Levon Helm Album

(Traditional)

False hearts have been my downfall, pretty women have been my craze
I know my false hearted lover she has sent me to my lonesome grave

Baggy clothes dropping off my body and the wolves howling around my door
May the man who stole my darling girl feel the bite of my forty-four

Corn whiskey has wrecked my body and false love is on my mind
I've searched this whole wide world over, pleasure on earth I cannot find

When my earthly stay is over you can sink my dead body in the sea
You can tell my false hearted lover that the waves will wash over me

False hearts have been my downfall, pretty women have been my craze
I know my false hearted lover, she has sent me to my lonesome grave

(Tracy Schwarz)

Oh the poor old dirt farmer,
He's lost lost all his corn
And now where's the money
To pay off his loan?

He lost all his corn
Cant pay off his loan
He lost all his corn.

Well the poor old dirt farmer,
He only grows stones.
He grows then on down
Till they big enough to roll.

He rolls them on down
To the tax man in town.
Ya, he rolls them on down

Now the poor old dirt farmer
He's left all alone.
His wife and his children
They've packed up and gone.

Packed up and gone
He's left all alone
They've packed up and gone

Well the poor old dirt farmer
How bad he must feel.
He fell off his tractor
Up under the wheel.

And now his head
Is shaped like a tread
But he aint quite dead.

Well the poor old dirt farmer
He cant grow no corn.
He cant grow no corn
Cause he aint got a loan.

He aint got no loan
Cant grow no corn
He aint got no loan

(Steve Earle)

I was born on this mountain a long long time ago
Before they knocked down the timber and stripped mined all the coal
When you rose up in the morning before it was light
To go down in that dark hole and come back up at night
I was born on this mountain, this mountain's my home
She holds me and she keeps me from a worry and a woe
Well they took everything she gave, she gave it now she's gone
But I'll die on this mountain, this mountain's my home

I was young on this mountain but now I am old
And I knew every holler, every cool swimmin' hole
Til a one night I lay down and I woke up to find
That my childhood was over I went back down in the mine

There's a hole in this mountain it's dark and it's deep
And God only knows all the secrets that it keeps
There's a chill in the air only miners can feel
There're ghosts in the tunnels that the company sealed

(Traditional)

Little birds are singing all around me, on every bush and vine,
My pleasures would be doubled if I could call you mine.

As I've sat here the whole night through till now it's a breakin' day,
I'm awaitin' for an answer, kind lady what do you say?

If I could tell to you my mind, I would choose a single life,
For I would never thought that it suited for me to be your wife.

So he wrote to her an answer and he sent it by full speed,
"You know I once did love you dearly, I once loved you indeed.

"But since that time my mind has changed, I loved another way,
I love a pretty fair damsel more suitable for me"

And it had not been, but a very short time 'til this maiden's mind did change,
She wrote him a letter, "Kind sir I am ashamed,

"If ever I have slighted you, or ever done you wrong,
I am so far away from you that I can't hear you moan"

Little birds are singing all around me, on every bush and vine,
My pleasures would be doubled if i could call you mine;
My pleasures would be doubled if i could call you mine

(Traditional)

The hours sad I left a maid
A lingering farewell taking
Whose sighs and tears my steps delayed
I thought her heart was breaking
In hurried words her name I blest
I breathed the vows that bind me
And to my heart in anguish pressed
The girl I left behind me

Then to the east we bore away
To win a name in story
And there where dawns the sun of day
There dawned our sun of glory
The place in my sight
When in the host assigned me
I shared the glory of that fight
Sweet girl I left behind me

Though many a name our banner bore
Of former deeds of daring
But they were of the day of yore
In which we had no sharing
But now our laurels freshly won
With the old one shall entwine me
Singing worthy of our size each son
Sweet girl I left behind me

The hope of final victory
Within my bosom burning
Is mingling with sweet thoughts of thee
And of my fond returning
But should I n'eer return again
Still with thy love i'll bind me
Dishonors breath shall never stain
The name I leave behind me

