Just the Other Side of Nowhere - John Prine

I come from just the other side of nowhere To this big time lonesome town They got a lot of ice and snow here Half as cold as all the people I've found Every way I try to go here seems to bring me down I've seen about enough to know where I belong I've got a mind to see the headlights shining On that old white line between my heart and home Sick of spendin' Sundays wishing they were Mondays Settin' in a park alone So give my best to anyone who's left who ever done me Any lovin' way but wrong Tell 'em that the pride of just the other side of nowhere's Goin' home Takin' nothin' back to show there For these dues I've paid But the soul I almost sold here And the body I've been givin' away Fadin' from the neon nighttime glow here Headin' for the light of day Just the other side of nowhere, goin' home I've got a mind to see the headlights shinin' On that old white line between my heart and home Sick of spendin' Sundays wishin' they were Mondays Settin' in a park alone So give my best to anyone who's left who ever done me Any lovin' way but wrong Tell them that the pride of just the other side of nowhere's Goin' home Just the other side on nowhere, goin' home Takin' nothin' back to show there For these dues I've paid But the soul I almost sold here And the body I've been givin' away Fadin' from the neon nighttime glow here Headin' for the light of day Just the other side of nowhere, goin' home Just the other side of nowhere, goin' home

The girl Alone in her head The tears After what he said The fear Alone in the dark The pain She carries in her heart When all you've ever wanted is the freedom that you lack If you find a way to get up Keep on running and don't look back The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love The boy So much to give The lies He's forced to live The son The father and his ghost The faith Hurts him the most When all you ever wanted it is the freedom that you lack If you find a way to get up Keep on running and don't look back The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love Somewhere Hiding in the shadows There's something Everybody knows When all you ever wanted it is the freedom that you lack If you find a way to get up Keep on running and don't look back The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love We are angels We are demons We are children all the same We are angels We are demons We are children all the same When all you ever wanted it is the freedom that you lack If you find a way to get up Keep on running and don't look back The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love The other side of love We are angels We are demons We are children all the same We are angels We are demons We are children all the same We are angels We are demons We are children all the same We are angels We are demons We are children all the same

There's blood on the floor And you're not even moving Don't really know if it's mine or yours But you ain't moving Eyes are wide as you grin at me You know there's a place where you'd rather be If you should die and I survive How could I go on knowing that I'm still alive Here breathing There's a beast that's living deep within me Forcing me to feed all my needs Yeah he's in me And he brought us here to end our fears To wave goodbye to all of the tears To start a new life on the other side of the river Well my world would be over Hold on, hold on, I won't be long Wait for me, man, I won't be long You were such in a rush to reach the other side Look at yourself with that look in your eye Smiling wide and pre-occupied with that river Well my world would be over

A penny has two faces When one of them you have to choose Between the two places One must win and one must lose You say you have a sense of freedom Whenever you're away from here Put your hand on your heart and tell me That you never shed a tear Ooh, what you doing babe On the other side of the world With all those fancy girls? Never believe their hearts are stolen They may warm your bed when you're alone But I can warm your heart instead On the other side of the world Life is only snakes and ladders Sometimes up and sometimes down It doesn't really matter, baby When you've got good love around Ooh, but you won't find that lovin' On the other side of the world With all those crazy girls Never believe their hearts are stolen They may warm your bed when you're alone But I can warm your heart instead On the other side of the world I'll be waitin' for you Never believe their hearts are stolen They may warm your bed when you're alone But I can warm your heart instead On the other side of the world On the other side of the world On the other side of the world On the other side of the world On the other side of the world On the other side of the world

