Music World
 
Find Artists:
 
 
 
Russian versionSwitch to Russian 
John Hiatt
John Hiatt


Background information
Born August 20, 1952
Born place Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Genre(s) Americana
Folk-Rock
Country
Blues
Heartland Rock
Years active 1972—present
Label(s) Geffen Records
Vanguard Records
MCA Records
Website Website



Music World  →  Lyrics  →  J  →  John Hiatt  →  Albums  →  Slow Turning

John Hiatt Album


Slow Turning (1988)
1988
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
. . .



I didn't say we wouldn't hurt anymore
That's how you learn, you just get burned
But we don't have to feel like dirt anymore
Though love's not earned, Baby it's our turn
We were always looking for true north
With our heads in the clouds, just a little off course
I left the motor running, now if you're feeling down and out

CHORUS:
Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love
Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love

I'm not talkin' 'bout retreatin' little girl
Gonna take our stand, in this Chevy van
Windows open on the rest of the world
Holdin' hands, all the way to Dixieland
We've been tryin' to turn our lives around
Since we were little kids, it's been wearin' us down
Don't turn away now Darlin' lets fire it up and wind it out

REPEAT CHORUS

BRIDGE:
I heard your mama callin', I think she was just stallin'

Don't know who she was talkin' to, baby me and you
We could go down with a smile on, don't bother to pack your nylons
Just keep them pretty legs showin', it gets hot down where we're goin'
We were always looking for true north
With our heads in the clouds, just a little off course
I left the motor running, now if you're feeling down and out
Come on baby drive, come on baby drive south, come on baby drive south

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



Whatever you don't follow that shot,
she rang those words out with all she got
With a baby and the laundry in the Chevrolet,
Well he thought about following anyway
But he drove 'em to the strip mall laundromat,
In his three day beard and his red man hat
Trudy washed their bell bottom jeans, e
while that baby just sat ther lookin' mean

CHORUS:
Trudy and Dave
They're out of their minds
Trudy and Dave
They're out of their minds

Well David put a match to a Lucky Strike
And the smoke curled up 'round his head how he liked,
It made him feel a little mysterious
'Til Trudy said "David honey, what about us?"

So he thought about them and those shots ringing out
And other things he shouldn't be thinking about
Like how it wasn't them at all, just life that was mean
And how a twenty dollar pistol made him feel so clean

REPEAT CHORUS

Didn't mean to do it baby, but I did it for love

The same shot his Daddy heard before him
A shot that can really blow you away
And when it is fired his mama told him
"David, you'll follow it to your grave"

Well Trudy and Dave, those crazy kids
Had a baby of their own and you heard what they did
In the middle of a strip mall shots rang out
Shots heard all over the world no doubt

'Cause it was there in the paper the very next day
'Bout a couple and a baby and a Chevrolet
Who shot up an automatic teller machine
Took the money for the laundry and drove away clean

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



I woke up in a hotel and I didn't know what to do
I turned the TV on and wrote a letter to you
The news was talkin' 'bout a dragnet up on the interstate
Said they were lookin' for a Cadillac with Tennessee plates

Since I left California baby, things have gotten worse
Seems the land of opportunity for me is just a curse
Tell that judge in Bakersfield that my trial will have to wait
Down here they're lookin' for a Cadillac with Tennessee plates

It was somewhere in Nevada, it was cold outside
She was shiverin' in the dark, so I offered her a ride
Three bank jobs later, four cars hot wired
We crossed the Mississippi like an oil slick fire

If they'd known what we was up to they wouldn't 'a let us in
When we landed in Memphis like original sin
Up Elvis Presley Boulevard to the Graceland gates
See we were lookin' for a Cadillac with Tennessee plates

Well, there must have been a dozen of them parked in that garage
And there wasn't one Lincoln and there wasn't one Dodge
And there wasn't one Japanese model or make
Just pretty, pretty Cadillacs with Tennessee plates

She saw him singing once when she was seventeen
And ever since that day she's been living in between
I was never king of nothin' but this wild weekend
Anyway he wouldn't care, hell he gave them to his friends

Well this ain't no hotel I'm writin' you from
It's the Tennessee prison up at Brushy Mountain
Where yours sincerely's doin' five to eight
Stampin' out my time makin' Tennessee plates


. . .