(Byron Isaacs)

Every man will see the day
That his hopes are dashed away
No word can bring him peace
No man can set him free

Some will ramble far from home
Work their fingers to the bone
Some will numb their hearts with wine
To distract their troubled minds

Take me down to Calvary
Take me down, down, down, right on down

There's no running from your troubles
Or you're sure to make them double
You will meet your destiny
Every man is Calvary

Take me down to Calvary
Take me down, down, down, right on down
Take me down, take me down
Take me down, down, right on down

I will lay my hammer down
Set my knees upon the ground
I will not leave from this place
Until I see a face-to-face

Take me down to Calvary
Take me down, down, down, right on down
Take me down, take me down
Take me down, down, right on down
Take me down, take me down
Take me down, down, down, down, right on down

(Laurelyn Dossett)

Listen now children a story I'll tell
Of a woman they called Anna Lee
She had a fine son and she raised him up well
And a daughter as lovely as she

I'll return to you, dear, in the dimming of day
As the sparrow returns to her nest
I'll return to you dreaming with each lullaby
Hold your sweet weary head to my breast

She sang to her darlings a sweet lullaby
As the cool evening shadows grow long
Angels and nightingales gather at night
Just to hear mother Anna Lee's song

I'll return to you, dear, in the dimming of day
As the sparrow returns to her nest
I'll return to you dreaming with each lullaby
Hold your sweet weary head to my breast

I heard it one morning she rode into town
To tend to her dear sister there
She kissed her two babies on check and on brow
And left them with nary a care

The wind it did rise and the rain it did fall
The river, a shadowy wave
Anna Lee never heard danger's dark call
And was swept to her watery grave

I'll return to you, dear, in the dimming of day
As the sparrow returns to her nest
I'll return to you dreaming with each lullaby
Hold your sweet weary head to my breast

(Paul Kennerley)

Oh, I got me a woman she's a pretty good woman at that
We live with a monkey and a Chinese acrobat
She calls me 'Tex', makes me wear a cowboy hat
But I don't care she's a pretty good woman at that

Nothing in the world make me treat that woman mean
She shaves my beard and she keeps my tractor clean
She burns my bread, makes me turn [Incomprehensible]
But I don't care she's a best little woman I've seen

Some folks they move out to California
And some folks they stay in Tennessee
And I don't care where I'm a headed
Just as long as that woman stand by me

Some folks they move out to California
And some folks they stay in Tennessee
Yeah, I don't care where I'm a headed
Just as long as that woman stand by me

Lookin' at the weather do they spend my nights at home
Talking with my baby and blowing on the [Incomprehensible]
She talks in turn oh, she really turns me on
With a woman like that a man never wants to roam

Some folks they move out to California
Some folks they stay in Tennessee
Yeah, I don't care where I'm a headed
Just as long as that woman stand by me
Just as long as that woman stand by me
Just as long as that woman stand by me

(Paul Kennerley)

The foreman touched the cold steel lines
The rail bed was frozen with ice
In the distance an engine was keeping good time
The steam whistle moaned just twice

Down in the cut past the old Tressel bridge
Twelve fine horses stood
Masked men shivered in the cold on the ridge
Not far from the Glendale woods

The brass lamp shone from the swaying train
When the driver saw the red light
Her iron brakes sparked like silver rain
And the metals screamed through the night

The baggage man peered out to look for the fault
When fear froze up his heart
He was staring down the barrel of an army colt
That threatened to tear him apart

We will burn your train to cinders
So throw the money on down
Open up your damned express car
And jump down to the ground

But we won't touch that old pullman
She's southern and they claim
They ain't offer no reward
For Frank and Jesse James
Frank and Jesse James

In long soldier's coats frayed with the years
Quickly they scrambled aboard
Men were a sweatin' and the women shed tears
And a preacher prayed to the Lord

