That's all there is
(and there ain't no more)
Bloodshot Heart
I had me a woman she’s a living saint
But I am what I am and I ain’t what I ain’t
And it is what it is when I’m looking down the line
And I know it’s the same situation
They should put it right there on my identification
Right under my name
Address: wrong place wrong time
Whiskey won’t you fill my lonesome
And the rhythm be my woman
Well the good ones are too few and far apart
Play me a song with a dancing beat
Lay that bass down low and sweet
Save another bloodshot heart
And motel living with the crazy legs
And some that steal and others that beg
And borrow time, time from the cold cold earth
And treeline high and mountain skies
Desert wind that burns your eyes
I keep it in my heart for all it’s worth
Whiskey won’t you fill my lonesome
And the rhythm be my woman
Well the good ones are too few and far apart
Play me a song with a stomping beat
Lay that kick down tidy and neat
Save another bloodshot heart
In rusty rez rovers and one eyed Fords
Calling to your lover calling to the Lord
Calling it good that there’s anyone left to call
Getting by is what they say
Any old time or any old way
Holding faith against nothing, nothing at all
Whiskey won’t you fill my lonesome
And the rhythm be my woman
Well the good ones are too few and far apart
Play me a song with a dancing beat
Lay that bass down low and sweet
Save another bloodshot heart
Save another bloodshot heart
Lucky I’m Alive
Walkin’ into Abilene
I don’t believe my luck has changed
Lower than a snake and twice as mean
When you read a map of Texas
And decide what route the best is
It don’t show you dry counties in between
Sometimes you can tell where you’re goin’
Sometimes you can tell when you’ll arrive
Even a blind dog will find the bone sometimes
Sometimes I’m just lucky I’m alive
They say the greatest trick the devil pulled
In the whole story of the world
Was telling us he wasn’t real you see
But the way that woman bats her eyes
And tells me what I know are lies
About made a believer out of me
Sometimes you can tell where you’re goin’
Sometimes you can tell when you’ll arrive
Even a blind dog will find the bone sometimes
Sometimes I’m just lucky I’m alive
So I lost a lot of friends
And some good women in between
And I seen the light
And now and then it’s plain
That the meanest trick the devil pulled
On me since I been in this world
Was tellin’ me to pick guitar and sing
Sometimes you can tell where you’re goin’
Sometimes you can tell when you’ll arrive
Even a blind dog will find the bone sometimes
Sometimes I’m just lucky I’m alive
Nashville TN at 3am
They say hindsight is 2020
But you know that ain’t always quite the case
When you’ve had the chance to think about it plenty
And you still squint to see the daylight from the dreams
Does it look a little south of what you planned on
Because everything looks north from where I been
You don’t have to be
As tough as you act with me
You don’t have to try to understand
And they’re cleaning up the bars down on Broadway
And the tourists have gone back to from where they came
And you could be anywhere
But you’re standing right here
In Nashville Tennessee at 3 AM
And I could just wander back to Sublette County
And I got nobody waiting for me there
Sometimes I say the wrong thing honey
Sometimes I just don’t know how to care
There’s a few things that you’ll learn in this city
Some that might just stick there in your craw
Everyone’s an outlaw until the cocaine wears off
And the only thing that’s cheap in this town is talk
Wedding Ring
I pulled into next town an hour ago
And down by the light of the side of the road
I been looking too long at these lines in the snow
And how I got this far
I never will know
The marquis signs they can’t say what you mean
And neon lights on down the street
The moon is bright and all through the trees
Shining down like a wedding ring
And old love letters by phone or by mail
What side of lonesome ain’t no one could tell
I’ll be leaving too soon, oh, by road or by rail
And out here without you is just the cold side of Hell
The marquis signs they can’t say what you mean
Neon lights on down the street
The moon is bright and all through the trees
Shining down like a wedding ring
The moon is bright and all through the trees
Shining down like a wedding ring
You Don’t Have To Tell Me Again
You don’t have to tell me anymore
What you think about my friends
We don’t have to pretend anymore
That this conversation has an end
You need not inform me of my background
Or how it all began
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me again
