Movie stars and millionaires I guess that they still believe That dreams come true up here. But I guess the weather's warmer down in Mexico And no one ever tells them 'bout the California snow. Last winter I found a man and wife Just about daybreak Layin' in a frozen ditch South of the interstate I wrapped 'em both in blankets But she'd already died The next day we sent him back alone Across the borderline. I don't know where they came from Or where they planned to go But we carried her all night long Through the California snow. Sometimes when I'm alone out here I get to thinkin' about my life Maybe I should go to Riverside And try to fix things with my wife Or maybe just get in my truck And drive as far as I can go Away from all the ghosts that haunt The California snow. Where the California summer sun Can burn right to your soul And in the winter you can freeze to death In the California snow. EVENING BLUES Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Standin' barefoot in your kitchen door Listenin' to the soft evenin' rain Watchin' you dryin' off from your shower You look at me like you don't know my name Then you heat the coffee on the stove Pull the cup down from the shelf And slowly turn your back on me As I sing a blues song to myself. Yeah I wish that I could hold you baby But you seem so far away Yeah I wish that I could kiss you baby But I've run out of sweet words to say And I wish that I could hear Yeah I wish that I could hear The blues you sing to yourself. Now all the makeup is washed off your face And your hair is slicked back wet You hung the dress up you wore last night And changed the sheets on your bed All the promises you whispered to me I guess they're meant for someone else Cause all I hear is the soft evenin' rain And the blues that I sing to myself. Yeah I wish that I could hold you baby But you seem so far away Yeah I wish that I could kiss you baby But I've run out of sweet words to say And I wish that I could hear Oh I wish that I could hear The blues you sing to yourself The blues you sing to yourself. Now would you care if I walked out this door Baby I can't really tell Our eyes meet but we just look away And sing our blues to ourselves. Yeah I wish that could hold you baby But you seem so far away Yeah I wish that I could kiss you baby But I've run out of sweet words to say And I wish that I could hear Yeah I wish that I could hear The blues you sing The blues The blues you sing to yourself. THE WAY YOU SAY GOODBYE Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Well I hate the way you call my name, baby I hate that look on your face And I hate the cold touch of your kiss, baby I hate the chill in your embrace Oh, but I hate the way that you pull from me When I want you by my side Yeah, baby I hate the way that you say Goodbye. I hate my eyes 'cause they see, baby That you'll be goin' soon And I hate my mind 'cause it knows, baby There ain't nothin' I can do But I hate my arms that long to hold you And I hate my heart that wants to cry Yeah baby, I hate the way that you say Goodbye. I hate the way you talk, and you talk and talk 'Til I hate every word that you say I hate the lies I believe when you swear you won't leave Then you turn around and you walk away Well I hate the night I met you, baby And your lips first touched mine Yeah. baby Well I hate the way that you say Goodbye. Well I hate the way I wait Honey, and I wait and wait For you to make up your mind And I hate the way it seems I'm always down on my knees Begging, "Baby come back one more time." Well I hate everything I love about you And I'm gonna hate it all my life Yeah baby I hate the way that you say Goodbye. I hate the way that you say Goodbye. MARY BROWN Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Well my name is Charlie Thomas and I'm as good a man as you And for the love of Mary Brown there's nothin' that I won't do Well her husband was a banker, yet she told me he was cruel So I left his body lyin' in the yard where their roses grew. Well she and I grew up neighbors where the houses looked the same And I swear that I loved Mary Brown before I knew her name And after she married and he moved her away You know she'd still come back and lay with me like nothin' had ever changed. I know what's what's wrong and right What goes around, comes around But there ain't nothin' that I won't do For the love of Mary Brown. Well people like him always look down on me Because I've done a little time for armed robbery Yeah, but Mary Brown knows I'm from a good family And she didn't say nothing when she slipped me the back door key. I know what's wrong and right What goes around comes around But there ain't nothin' that I won't do For the love of Mary Brown. Well at my trial she testified she kissed me once or twice But she swore that was long before she became his wife And every time I looked at her she avoided my eyes And the jury sentenced me to twenty-five years to life. Now I haven't seen Mary Brown since the trial's end And she never answers the letters that I send And I heard that she married her husband's best friend