Storms Never Last (feat. Lee Ann Womack) - John Prine

Chances are I took the wrong turn Every time I had a turn to take And I guess I broke my own heart Every chance I had a heart to break And it seems I spent my whole life Wishin' on the same unlucky star And as I watched you 'cross the bar room I wonder what my chances are Well, I know you've been around And you've seen what you needed to see And at night when you're dreamin' You're probably not dreamin' 'bout me Oh, it's safe to say I've stumbled But I've managed to make it through this fall As I take one step and then another I wonder what my chances are I have watched the world go by, hand in hand And wondered why I'm still so alone Could I lay down my foolish pride And maybe finally find my heart a home The band has started playing A simple songs I used to know And I take your hand and walk you out Danced through the rhythm way down low Every heart has got a story Mine just has few more scars But they could heal if you will hold me And tell me what my chances are Well, it could heal if you will hold me And tell me what my chances are

I ain't a-lookin' for a smart guy school guy Some proud in-crowd decked-out necktie I need a man who can tame a wild mustang Knows the difference 'tween love and a lust thang Somebody who looks a whole lot like you Buckaroo Ain't interested in a yes 'mam yes man I'll pass on the politically correct man I'm set on fencin' in a desperado Takes my breath away like Colorado Who ain't afraid to walk a mile in my boots Buckaroo Heaven knows what I might do If I had me a cowboy like you Buckaroo Don't have to wow me like a long beard Shakespeare Just talk plain talk right here in my ear If you aspire to sophistication I'll tell you now you're in the wrong location Get out of here before this country girl gets to you But, if you like sunset on the painted desert The Lone Ranger and spaghetti westerns I'll tell you right now I'm the one for you Buckaroo

When I look back, boy, I must have been green Bopping in the country, fishing in a stream Looking for an answer, trying to find a sign Until I saw your city lights, honey, I was blind They said, get back, honky cat Better get back to the woods Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways And, oh, the change is gonna do me good You better get back, honky cat Living in the city ain't where it's at It's like trying to find gold in a silver mine It's like trying to drink whiskey from a bottle of wine Well, I read some books, and I read some magazines About those high-class ladies down in New Orleans And all the folks back home, well, said I was a fool They said, oh, believe in the Lord is the golden rule They said, get back, honky cat Better get back to the woods Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways And, ooh ooh ooh change is gonna do me good They said, get back, honky cat Better get back to the woods Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways And, ooh ooh ooh change is gonna do me good They said, stay at home, boy, you gotta tend the farm Living in the city, boy, is going to break your heart But how can you stay when your heart says no? How can you stop when your feet say go? You better get back, honky cat Better get back to the woods Well, I quit those days and my redneck ways And, ooh ooh ooh change is gonna do me good You better get back, honky cat Living in the city ain't where it's at It's like trying to find gold in a silver mine It's like trying to drink whiskey Oh, from a bottle of wine Get back, honky cat Get back, honky cat Get back, whoo You better Get back, honky cat Get back, honky cat Get back, whoo

Morning cup of coffee Not a single word And if you do, say something It's only about war Every time I ask you You just say we're good Either I'm a fool for asking Or you belong in Hollywood Five o'clock martinis Watch the sun go down (Sun go down) Eyes in crystal glasses That's the only sense I say you, let's get away You just smile and say we should Well either I'm a fool for asking Or you belong in Hollywood Like a silver screen It's a technical dream We pretend it's real But it's only make-believe Lying in our bed In the middle of back to We say, goodnight, I love you We never miss our cue I ask you, if you mean it (You mean it) You say, yes, I knew you Well either I'm a fool for asking Or you belong in Hollywood Either I'm a fool for asking Or you belong in Hollywood

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)

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

In an Appalachian, Greyhound station She sits there waiting, in a family way "Goodbye brother, Tell Mom I love her Tell all the others, I'll write someday" From an teenage lover, to an unwed mother Kept undercover, like some bad dream While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered They run like water, from a mountain stream In a cold and gray town, a nurse say's "Lay down" 'This ain't no playground, and this ain't home' But someone's children, out having children In a gray stone building, they're all alone From an teenage lover, to an unwed mother Kept undercover, like some bad dream While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered They run like water, from a mountain stream On somewhere else bound, Smokey Mountain Greyhound She bows her head down, hummin' lullabies 'Your daddy never, meant to hurt you ever' 'He just don't live here, but you've got his eyes' From an teenage lover, to an unwed mother Kept undercover, like some bad dream While unwed fathers, they can't be bothered They run like water, from a mountain stream Well, they run like water, from a mountain stream

I saw you All dolled up Singing a song in your pickup truck You put me on a morning train You put me on a morning train Ain't no need to explain You put me on a morning train Hey, Hey, Brother Ray What'd you mean by "what'd I say" You put me on a morning train You put me on a morning train Ain't no need to explain You put me on a morning train If it's gonna rain And I wish that it would Just go ahead and rain Get it over for good If there's really a hole in that big blue sky Then move it on over and let me by Constantinople is a mighty long word Got three more letters than mockingbird You put me on a morning train You put me on a morning train Ain't no need to explain You put me on a morning train I like you with your make-up on All dolled up Singing a song You put me on a morning train You put me on a morning train Ain't no need to explain You put me on a morning train

All the snow has turned to water Christmas days have come and gone Broken toys and faded colors Are all that's left to linger on I hate graveyards and old oawn 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 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