Cowboys ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold
They'd rather give you a song than diamonds or gold
Lonestar belt buckles and old faded Levis
And each night begins a new day
If you don't understand him, an' he don't die young
He'll prob'ly just ride away
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys
Don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks
Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys
'Cos they'll never stay home and they're always alone
Even with someone they love
Cowboys like smokey old pool rooms and clear mountain mornings
Little warm puppies and children and girls of the night
Them that don't know him won't like him and them that do
Sometimes won't know how to take him
He ain't wrong, he's just different but his pride won't let him
Do things to make you think he's right
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys
Don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks
Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such
Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys
'Cos they'll never stay home and they're always alone
Even with someone they love
Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
And I's feeling nearly as faded as my jeans.
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained,
It rode us all the way to New Orleans.
I pulled my harp from and my dirty red bandanna,
I was playing soft while Bobby sang the blues.
Windshield wipers slapping time, I was holding Bobby's hand in mine,
We sang every song that driver knew.
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don't mean nothing honey if it ain't free, now now.
And feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues,
You know feeling good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun,
Hey, Bobby shared the secrets of my soul.
Through all kinds of weather, through everything that we done,
Hey Bobby baby kept me from the cold.
One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away,
He's looking for that home and I hope he finds it,
But I'd trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding Bobby's body next to mine.
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing, that's all that Bobby left me, yeah,
But feeling good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues,
Hey, feeling good was good enough for me, hmm hmm,
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee.
La la la . . . . Na na na . . . Lordy Lordy . . . Hey, Hey, Hey Bobby McGee
Verse: G, D, G, C, G, D (key change) A, E, A, D, A, E
Chorus: C, G, D, G, C, G, D, G (key change) D, A, E, A, D, A, E, A
Memories and drinks don't mix too well
Jukebox records don't play those wedding bells.
Looking at the world through the bottom of a glass
All I see is a man who's fading fast.
Tonight I need that woman again
What I'd give for my baby to just walk in.
Sit down beside me and say its alright
Take me home and make sweet love to me tonight.
But here I am again mixing misery and gin
Sitting with all my friends and talking to myself.
I look like I'm having a good time but any fool can tell
That this honky tonk heaven really makes you feel, like hell.
I light a lonely woman's cigarette
We start talking about what we wanna forget.
Her life story and mine are the same
We both lost someone and only have ourselves to blame.
But here I am again mixing misery and gin
Sitting with all my friends and talking to myself.
I look like I'm having a good time but any fool can tell
That this honky tonk heaven really makes you feel, like hell.
When the sun goes down on my side of town
That lonesome feeling comes to my door
And the whole world turns blue
There's a rundown bar 'cross the railroad tracks
I got a table for two way in the back
Where I sit alone and think of losing you
I spend most every night
Beneath the light
Of a neon moon
Now if you lose your one and only
There's always room here for the lonely
To watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon
I think of two young lovers running wild and free
I close my eyes and sometimes see
You in the shadows of this smoke-filled room
No telling how many tears I've sat here and cried
Or how many lies that I've lied
Telling my poor heart she'll come back someday
Oh, but I'll be alright
As long as there's light
From a neon moon
Oh, if you lose your one and only
There's always room here for the lonely
To watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon
Jukebox plays on, drink by drink
And the words of every sad song seem to say what I think
And its hurt inside of me, ain't never gonna end
Oh, but I'll be alright
As long as there's light
From a neon moon
Oh, if you lose your one and only
There's always room here for the lonely
To watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon
Come watch your broken dreams
Dance in and out of the beams
Of a neon moon
I like the way your sparkling earrings lay,
Against your skin, it's so brown.
And I wanna sleep with you in the desert tonight
With a million stars all around.
'Cause I got a peaceful easy feeling,
And I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing on the ground.
And I found out a long time ago
What a woman can do to your soul.
Oh, but she can't take you anyway,
You don't already know how to go.
And I got a peaceful easy feeling,
And I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing on the ground.
I get this feeling I may know you as a lover and a friend.
But this voice keeps whispering in my other ear,
Tells me I may never see you again.
'cause I get a peaceful easy feeling
And I know you won't let me down
'cause I'm already standing... I'm already standing...
Yes, I'm already standing on the ground
Verse: D, G, D, G, D, G, A (x2)
Chorus: G, D, G, A, D, Em, G, A, D
He looked down into her brown eyes
and said, "Say a prayer for me"
She threw her arms around him
whispered, "God will keep us free"
They could hear the riders coming,
he said, "This is my last fight
If they take me back to Texas
they won't take me back alive"
There were seven Spanish angels at the alter of the sun
They were praying for the lovers in the valley of the guns
When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared
There was thunder from the throne
And seven Spanish angels took another angel home
She reached down and picked the gun up
that lay smokin' in his hand
She said, "Father please forgive me,
I can't make it without my man"
And she knew the gun was empty
and she knew she could not win
But her final prayer was answered
when the rifles fired again
There were seven Spanish angels at the alter of the sun
They were praying for the lovers in the valley of the guns
When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared
There was thunder from the throne
And seven Spanish angels took another angel home
Sonny lives on a farm, on a wide open space
you can take off your sneakers, and give up the race
you can lay down your head, by a sweet river bed
But Sonny always remembers, the words his mama said......
