Please Daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas I don't wanna see my Momma cry Please Daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas I don't want to see my Momma cry Just last year when I was only seven And now I'm almost eight, as you can see You came in at a quarter past eleven Fell down underneath the Christmas tree Say please Daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas I don't wanna see my Momma cry Please Daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas I don't wanna see my Momma cry Momma smiled, looked outside the window She told me, "Son, you better go upstairs" Then you laughed and hollered, "Merry Christmas!" I turn around and see my Momma's tears I said please Daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas I don't wanna see my Momma cry Please Daddy, don't get drunk this Christmas I don't wanna see my Momma cry Said I don't wanna see my Momma cry

I got the call, he said pick me up at 11 They're letting me go on Christmas Eve this year I'll be standing on the road, havin' me a smoke Bring more cigarettes and ice cold beer Well, I flew out down that road in my old truck Barely missed old Red when I peeled out I guess Santa heard my plea Cause daddy's been set free Hey, family is what Christmas is all about Guess daddy's on parole this Christmas I wander what his new tattoo will be We'll shoot pool in Maggie's bar He'll show me how to hotwire cars Hey daddy's on parole this Christmas I saw him standing just outside that prison With a duffelbag and wearin' his orange suit They retired his number now He wears it loud and proud He's inmate 1473152 Yeah, daddy's on parole this Christmas I wander what his new tattoo will be And we'll go steal some nice TV's Robbin' Automatic Teller Machines Hey daddy's on parole this Christmas Daddy's on parole this Christmas

Have you heard a serpent speak? Would you lift a veil to take a peek? Hold a mirror up to me Mirror back my unbelief Please don't ruin this for me I have everything I need Please don't ruin this for me I have everything I need, yeah Build an alter, stoke the flame Speak half truths that sound arcane All my dreams so deeply hidden Rise up to my throat unbidden All the comforts I forsake Like afterlives and divine fate Forge your own way merrily Fill the world with new meaning Please don't ruin this for me I have everything I need Please don't ruin this for me I have everything I need, yeah

I had an uncle named Matthew He was his father's only boy Born just south of Colby, Kansas He was his mother's pride and joy Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on Love was just the way to live and die Gold was just a windy Kansas wheatfield And blue's just a Kansas summer sky All the stories that he told me Back when I was just a lad All the memories that he gave me All the good times that he had Growin' up a Kansas farm boy Life was mostly havin' fun Ridin' on his daddy's shoulders Behind a view beneath the sun Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on Love was just the way to live and die Gold was just a windy Kansas wheatfield And blue's just a Kansas summer sky Well, I guess there were some hard times And I'm told some years were lean They had a storm in forty-seven A twister came and stripped them clean He lost the farm and lost his family He lost the wheat and lost his home But he found a family Bible Faith as solid as a stone Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on Love was just the way to live and die Gold was just a windy Kansas wheatfield And blue's just a Kansas summer sky So he came to live at our house And he came to work the land He came to ease my daddy's burden And he came to be my friend So I wrote this down for Matthew And it's for him the song is sung Ridin' on his daddy's shoulders Behind a mule beneath the sun Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on Love was just the way to live and die Gold was just a windy Kansas wheat field Blue's just a Kansas summer sky Yes, and joy was just the thing that he was raised on Love was just the way to live and die Gold was just a windy Kansas wheatfield Blue's just a Kansas summer sky

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks Dressed in holiday style In the air, there's a feeling of Christmas Children laughing, people passing Meeting smile after smile And on every street corner, you'll hear Silver bells, silver bells It's Christmastime in the city Ring-a-ling, hear them ring Soon it will be Christmas day Silver bells, silver bells It's Christmastime in the city Ring-a-ling, hear them ring Soon it will be Christmas day Soon it will be Christmas day

The wind is the whisper of our mother the earth The wind is the hand of our father the sky The wind watches over our struggles and pleasures The wind is the goddess who first learned to fly The wind is the bearer of bad and good tidings The weaper of darkness, the bringer of dawn The wind gives the rain, then builds us a rainbow The wind is the singer who sang the first song The wind is a twister of anger and warning The wind brings the fragrance of freshly mown hay The wind is a racer, a wild stallion running The sweet taste of love on a slow summer's day The wind knows the songs of the cities and canyons The thunder of mountains, the roar of the sea The wind is the taker and giver of mornings The wind is the symbol of all that is free So welcome the wind and the wisdom she offers Follow her summons when she calls again In your heart and your spirit let the breezes surround you Lift up your voice then and sing with the wind

Josie works the counter at the downtown five and dime Anything at all to help her pass the time Her mama keeps the baby and grandpa rambles on About the good times playing in his mind It's a hard life livin' when you're lonely It's a long night sleepin' alone It's a hard time waitin' for tomorrow It's a long, long way home Josie spends the evening with the people on the pages Of the paperback she picked up at the store Or sometimes it's the TV or she'll try to write a letter, whoa But they don't come too often anymore It's a hard life livin' when you're lonely It's a long night sleepin' alone It's a hard time waitin' for tomorrow It's a long, long way home I stare at the gray walls before me And I see her face in the stone I try to imagine our baby I wish they would let me go home I wish they would let me go home I wish they would let me go home It's a hard life livin' when you're lonely (I wish they would let me go home) It's a long night sleepin' alone (I wish they would let me go home) It's a hard time waitin' for tomorrow (I wish they would let me go home) It's a long, long way home (I wish they would let me go home) It's a long, long way home (I wish they would let me go home) Bring me and the other boys home (I wish they would let me go home) Bring me and the other boys home

This song was first released on the Farewell Andromeda Album. It is the only album it has been released on. On a snow covered night Up in Eastern Wyoming Another lazy day Lookin' for the sun In a draughty old cabin Outside a whiskey basin Another shining light And a good man on the run There's a lady back in Laramie And her reason no one else can see For him to spend The winter on his own Nothing much for him to do tomorrow Just a matter of survival Another friendly fight In a life chocked full of fun Yodalling It's a special kind of medicine And all that you can do is win Though it tastes so sweet You can refuse Put your heart on the table Fill your fountain with moonshine Another empty case of The Whiskey Basin Blues Yodalling Words and music by John Denver