Pretty paper Pretty ribbons of blue. (Spoken) man oh man, I just love christmas It's just so darn neat. I kinda wish every day was christmas, Except christmas eve and the fourth of july. We wouldn't want to miss out on the fireworks, would we? When I was a kid, we used to get the christmas catalog from montgomery wards in chicago. Sometimes we'd get it as early as late august. It was the big book of wishes, hopes and desires. My three brothers and I were allotted twenty-five bucks a piece, including tax. So I'd make up a different christmas list every night From the first of september 'til the twenty-forth of december. Matter of fact, let me present you with my christmas credentials. When I was three years old, at least that's what my mother told me, I ate an entire ornament. I ate a big red one, I thought it was an apple. They kinda freaked out and was gonna take me to the hospital But they couldn't stop me from laughing so they just left me alone. So I guess I still got that christmas in me all the time, you know? One year, I got a wooden roly-poly for christmas, You know the things you knock down and they bounce right back up. They made 'em out of wood back then, that's how old I am. Nowadays, they make 'em out of plastic. My mom says "they just don't make 'em like that anymore". and I says, "no ma they don't". Then there was the year I came home only eave from the army, From germany to marry my highschool sweetheart on the day after christmas. My little brother billy, who was twelve at the time, Had just gotten his first job so he was able to afford to buy some christmas presents For his brothers and his mom and dad out of his own pocket. Billy had a job selling subscriptions for the chicago tribune. He told me this guy named rocky would pick him up in a station wagon, Him and some other boys, and he'd take 'em out to some strange neighborhood And drop 'em off and he gave them this whole spiel to give their potential customers. Supposedly their little brother had won a free trip to our nation's capital washington, d.c., But he couldn't go on the trip if his older brother wouldn't accompany him So if you would please buy a subscription to the chicago tribune then my little brother will be happy. Wow, what a shyster! some people'll do anything to get to the whitehouse. Then there was the year that my mom and dad gave me my first guitar. Ah man it was gorgeous, I still got the thing. It was a like aqua blue. kinda dark aqua blue with a cream colored heart. was a silvertone from montgomery wards. the model was called kentucky blue and man when I saw that sitting under the tre Ust couldn't wait. First year so I didn't know how to play it, I'd just stand in from of the mirror with a string around my neck with that guitar and I'd try to look like elvis. Then my brother dave taught me a couple of chords, Now I'm here in your living room singing and talking to you. It's funny how things work out. So-a whyn't you go find a stranger and extend your hand to 'em. If you see somebody looks like they ain't doin' quite as well as you, slip 'em a buck, 'Specially if they don't ask for spare change. Go buy your honey a cuckoo clock or a musical snow shaking water ball, That when you wind it up it plays, "I want you, I need you, I love ya with all my heart." 'Cause after all, hell man, it's christmas. Away in a manger no crib for a bed. The little lord jesus lay down his sweet head. The stars in the sky look down where he lay. The little lord jesus asleep on the (1-2) hay. (Spoken) merry christmas everybody. (Words finally transcribed by fancy nancy)

All the snow has turned to water Christmas days have come and gone Broken toys and faded colours Are all that's left to linger on I hate graveyards and old pawn shops For they always bring me tears I can't forgive the way they robbed me Of my childhood souvenirs Memories, they can't be boughten They can't be won at carnivals for free Well it took me years to get those souvenirs And I don't know how they slipped away from me Broken hearts and dirty windows Make life difficult to see That's why last night and this morning Always look the same to me And I hate reading old love letters For they always bring me tears I can't forget the way they robbed me Of my sweetheart's souvenirs Memories they can't be boughten They can't be won at carnivals for free Well it took me years to get those souvenirs And I don't know how they slipped away from me

I'm goin' down to the Greyhound Station, gonna buy a ticket to ride Gonna find that lady with two or three kids and sit down by her side Ride 'til the sun comes up and down around me 'bout two or three times Smokin' cigarettes in the last seat Sing this song for the people I meet And get along with it all Go where the people say "y'all" Sing a song with a friend Change the shape that I'm in, And get back in the game, And start playin' again I'd like to stay but I might have to go to start over again I might go back down to Texas, Might go to somewhere that I've never been And get up in the mornin' and go out at night And I won't have to go home Get used to bein' alone Change the words to this song And start singin' again I'm tired of runnin' 'round lookin' for Answers to questions that I already know I could build me a castle with memories just to have somewhere to go Count the days and the nights that it Takes to get back in the saddle again Feed the pigeons some clay Turn the night into day And start talkin' again, when I know what to say I'm goin' down to the Greyhound Station, gonna buy a ticket to ride Gonna find that lady with two or three kids and sit down by her side Ride 'til the sun comes up and down around me 'bout two or three times Smokin' cigarettes in the last seat Sing my song for the people I meet And get along with it all Where the people say "y'all" Feed the pigeons some clay Turn the night into day Start talkin' again When I know what to say

Full blown silence in an empty room A former bride and a former groom A folding table and a folding chair A folded hand of poker there All new directions must go everywhere Big round people in a cool little square You can't cut it with a boat or a plane Man, it's gonna take a new train You'll be leaving on a new train Far away from this world of pain And when you look out your window, you'll see Your home, your baby, and your family No melted ice cubes in a paper cup Hell, you'll be happy, you'll be all shook up The friends that greet you will be simple and plain When you step down from that new train Collected volumes of history say Man makes mistakes most everyday The half a pound of chopped ground round Is still a burger when it goes downtown No faded photographs of yesterdays Are in the books that I read these days To fly away from that memory town You must keep both your feet on the ground 'Cause you'll be leaving on a new train Far away from this world of pain And when you look out your window you'll see Your home, your baby, and your family No melted ice cubes in a paper cup Hell, you'll be happy, you'll be all shook up The friends that greet you will be simple and plain When you step down from that new train I'll be leaving on a new train Far away from this world of pain The friends that greet me will be simple and plain When I step down from that new train New train, new train