When they opened the safe there was nothing for them
So they strode down through the train
What a miserable sight these desperate men
Robbin' old folks for their gold watch chains

We will burn your train to cinders
So throw the money on down
Open up your damned express car
And jump down to the ground

But we won't touch that old pullman
She's southern and they claim
They ain't offer no reward
For Frank and Jesse James
Frank and Jesse James

Now some say the devil had taken his soul
Some say his spirit survived
But we all know he was nothin' but a Missouri farm boy
Just fighting to stay alive

High above that railroad bed
On a ridge where the pines grow tall
If you listen to the wind, there's a ghost of a chance
You can still hear ol' Jesse call

We will burn your train to cinders
So throw the money on down
Open up your damned express car
And jump down to the ground

But we won't touch that old pullman
She's southern and they claimed
They ain't offer no reward
For Frank and Jesse James
For Frank and Jesse James

(A. P. Carter)

Well, the single girl, yeah, the single girl
The single girl, she always dresses so fine
She dresses so fine
She always dresses so fine

But the married girl, oh, the married girl
The married girl, she wears just any old kind
Just any old kind
Oh, she wears just any old kind

Well, the single girl, yeah, the single girl
The single girl, she goes anywhere she please
Goes where she please
Oh, she goes anywhere she please

But the married girl, yeah, the married girl
She got a baby on her knees, baby on her knees
Oh, she got a baby on her knees
Baby on her knees

(Traditional)

Oh father tonight they say you are,
To wed another bride,
That you will hold her in your arms,
Where my dear mother died.

They say her name is Mary too,
The name my mother bore,
But Father is she kind and true,
Like the one we loved before.

And is her footstep soft and light,
Her voice so meek and mild,
And father do you think she'll love,
Your blind and helpless child.

Oh father do not bid me come,
To welcome your newmade bride,
I could not greet her in the room,
Where my dear mother died.

But when I've cried myself to sleep,
As I so often do,
Into my chamber you may creep,
My new made mama and you.

He turned away to leave the room,
A joyful cry was given,
He turned about and he knew at last,
His blind child had gone to Heaven.

They buried her by her mother's side,
And erected a marble square,
And there on the tomb these words do read,
She'll not be blind up there

(J. B. Lenoir)

Feelin' good, feelin' good
All the money in the world spent on feelin' good

A wino met me in the street
He said, â??Help me find some Sneakin' Pete
Help me brother, I wish you would
I feel so bad and I wanna feel goodâ??

Feelin' good, feelin' good
All the money in the world spent on feelin' good

Riding around with friends
Cadillac and everything
All the fine dreams
Lemonade and everything

Feelin' good, feelin' good
All the money in the world spent on feelin' good

Feelin' good, feelin' good
All the money in the world spent on feelin' good

You know all your fine things
A big Cadillac and everything
They're making diamond rings
The expenses are all a dream

Feelin' good, feelin' good
All the money in the world spent on feelin' good

Feelin' good, feelin' good
All the money in the world spent on feelin' good

(Buddy & Julie Miller)

There's a sorrow in the wind
Blowing down the road I've been
I can hear it cry while shadows steal the sun

But I cannot look back now
I've come too far to turn around
And there's still a race ahead that I must run

I'm only halfway home, I've gotta journey on
To where I'll find, find the things I have lost
I've come a long long road but still I've got some miles to go
I've got a wide, a wide river to cross

I have stumbled, I have strayed
You can trace the tracks I made
All across the memories my heart recalls
But I'm still a refugee, won't you say a prayer for me?
'Cause sometimes even the strongest soldier falls

I'm only halfway home, I've gotta journey on
To where I'll find, I'll find the things I have lost
I've come a long long road but still I've got some miles to go
I've got a wide, a wide river to cross

I'm only halfway home, I've gotta journey on
To where I'll find, I'll find the things that I have lost
I've come a long long road but still I've got some miles to go
I've got a wide, a wide river to cross
I've got a wide, a wide river to cross