Music

1

Renegade

Well, I went down to Nashville in 1973
And they won't nobody in Music City
Wanted anything to do with me

They said, ?Boy you sure dress funny
And you just don't fit our crowd
And your music's weird, your hair's too long
And you play that guitar way too loud?

I said, "Yeah, I know, I'm different
I know, I'm not the same
And you may drive a big Cadillac car
But I ain't gonna play your game?

And you can put me down in this guitar town
And I ain't gonna be afraid
'Cause I'm a proud walkin', slow talkin'
Hard headed, high steppin' genuine renegade

Well, I ain't afraid to tell you what's on my mind
I just ain't the bashful type
I go all the way for the U.S.A.
'Cause I love them stars and stripes

I ain't never been scared of nothin'
And I'm a renegade to the bone
So if you're looking for trouble better bring you some help
I'm a little bit more than you can handle alone

I'm mighty proud of Dixie
I'm just full of Southern pride
I'm a catfish connoisseur
And I know, I'm countryfied

I get an ornery streak sometimes when I speak
But I guess, it's just the price I paid
'Cause I'm a hard drivin' survivin'
Four wheelin', straight dealin' genuine renegade

And you can put me down in this guitar town
I ain't gonna be afraid
'Cause I'm a proud walkin', slow talkin'
Hard headed, high steppin' genuine renegade

2

Talk to Me Fiddle

Well if this old fiddle could talk
If this old fiddle could sing
Man if this old fiddle could only talk
It could tell you some wondrous things
Talk to me fiddle

Tell me about when you came across the sea
In the hands of a Jewish immigrant who was longing to be free
And you were part of his life for forty years
Through times both lean and fat
As he raised his family and lived out his days
In a New York tenement flat
Talk to me fiddle

Tell me about how that Cajun fiddlin' man
Found you in a pawn shop and took you back down
To the Louisiana bayou land
You knew his wife and you knew his kids
And you watched his family grow
And you played your heart out Cajun style
At the Louisiana Fais Do Do
Well talk to me fiddle

Then a big shot Yankee gambler found you down in New Orleans
And took you up the river on the Mississippi Queen
Then there came the day that you were all
That he had left to lose
And a black man won you in a poker game
And taught you how to play the blues
Cry for me fiddle

The a young man from the mountains of Kentucky came along
And he bought you for a dollar
And took you all the way back home
He gave you to his grandpa on his golden wedding day
And the people would come from miles around just to hear the old man play
Dance for me fiddle

Then a hobo from Biloxi found you living in the rain
And he got himself a free ride on a west-bound cattle train
And you got off in Texas
Where they play that western swing
Where the people do the two-step
And old Bob Wills was the king
Swing for me fiddle

If this old fiddle could talk
If this old fiddle could sing
Man if this old fiddle could only talk
It could tell you some wondrous things
You've been bouncing around America from sea to shining sea
Now your traveling days are over fiddle 'cause you belong to me

3

Little Folks

Little folks are people too
Very much like me and you
The little things they say and do
They kinda make your day
Foolishness and common sense
Through the eyes of innocence
Skip a rope or jump a fence
Gettin' in the way

Daddy, why are you so tall?
Daddy, why am I so small?
Daddy, who makes snowflakes fall?
Could it be the Lord?
Chasing puppies, climbin' trees
Bumping heads and skinnin' knees
It's not very hard to see
That kids are God's reward

Little folks get down and out
The girls will cry and boys will pout
Before you know what it's about
They're smiling once again
Colored kites on summer breeze
Jingle Bells and Christmas trees
Too soon they're only memories
Do you remember when?

Daddy, what makes eagles fly?
What makes clouds float in the sky?
And Daddy, if I really try
Will I grow up someday?

But little folks slip through our hands
Like so many grains of sand
You'd best enjoy them while you can
So soon they fly away...