Yeah but for the love of Mary Brown, man I'd do it all again. I know what's wrong and right What goes around, comes around But there ain't nothin' that I won't do For the love of Mary Brown. LAUREL LYNN Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Laurel Lynn, Laurel Lynn Will I ever see your face again? Laurel Lynn, Laurel Lynn Will I ever see your face again? I can't say that I love you darlin' But you cross my mind every now and then. Baby I was drunk, wild and crazy I didn't mean them words I said 'Cause I know you're somewhere darlin' Sleepin' in another man's bed. Laurel Lynn, Laurel Lynn, Oh baby, let me apologize I can't say that I love you darlin' But I wish that you were mine sometimes. You don't trust them politicians You don't trust the evenin' news You don't trust them t.v. preachers Tellin' you what you can and can't do You don't trust your downtown boyfriends You don't believe a word they say But I woke up this morning, Laurel Callin' out your name. Laurel Lynn, Laurel Lynn Will I ever see your face again? Laurel Lynn, Laurel Lynn Will I ever see your face again? I can't say that I love you darlin' But you cross my mind every now and then. Yeah I can't say that I love you darlin' But you cross my mind every now and then Oh, Laurel Lynn. 1968 Dave Alvin/Chris Gaffney (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI/Calhoun Street Music/Ensaga Songs, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Johnny gave Joe his first cigarette And Joe lit the filter and then he smoked the whole pack And Joe bought all the gas in Johnny's old Ford He always said that's what friends were for. When Johnny married Tina, Joe married Dee Two blonde-haired sisters from Covington, Kentucky And in '67 Johnny joined the Corps Joe did too, but he never knew what for. And tonight in this barroom he's easin' his pain He's thinkin' of someone, but he won't say the name Folks say he's a hero, but he'll tell you he ain't He left a hero in the jungle back in 1968. Johnny went from job to job tryin' to make ends meet And Tina divorced him back in '83 Now thirty years come and thirty years go And Johnny's got a grandkid that he barely knows. And tonight in this barroom he's easin' his pain He's thinkin' of someone, but he won't say the name Folks say he's a hero, but he'll tell you he ain't He left a hero in the jungle back in 1968. Well Dee calls Johnny every now and then And talks about her children and her third husband But when he asks about someone they used to know Dee says, "Johnny that was so long ago." Tonight in this barroom he's easin' his pain He's thinkin' of someone, but he won't say the name Folks say he's a hero; he'll tell you ain't He left a hero in the jungle back in 1968 He left a hero in the jungle back in 1968. FROM A KITCHEN TABLE Dave Alvin (Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) I hope this letter finds you Wherever you may be 'Cause I mailed some awhile back And they were all returned to me Ain't nothin' I can tell you 'bout the hometown Everything changes, but nothing's new Just Sunday night at the kitchen table Finishin' a beer and thinkin' of you. And I still work the same job Just live with my mom for free 'Cause ever since the old man passed on It just got harder to leave. Well I heard a rumor that you got married Though you swore that you never would I guess you finally got your own kids now You ever tell 'em 'bout the old neighborhood? Like the time we stole your dad's car Drove all night down Imperial Highway You kept sayin' "Maybe we should turn around," And I said "It don't take much to get away." But I still work the same job Just live with my mom for free 'Cause ever since the old man passed on It just got harder to leave. Guess that's all that I've got to tell you I guess things turned out how they're meant to be I just hope that this letter finds you But until then I'll just keep it with me. And I still work the same job Just live with my mom for free 'Cause ever since the old man passed on It just got harder to leave. TALL TREES Dave Alvin/Fontaine Brown (Blue Horn Toad Music/Frontoones, BMI, Administered by Bug Music) Love to see to see them tall trees swayin' Tall trees swayin' in the breeze When I see them tall trees swayin' Sway like my babe walkin' back to me Sway like my babe walkin' back to me Walkin' back to me. I love to hear that night bird cryin' Night bird cryin' low and sweet When I hear that night bird cryin Cryin' like my babe callin' me Callin' me. Love to see the full moon risin' Full moon risin' gold and bright When I see the full moon risin' Maybe it's guidin' her home tonight Maybe it's guidin' her home tonight Home tonight. I love to feel the warm sun shinin' Warm sun shinin' on my skin When I feel that warm sun shinin' Feels like my baby holding me again Feels like my baby holding me again Holding me again. I love to see them tall trees swayin' Tall trees swayin' in the breeze When I see them tall trees swayin' Swayin' like my babe walkin' to me Swayin' like my babe walkin' back to me Back to me Swayin like my babe walkin' back to me Back to me.