Sonny carries a load, He is barely a man
there aint all that to do, still he does what he can
and he watches the sea, from a room by the stairs
and the waves keep on rollin, they've done that for years.....
Chorus
Sonny don't go away, I am here all alone
and your Daddy's a sailor who never comes home
and the nights get so long, and the silence goes on
and I'm feeling so tired, I'm not all that strong.....
Well its a hundred miles to town, Sonny's never been there
and he goes to the highway and stands there and stares
and the mail comes at four, and the mailman is old
aww but, he still dreams his dreams, full of silver and gold....
Sonny's dreams can't be real, there just stories he's read
there just stars in his eyes, there just dreams in his head
and he's hungry inside, for the wide world outside
and I know i can't hold him, Oh I've tried and I tried and I tried
Chorus
Verse and Chorus (all the way through): G, C, G, D, C, G, D
Well I woke up Sunday morning,
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt.
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad,
So I had one more for dessert.
Then I fumbled through my closet for my clothes,
And found my cleanest dirty shirt.
An' I shaved my face and combed my hair,
An' stumbled down the stairs to meet the day.
I'd smoked my brain the night before,
On cigarettes and songs I'd been pickin'.
But I lit my first and watched a small kid,
Cussin' at a can that he was kicking.
Then I crossed the empty street,
'n caught the Sunday smell of someone fryin' chicken.
And it took me back to somethin',
That I'd lost somehow, somewhere along the way.
CHORUS:
On the Sunday morning sidewalk, Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cos there's something in a Sunday, Makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothin' short of dyin', Half as lonesome as the sound,
On the sleepin' city sidewalks, Sunday mornin' comin' down.
In the park I saw a daddy,
With a laughin' little girl who he was swingin'.
And I stopped beside a Sunday school,
And listened to the song they were singin'.
Then I headed back for home,
And somewhere far away a lonely bell was ringin'.
And it echoed through the canyons,
Like the disappearing dreams of yesterday.
Dusty old farmer out working your fields
Hanging down over your tractor wheels
The sun beatin' down turns the red pain to orange
And rusty old patches of steel
There's no farmer songs on that car radio
Just cowboys, truck drivers and pain
Well this is my way to say thanks for the meal
And I hope there's no shortage of rain
CHORUS:
Straw hats and old dirty hankies
Mopin' a face like a shoe
Thanks for the meal here's a song that is real
From a kid from the city to you
The combine’s gang up, take most of the bread
Things just ain't like they used to be
Though your kids are out after the American dream
And they're workin in big factories
Now If I come on by, when you're out in the sun
Can I wave at you just like a friend
These days when everyone's taking so much
There's somebody giving back in
CHORUS (x2)
Verse: G, D, D, G, G, C, C, G, Em, Am, D, G
Chorus: G, D, D, G
On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.
He said, "Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces,
and knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
And if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."
So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
CHORUS:
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
and the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."
And when he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.
Verse and Chorus: G, C, G, C, G, D (step up: A, D, A, D, A, E)
Today I started loving you again
I'm right back where I've really always been
I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend
And then today I started loving you again
What a fool I was to think I could get by
With only these few million tears I've cried
I should have known the worst was yet to come
And that crying time for me had just begun
Today I started loving you again
And I'm right back where I've really always been
I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend
And then today I started loving you again
Today I started loving you again
And I'm right back where I've really always been
I got over you just long enough to let my heartache mend
And then today I started loving you again
Baby, I know that we’ve got trouble in the fields
And the bankers swarm like locusts out there, turning away our yields
And the trains roll by our silo, silver in the rain
Leave our pockets full of nothing but these dreams of the golden grain
I can see the folks lined up downtown at the station
They're all buying their tickets out and they're talking a Great Depression
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields, in dust as deep as snow
CHORUS
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
And if we sell that new John Deere
We'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule, I'll be the plow Come harvest time, we'll work it out
There's still a lot of love here in these troubled fields
There's a book up on the shelf about the dust bowl days
There's a little bit of you and a little bit of me in the photos on every page
Our children live in the city and they rest upon our shoulders
They don't want the rain to fall or the weather to get colder
CHORUS
You'll be the mule, I'll be the plow Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lot of love here in these troubled fields
Verse: G, C, Bm, C, G, C, D, G (x4)
Chorus: C, D, G, C, D, G (C, G) C, D. G, C, G, Am7, Bm, C, Am7, D, G
Headed down south to the land of the pines
I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road I pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh I can see my baby tonight
Chorus
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Runnin' from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
My baby plays the guitar I pick a banjo now
Oh, the North country cold is a gettin' down
Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave
But I ain't a turnin' back To livin' that old life no more
Chorus
Walkin' due south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly Had a nice long toke
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on before the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh At least I will die free
Chorus
I rushed home from work like I always do
I spent my whole day just thinking of you
When I walked through the front door
my whole like was changed
Cause nobody answered
when I called your name
A note on the table that told me goodbye
It said you'd grown weary of living a lie
Your love has ended but mine still remains
But nobody answers when I call your name
Oh the lonely sound of my voice calling
Is driving me insane
And just like rain the tears keep falling
Nobody answers when I call your name
Oh the lonely sound of my voice calling
Is driving me insane
And just like rain the tears keep falling
Nobody answers when I call your name
Oh nobody answers when I call your name
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