4

Honky Tonk Life

Well now Bubba and the boys at the uptown bar
They got a little too drunk went a little too far
They were out four wheeling round town till the crack of dawn
And then the sheriff came and threw them in the calaboose
And he said he wasn't gonna turn them loose
Just somebody paid for the damage to the courthouse lawn

Well he got paid Friday and it ain't no joke
He woke up this morning hungover and broke
He's been out all night and he's afraid to face his wife
His clothes are dirty and his eyes are red
He's got a great big knot on the side of his head
Oh the joys of living the honky tonk life

Well you honky tonk women and you honky tonk men
Honky tonk life's gonna do you in
Ain't nothin' cool about sittin' on a bar stool higher than a Chinese kite
You're just a pop top poppa with a one track mind
You're gonna pass out before it's closin' time
Just another darn fool drowning in the neon lights every night
I said oh the joys of living the honky tonk life

Ole Johnny was a happily married man
Till he started hanging out at the Dew Drop Inn
Met a peroxide floozie by the name of Sally Ann
Then almost every morning he was late for work
Then his wife found some lipstick stain on his shirt
And that's about the time that the stuff started hittin' the fan

And then the next thing he knew he was asittin' in court
About some alimony and some child support
And he lost his driver's license for a DWI
And now his clothes are ragged and he don't look well
He's living downtown in a cheap hotel
On the joys of living the honky tonk life

Well you honky tonk women and you honky tonk men...

5

Layla

What will you do when you get lonely
With nobody waitin by your side?
You've been running and hiding much to long
You know it's just your foolish pride

Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind
Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please

Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind
Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please

Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind
Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please

Let's make the best of the situation
Before I finally go insane.
Please don't say we'll never find a way
And tell me all --- my love's in vain

Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind
Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please

Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please
Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind
Layla, you got me on my knees
Layla, I'm begging darling please

6

The Twang Factor

Well us people in the country like tractors
We wear John Deere hats it's the twang factor
We like the VFW on a Friday night
We play bingo it's the twang factor

Picking in Memphis picking in Shoals
Picking in Nashville everywhere you go it's the twang factor
The twang factor is just the state of mind I'm in the twang factor

I like fried corn and pinto beansn I like a long stretch of highway yeah
I like a riverbank to watch the sunrise I believe you gotta be baptized
I like catfish crappie and bluegill too I like catchin' me a big old carp
I like Nascar and ice tea in a jar I like cookin' on an open fire
The twang factor

Now gimme guitar music and barbeque and football on Sunday afternoon
It's the twang factor
I like buck knives and red beans and rice and a pretty little thing to love me
It's the twang factor

Well we picking in Austin pickin' in Mobile
Picking in the swamps pickin' on the hill the twang factor
The twang factor is just the state of mind I'm in the twang factor

7

Fathers and Sons

My daddy had so much to tell me things he said I had to know
Don't make my mistakes there are rules you can't break
But I had to find out on my own
Now when I look at my own son I do what my father went through
There's only so much you can do
You're proud when they walk but you're scared when they run
That's how it always has been between fathers and sons

It's a bridge you can't cross it's a cross you can't bear
It's the words you can't say the things you can't change
No matter how much you care
So you do all you can and then you gotta let go
You're just part of the flow of the river that runs between fathers and sons

Now your mother she'll try to protect you
She'll hold you as long as she can
But the higher you climb the more you can see
And too soon you think you're a man
One someday you'll look at your own son
There'll be so much that you want to say
But he'll have to find his own way
Down the road he must take the course he must run
That's how it always will be between fathers and sons

It's a bridge you can't cross...
You're just part of the flow of the river that runs between fathers and sons

8

What My Baby Sees in Me

She tries to find a little bit of good in everything that comes her way
She says even a broken clock is right two times a day
And her daddy warned her not to the day she took my name
Said he's a rough and rowdy boy you know he'll never change
Nobody else can see what my baby sees in me

Well I pump the gas and change the tires at the station all day long
She treats me like a millionaire every night when I get home
She calls me her Romeo even though I'm kinda plain
She says she learned a long time ago it ain't the whistle that pulls the train
Nobody else can see what my baby sees in me

Nobody else can see but that don't matter much to me
Cause she's the only one I really want to please

Well I don't care much for politics and I probably never will
Cause I'm the kind of man that says exactly what I feel
And I don't have all the answers and I'm not always right
But I know I'm never in the dark when she turns out the light
Nobody else can see what my baby sees in me

