Lord God almighty, let me tell the news My head got wet in midnight dew Great God, I been down on my bended knees Talking to a man from Galilee Michael spoke and he sound so sweet I thought I heard the shuffle of angels' feet He put one hand upon my head Great God almighty, let me tell you what he said "Go tell that lonesome liar Go tell that midnight rider Tell the gambling, rambling backslider Tell them God almighty gonna cut 'em down" You might run on for a long time Run on, ducking and dodging Run on, children, for a long time Let me tell you, God almighty gonna cut you down You might throw your rock, hide your head Work in the dark with your fellow men Sure as God made you rich and poor You're gonna reap just what you sow You might run on for a long time Run on, ducking and dodging Run on, children, for a long time Let me tell you, God almighty gonna cut you down You might run on for a long time Run on, ducking and dodging Run on, children, for a long time Let me tell, you God almighty gonna cut you down Some people go to church just to signify Trying to make a date with the neighbor's wife Brother let me tell you just as sure as you're born You better leave that woman alone Go tell that lonesome liar Go tell that midnight rider Tell the gambling, rambling backslider Tell them God almighty gonna cut 'em down You might run on for a long time Run on, ducking and dodging Run on, children, for a long time Let me tell you, God almighty gonna cut you down

Lately, the silence Tender and smiling Echoes divining On and on A pattern emerges Spinning in circles Further and further On and on I've carried a lifetime This far and then some And I bet you I sleep through My final dawn The sight of the prophet Was perfect but crowded And after an hour it Dragged on I listen to growin' Ebbin' and flowin' Nothin' like knowin' The sun has shone It's a close little whisper A kiss from a distance Bliss in an instant Has come and gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone It's one, it's gone (well that was great)

He was not my father's brother but he wished that he could be Told us kids to call him Uncle and we would be his family He had a wife and kids in Fresno, the youngest one was twenty-four Daddy brought him into our house, they didn't want him anymore He helped us work the family business building fences in the sun He worked just like a man of twenty until the working day was done He and Dad would spend their Evenings sittin' in lawn chairs in the yard Where they'd drink and toast to Seagram's, Seagram's never went down hard Won't you wake up, Uncle Lloyd We've got a lot of work today We'll get Don to make the coffee Load that truck and be on our way Friday night you can drive to Vegas Maybe this time you will win Buy a trailer by the river And you won't have to work again He was sleeping in the workroom on a mattress on the floor When one night I heard him crying as I passed outside his door He cried, "Rita, girl, I love you! Rita, darling, please don't go "I've tried hard to make you happy; I've done everything I know" Then I heard the bottle open, the tipping up and putting down And the rustling of the covers, then he did not make a sound I thought of thirty years of Rita standing sternly by his side All the years of hanging in there and all the emptiness inside Then I thought of how their children have children of their own And how a man at fifty-seven winds up living so alone Won't you wake up, Uncle Lloyd We've got a lot of work today We'll get Don to make the coffee Load that truck and be on our way Friday night you can drive to Vegas Maybe this time you will win Buy a trailer by the river And you won't have to work again (Oh, you'll never work again)

There's a southern accent Where I come from The young'uns call it country And the yankees call it dumb I got my own way of talking But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from Now that drunk tank in Atlanta Was just a motel room to me I think I might go work Orlando If the orange groves don't freeze I got my own way of working But everything is run With a southern accent Where I come from For just a minute there, I was dreaming For just a minute it was all so real For just a minute she was standing there with me There's a dream that I keep having Where my mama comes to me And kneels down by the window And says a prayer for me I got my own way of praying But every prayer's begun With a southern accent Where I come from I got my own way of talking But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from