You say I like living dangerous
You must take me for some kind of fool
Honey there’s arithmetic that runs my life
That you don’t learn in school
Well this time before you find the door
And kick my heart across the floor again
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me again
You never had to step down
From your high horse into someone else’s shoes
Some of us are too damn tired
Or crazy broke to care about your rules
So this time before you find the door
Remember I’ve heard all that I can stand
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me again
You don’t have to tell me anymore
What you think about my friends
We don’t have to pretend anymore
That this conversation has an end
You need not remind me
Where I come from
Or how it all began
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me anymore
You don’t have to tell me again
Fare Thee Well
Hey do you miss slidin’ round the interstate
Oh we had a lot of guts but we didn’t have brakes
And oh, fare thee well to New Orleans
Fare thee well
Fare thee well I say
Fare thee well
Shoutin’ to the break of day
And oh
Fare thee well to New Orleans
Hey do you remember when the lights were low
And you told me honey that you loved me so
And oh
Fare thee well to New Orleans
Fare thee well
Fare thee well I say
Fare thee well
Shoutin’ to the break of day
And oh
Fare thee well to New Orleans
And another shot of liquor won’t do me no harm
But the holes in my head and tattoos on my arms
And oh
Fare thee well to New Orleans
Fare thee well
Fare thee well I say
Fare thee well
Shoutin’ to the break of day
And oh
Fare thee well to New Orleans
And oh
Fare thee well to New Orleans
Same To Me
Blacktop road in the big sunshine
Runnin’ down the middle
Down the middle of my mind
Open highway, open all night
Run through my head like a river of wine
Two black crows sittin’ on a fence
One turned over to the other one and said
It’s cloudy skies and it look like snow
So don’t mind the weather so the wind don’t blow
What you said and what you mean
Don’t make or break no deals for me, you know
New Orleans and Tennessee is all about the same
to me, you know
If you wanna get to Heaven got to D-I-E
But on your collar and your T-I-E
If you wanna get to hell in no short time
Get a good lookin’ woman and a job in the mines
What you said and what you mean
Don’t make or break no deals for me, you know
New Orleans and Tennessee is all about the same
to me, you know
If you wanna get to Heaven, Heaven Hill
Sit right down, take a big old swill
Stuck in time, lookin’ down the tracks
Two steps forward and a one step back
What you said and what you mean
Don’t make or break no deals for me, you know
New Orleans and Tennessee is all about the same
to me, you know
That’s All There’s Is
(And There Ain’t No More)
Yeah I got 6 on the seat and a four on the floor
Time to get ready and a ramble some more
She only did what she been doin' before
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
Nothin’ left to hold me down, down no more
She found another, that’s for sure
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
When she told me she was leavin’
she was telling the truth
Like I ain’t been accustomed to
And long night mornings don’t bring good news
But this old Ford don’t get the blues
This old Ford don’t get the blues
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
Nothin’ left to hold me down, down no more
She found another, that’s for sure
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
I got an aching feeling like you wouldn’t believe me
Far as I can see and a whole lot more
I got 5 strand barbed wire runnin’ between
And the empty fields like the ocean’s shore,
empty fields like the ocean’s shore
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
Nothin’ left to hold me down, down no more
She found another, that’s for sure
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
That’s all there is and there ain’t no more
Conversation with Jesus
I flipped my car out on the turnpike
The doctor said I died
Found myself with Jesus Christ
Way up in the sky
I said am I goin’ to Hell? He said
“You ain’t the worst we seen
It ain’t your time, lay off whiskey
And remember this one thing:
Holy rolling preachin’
Just ain’t worth a damn
What matters most in life is how you treat your fellow man
When you find another ‘ism to revolve your life around
Before you blow your whistle
Stop that train and let me down”
He said “some loudmouth televangelists
They got a lot to say
About walkin’ in my footsteps
And how they’ll show you the way
But their fancy cars and swimmin’ pools
And mansions on T.V.