My baby calls my old pickup truck her cowboy Cadillac
If it holds up we're driving out to Hollywood and back
We're gonna cruise down Sunset Boulevard she's always wanted to go
Even though she says out of all the stars I'm the one that steals the show
Nobody else can see what my baby sees in me
Nobody else can see what my baby sees in me
Nobody else can see what my baby sees in me

9

Willie Jones

Willie Jones was a man I met when I lived in Baltimore
I was a guard and he was doing time
In the three long years he stayed there I got to know him well
Willie Jones he was a friend of mine

He used to say buddy you know where I'm going when they let me out of here
Alabama could be heaven if the Lord was there
And he talked about the southland though he'd drifted from its shores
I never seen a man who loved it more

He talked about the whippoorwills in the Alabama night
Honeysuckle vine and sugar cane
Swimming holes and fishing poles and early morning frost
And sleeping under a tin roof when it rained

He talked about a country road and a cabin in the pines
And a girl with wavy long chestnut brown hair
He talked about the beauty of his Blue Ridge Mountain home
And darn near made me think that I was there

He used to say buddy you know where I'm going when they let me out of here
Alabama could be heaven if the Lord was there
When a man ain't got no freedom the time sure passes slow
Willie Jones had ten long years to go

It's been almost a years now since that hot night in July
Willie hit the guard and jumped the fence
I had my rifle ready but I couldn't let it fly
I shot over his head and we ain't seen him since

Then last week the postman brought a letter to my door
Marked No Return Address and No Reply
It just said nobody north of Birmingham is gonna see this boy again
But if you're ever down our way won't you please drop by

He used to say buddy you know where I'm going when they let me out of here
Alabama could be heaven if the Lord was there
And he talked about the southland though he'd drifted from its shores
I never seen a man who loved it more

10

Let Freedom Ring

In the heat of the battle
To the head army there stepped a man
He said, 'I've been to the top of the liberty
And I've looked over the promised land'

He had no fear of death or evil
His skin was black and his name was King
He said I may not get there with you
But put your faith in God and let freedom ring

There was a tyrant strong and mighty
And he built his self a wall
He said, 'This wall's gonna stand forever
No power on Earth is gonna make it fall'

But then the winds of change they started blowing
Like a free bird on the wing
And then the wall fell down with a sound like thunder
Let the free bird fly and let freedom ring

(Let freedom ring)
Throughout the northland out across the frozen Tundra
To the land of the midnight sun and the Eskimo

(Let freedom ring)
From Albuquerque across the sea to Greece and Turkey
And from Halifax down south to Mexico

(Let freedom ring)
From Carolina round the world to Indochina
From Seattle to Mobile and Abilene

(Let freedom ring)
Let freedom ring
(Let freedom ring)
Let freedom ring
Let it ring, let it ring, let it ring

Innocent blood was shed for freedom
In a faraway place called Tiennemen Square
'Cause the heavy hand of cruel oppression
Is so much more than a man can bear

But you can't chain a man forever
And your guns they don't mean a thing
'Cause they'll rise again in the cause of justice
Give the power to the people and let freedom ring

(Let freedom ring)
From Minnesota across the plains to North Dakota
And from Kennebunkport out to Kalamazoo

(Let freedom ring)
From Rome to Reno and from Tokyo to Moscow
And from Barcelona, Spain to Kathmandu

(Let freedom ring)
From Madagascar and from Berlin to Alaska
And from Liverpool to Perth to Aberdeen

(Let freedom ring)
Let freedom ring
(Let freedom ring)
Let freedom ring
Let it ring, let it ring, let it ring

Let's give thanks to God our Father
The author of our liberty
Gave us this land to protect and cherish
It's the home of the brave and it's the land of the free

Oh America, we love you
Sweet land of hope of thee we sing
And with our life's blood we will protect you
Let the eagle fly and let freedom ring

Let freedom ring
Let freedom ring
Let freedom ring
Let it ring, let it ring
Let it ring, let it ring
Let freedom ring

Renegade (1991)