Ole buddy, ole pal I need to talk to you right now You're the only one who just might understand Ole buddy right now it seems the ground's too hard to plough And this ole mule I got is cussin' me again Ole buddy, ole pal, I been on this road a while And I can't see for me what's in it in the end Well I won't tell you no lies and you see tears are in my eyes It's 'cause I'm running with my face against the wind When it rains it pours like it never has before When the sun shines it burns me through my shirt The wind cuts like razors when I open up the door I got a brokеn heart, but I can't feel it hurt Ole buddy, ole pal, nothin's changеd in this old town The welcome sign still looks like it's about to fall I been helping out your Mom and I took Becky to the prom But don't you worry man, it ain't like that at all Coach Davidson got fired but if you ask him he retired And he wasn't takin' all those pills they had him on Wish I could tell you face-to-face They hired your dad to take his place And he's been runnin' us like dogs since you been gone And when it rains it pours like it never has before When the sun shines it burns me through my shirt The wind cuts like razors when I open up the door I got a broken heart but I can't feel it hurt Ole buddy, ole pal, we can't forget about you now They put your picture up down at the city hall Next to a flag and a plaque that said you never made it back And in a few words you're a hero to us all When it rains it pours like it never has before When the sun shines it burns me through my shirt The wind cuts like razors when I open up the door I got a broken heart but I can't feel it hurt Ole buddy, ole pal, I need to talk to you right now But I'll just drive by your old place again Ole buddy, ole pal, if I could call you up somehow I'd lie and tell you that I'm gettin' by Without my best friend

You got a lot on your plate and it's too much to handle One thing or another both ends of the candle With a wife and three kids and one on the way Lately it seems there's just ain't enough time in the day It'll drive you insane if your cup ain't half full You can't complain and you can't grab the horns by the bull Life moves too fast to beg, steal or borrow But if you cut the grass, it'll be short tomorrow It's the last thing on your mind but it's the first thing I see Every time I drive by I wonder just how long it'll be I know you ain't got time to be working for nothing And you got mouths to feed But when you walk out in the morning Just look and you'll see what I mean It'll drive you insane if your cup ain't half full You can't complain and you can't grab the horns by the bull Life moves too fast to beg steal or borrow But if you cut the grass, it'll be short tomorrow I believe what you sow in the spring you will reap in the fall Bad luck on a string don't mean nothing at all What goes up don't always come right back down Sometimes people leave and never come back around One thing I know is hard work always shows And the one way to get there is to always be going If you ain't got friends you don't get Christmas cards And a good place to start's your front yard It'll drive you insane if your cup ain't half full You can't complain and you can't grab the horns by the bull Man, life moves too fast to beg steal or borrow But if you cut the grass, it'll be short tomorrow Yeah, whatever you do today is gonna be done tomorrow

I'm lookin' through a hole in the sky I'm seein' nowhere through the eyes of a lie I'm gettin' closer to the end of the line I'm livin' easy where the sun doesn't shine I'm livin' in a room without any view I'm livin' free 'cause the rent's never due The synonyms of all the things that I've said Are just the riddles that are built in my head Hole in the sky Take me to heaven Window in time Through it I fly I've seen the stars disappear in the sun The shooting's easy if you've got the right gun And even though I'm sittin' waitin' on Mars I don't believe there's any future in cause Hole in the sky Take me to heaven Window in time Through it I fly I've watched the dogs of war enjoyin' their feast I've seen the western world go down in the east The food of love became the greed of our time But now I'm livin' on the profits of pride Hole in the sky Take me to heaven Window in time Through it I fly I'm lookin' through a hole in the sky I'm seein' nowhere through the eyes of a lie I'm gettin' closer to the end of the line I'm livin' easy where the sun doesn't shine

He rode in from the west with an eye for a dollar to make He pitched us a sell about healing and oil from a snake The barkeep he warned him but the man did not comprehend How strangers round here disappear like straw in the wind Too young but in love when she met him in some northern town He treated her good until the sun and the whiskey went down Did the bruise on her face test the patience of all of her kin Or do strangers round here disappear like straw in the wind Oh Tim runs his mouth when he drinks since his wife passed away But he's good to the kids and the crops that he sells are fair trade But a travelin' man had enough and took a pipe to his chin That travelin' man disappeared like straw in the wind Oh if the mouth of this river could talk here's what it would say If you come here with good in your heart you'll be on your way Oh but I'm not the one here who judged another man's sin Or made strangers round here disappear like straws in the wind Oh strangers round here disappear like straw in the wind