Sure don’t look like any manger
I’ve ever seen
And holy rolling preachin’
Just ain’t worth a damn
What matters most in life is how you treat the least of men
When you find another ‘ism to revolve your life around
Before you blow your whistle
Stop that train and let me down”
He said “Some will come from college
Will more dollars left than sense
And higher education can be good but that depends
You don’t have to go to India
To find the golden rule
Or intentional communities of educated fools
And high minded politics
Just ain’t worth a damn
What matters most in life is how you treat your fellow man
When you find another ‘ism to revolve your life around
Before you blow your whistle
Stop that train and let me down”
He said “Pat you’d better wake up now
You’ve got things to do
One more thing before you go
Your language could improve
When you bust your knuckles on a wrench
You don’t have me to blame
Quit teaching’ new words to the neighbor’s kids and hollerin’ out my name
And holy rolling preachin’
Just ain’t worth a damn
What matters most in life is how you treat your fellow man
When you find another ‘ism to revolve your life around
Before you blow your whistle
Stop that train and let me down”
Funny Thing About a Hammer
There’s a funny thing I’ll tell you about a hammer
It gets heavier every time you swing
And all your well meaning politics and manners
Well they don’t mean a goddamned thing
Workin’ for the same old wage
And there ain’t much change and that’s clear
And the sweat runs down in the hours from your brow
Into days, into weeks, into years
Saturday we’ll go fishin’
Come by around the house around 4
And we’re stayin’ alive
And the news is on at 5
But I barely pay attention anymore
Jesus Christ was a carpenter by trade
And for the money, for the silver, for a raise
Would you do him like they did
Through the feet and through the wrists
Jesus was a builder by trade
Now we all go to church on Sundays
And we all get forgiven for our sins
It’s been said and sung before
But I’ll sing it once more
If He came back they’d hang Him up again
Saturday we’ll be grillin’
Come by around the house around 4
And we’re stayin’ alive
And the news is on at 5
But I barely pay attention anymore
Now there’s a man down the street
Took a trip across the world
With a rifle and a helmet so he thought
And he brought back places that he carries in his dreams
And faces that he can’t talk about
Now he’s workin’ for the same old wage
And there ain’t much change and that’s clear
And the sweat runs down in the hours from his brow
Into days, into weeks, into years
Saturday we’ll go fishin’
Come by around the house around 4
And we’re stayin’ alive
And the news is on at 5
But I barely pay attention anymore
Pennsylvania Hills
These Pennsylvania hills will be standing
When the dust of mines and mills
Has settled to the rocks
But the wheels don’t hold still
For the little boys and girls
The whistle still blows twice a day at 6 o’clock
A polish miner’s son
Loved a mill town preacher’s girl
They knew quite well it never was to be
But hopes and dreams come strong
To the hearts and minds of some
They’d meet at night upon a bed of leaves
On Sundays hand in hand
They’d whisper low a plan
In times that they stole behind the lock
In the way young hearts can love
And dream of things to come
They walked the hills that overlooked the docks
When the world bought a war
Like many times before
A miner’s son marched off to pay the cost
And those who lived in toil
Gave all they had on foreign soil
The whistle still blowed twice a day at 6 o’clock
From the steeple to the throne
None of His angels could atone
For the children of the children of the cloth
And secrets that are made
Come to the light of day
And she walked the hills that overlooked the docks
The cold Mon River waters do no care for unwed mothers
As they run through the valleys and the locks
And with child inside they’d made
Growing bigger everyday
A mill town preacher’s girl stepped off the dock
And these Pennsylvania hills will be standing
When the dust of mines and mills
Has settled to the rocks
But the wheels don’t hold still
For the little boys and girls
The whistle still blows twice a day at 6 o’clock
Coal Train Blues
I don’t mind if I do ride the coal, ride the coal
I will ride it in the rain, I will ride it in the snow
Don’t mind if I do ride the coal, ride the coal
Not for nothin’
Nothin’ in this world
I don’t mind if I do, well
Stay another night
Another day
Bleeds into night
And I don’t mind if I do well,
Stay another night
Not for nothin’
Nothin’ in this world
Havre to Chicago is a mighty long ride
It’s a mighty long ride
It’s a mighty long ride
Havre to Chicago is a mighty long ride
With a woman on your mind
And I don’t mind if I do ride the coal, ride the coal
I will ride in the rain, I will ride it in the snow
Don’t mind if I do ride the coal, ride the coal
Not for nothin’
Nothin’ in this world