She came onto him like a slow movin' cold front
His beer was warmer than the look in her eyes
She sat on a stool, he said, "What do you want?"
She said, "Give me a love that don't freeze up inside."

He said, "I have melted some hearts in my time dear
But to sit next to you, Lord, I shiver and shake
And if I knew love, well, I don't think I'd be here
Askin' myself if I've got what it takes."

CHORUS:
To melt your icy blue heart
Should I start?
To turn what's been frozen for years
Into a river of tears

"These days we all play cool, calm and collected
Why, our lips could turn blue just shooting the breeze"
But under the frost, well, he thought he detected
A warm blush of red and a touch of her knee

He said, "Girl, you're a beauty like I've never witnessed
And I've seen the Northern Lights dance in the air
But I've felt the cold that can follow the first kiss
And there's not enough heat in the fires burning there."

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



Maybe your mama didn't treat you right,
Maybe her intentions weren't even very good
Maybe my daddy lay awake at night
Imagining himself in some other neighborhood

Left to our own devices
Like maybe they were too
Out on the open road
And wonderin' what to do

CHORUS:
You ask how we got here baby don't ask how
That was sometime other than now

It takes what it takes, that's what they told us girl
We've done a lot of dumb things, we'll probably do some more
On two different paths, runnin' 'round in different worlds
We finally found each other, who we were lookin' for
Now I see my own reflection
When I give my love to you
And it's shot back like an arrow
So straight and true

REPEAT CHORUS

BRIDGE:
I'm not leavin' baby
The future's comin' right here and now
And maybe tomorrow we can't take it
I'm not grievin' baby anymore
The past is gone
And we can't fake it, so baby let's make it
With this love of ours somehow

A little bit of fear, you know it goes a long way
It's followed us around since we were little kids
With just a little faith, well maybe baby someday
We will find the strength, the strength to forgive

It don't come all of a sudden
But when it comes at last
You could blink your eyes and miss it
It happens so fast

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



I know a girl, mess with your mind,
She'll come to you in the summer sometime
She'll talk about things you don't understand,
But you better keep to the matters at hand
Before the whole damn thing unwinds

She is beautiful, she is small
She don't wanna play basketball
There's no tellin' what she might do
Before her doin' days are through
But right now she can't even crawl

CHORUS:
Georgia Rae, OK, Georgia Rae
Georgia Rae, what'd I say Georgia Rae

Your mother and I we did this act
In some hotel 'bout nine moths back
Now, it's love that brings you here
A love that will not disappear
Georgia, honey, you can count on that

REPEAT CHORUS

BRIDGE:
We were tired, should've been sleepin'
But, like a fire, somethin' came creepin', creepin', creepin'

Your brother and sister don't understand
How your tiny feet and your tiny hands
Could carry the weight of a thousand earths
Into our little universe
But, Georgia, we all think it's grand

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



You get up in the morning
You get on the bus
You don't think about nothing
You don't raise no fuss

You come home in the evening
Turn the TV on
You ain't going nowhere
You just ride along, ride along, ride along

You get the Sunday paper
On Saturday night
You read the travel section
Until you're all uptight

'Cause it's almost Monday
Jack you know that song
You ain't going nowhere
You just ride along, ride along, ride along

They talk about you in the press
They got you figured out I guess
Though you never heard of the guy they mention
Sometimes that girl she'll slip you a kiss
But she's just another somnambulist
And you're tired of sleepwalking
The cats out but he ain't talking

You're just another joker
With one chance in hell
Of ever pullin' that trigger
Of ever feelin' too well

Yeah but you just might do it
Just to prove them all wrong
'Cause you ain't going nowhere
You just ride along, ride along, ride along
You just ride along, ride along, ride along
Git along git along git along
You just ride along, ride along, ride along
You just ride along, ride along, ride along
You just...


. . .



When I was a boy,
I thought it just came to ya'
But I never could tell what's mine
So it didn't matter anyway

My only pride and joy
Was this racket down here
Bangin' on an old guitar
And singin' what I had to say

I always thought our house was haunted
But nobody said boo to me
I never did get what I wanted
Now I get what I need

CHORUS:
It's been a slow turnin'
From the inside out
A slow turnin'
But you come about

Slow learnin'
But you learn to sway
A slow turnin' baby
Not fade away

Now I'm in my car
I got the radio on
I'm yellin' at the kids in the back seat
'Cause they're bangin' like Charlie Watts

You think you've come so far
In this one horse town
Then she's laughin' that crazy laugh
'Cause you haven't left the parkin' lot

Time is short and here's the damn thing about it
You're gonna die, gonna die for sure
And you can learn to life with love or without it
But there ain't no cure

There's just a...

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



That girl you were seein' back in '72
Somethin' 'bout a hotel room and bath water in your shoes
Were you into your Catholic thing then or some other stew
Were you both holed up in that hotel room practicing voodoo

CHORUS:
It'll come to you
Don't look back, it'll come to you
In the middle of the night, with you covers pulled up tight
It'll come to you

And that business partner you took for every red cent
You can't even remember where all of that money went
Some on liquor and women, maybe a little rent
But as far as paying it back, Buddy, you ain't made a dent

REPEAT CHORUS

Yes they'll all be standin' 'round you in your sleep
Askin' for a promise you couldn't keep
'Cause back when you were hollow inside
You were tryin' to puff yourself up with your own foolish pride

Now you're happily married with a wife and kids of you're own
But sometimes in the closet at night you can hear them rattlin' bones
Takin' bets on your future and your current postal zone
It's a spooky equation, but check out yourself, Jack, you're the great
unknown

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



Well I'm out here on my own
Followin' a star
Asking on my knees, for some direction, please,
And, God, you know that's hard

Cause I'm such a stubborn man
Lord, I'm stubborn as a mule
Even though I struggle some, I believe a change will come
And I hear you love a fool
I see a road and a flash of lightning
Let me tell you it's frightening

CHORUS:
Is anybody there?
Oh, I need somebody tonight
To care
I'm feeling alone and it just don't seem right
Is anybody there?
Oh, I need somebody to be
To know that I'm good enough for love
To walk beside me

And as a woman in this world
Well you must have felt like this
That a man might come along
With another hard luck song
And betray you with a kiss

But would you reconsider me
Though I know I've caused you pain
I've taken vows with you
I believe them to be true
Now can we take a little rain?

We could hit that road in a flash of lightning
Maybe it won't be so frightening

REPEAT CHORUS TWICE

I'm gonna keep on walking, baby


. . .



I was gonna get up off that bar stool
Just as soon as I could figure it out
Why I was overlooked at the car pool
Stood up at the dance with no twist and shout

When you're burnin' with your last desire
And every memory haunts you
You write it down in alcohol fire
'Cause that's the only flame that wants you

CHORUS:
When you're paper thin
Yeah, read all about it
When you were out of luck, well, luck was doin' alright
Now you're paper thin
Yeah, they can see right through ya
You just cut you're little finger on the edge of the night

Now do I really have to be responsible
For what I did between those tavern walls
I was just mixing up some chemicals
You could've heard a pin drop, could have heard time crawl

And every once in a while
You could hear you're own heart pound
Maybe some paper doll with a pasted on smile
Would let you write her number down

REPEAT CHORUS


. . .



Down here the river meets the sea
And in the sticky heat I feel ya' open up to me
Love comes out of nowhere baby, like a hurricane
And it feels like rain

Underneath the stars lying next to you
Wondering who you are baby
How do you do?
When the clouds blow in across the moon
And the wind howls out your name
Feels like rain

We'll never make that bridge tonight
Across lake Ponchartrain
Feel like rain

Batten down the hatches
But keep your heart out on your sleeve
A little bit of stormy weather, that's no cause for us to leave
Just stay here baby, in my arms
Let it wash away the pain
Feels like rain


. . .


blog comments powered by Disqus



© 2011 Music World. All rights reserved.