The hurricane party's winding down
And we're all waitin' for the end
And I don't want another drink
I only want that last one again
It gave me such a fine glow, smoky and slow
Now I should probably be homeward bound
But there's no one to talk to
When the lines go down


I guess in the morning, I'll go looking for my grey striped cat
My old house can take the weather, so I'm not too concerned about that
It was built to take the wind back in nineteen and ten
When this was one damn fine town
But now there's no one to talk to
When the lines go down

Candles flickered on the back bar
The building was shakin from the wind
I bought a whiskey for the gypsy
And she turned my leather back into skin
Just a fleeting sense
Of that rare suspense
I once thought made the world go 'round
But now there's no one to talk to
When the lines go down

             Open up your back screen door
             Let me see your face once more
             My hands are cold and my feet so sore
             And I can't go on this way

And the thoughts come too fast and too many to keep count
Best just let 'em on through
Now I'm breaking those old glass insulators with my old twenty-two
Off the telephone poles
As a half dollar rolls across the knuckles of a rodeo clown
There's just no one to talk to when the lines go down

My one great love
My God I can feel her still
She ran off to California
Now she's livin' in those Hollywood Hills
With some bullfrog prince
I've not seen her since
Though she calls when he's out of town
And there's no one to talk to
When the lines go down

             Open up your back screen door
             Let me in your space once more
             I was lookin' for an easy score
             But it just don't work that way

Some insurance man biker is yelling out for one more beer
But a part time pirate just can't get much respect around here
We got our problems too man
We'll get to you in just a minute
Sit your drunk ass down
Yeah there's no one to talk to
When the lines go down

Now there's water up past the wheel wells of my Ford
And I don't guess it'll run
But I left a pack of Winstons on the dash
Could you fetch 'em for me son
The morning's first cigarette, that's as good as it gets all day
I should know by now
That there's no one to talk to
When the lines go down

James McMurtry: vocal, guitar, mandolin

Ronnie Johnson: bass guitar, harmony vocals

Daren Hess: drums, percussion

Ian McLagan: organ

Ephraim Owens: trumpet

Charlie Richards: guitar

Ruby said you're gettin' us in a world of hurt
And down below the Mason Dumb Ass line the food gets worse
I can't go back to Tennessee
That NASCAR country's not for me
Go on if you think you must

Carlos packed his drums up in the dark of night
Ruby standing just outside the front porch light
Chain-smoking Camel straights

The sky off to the East got grey
And he rolled off in a cloud of dust

The grey colt nickered at the gate
She said "you're right it's gettin' late
You and me got work to do
We can't be burning daylight too"
She took down the long lead rope
And stayed off that slippery slope

The aspen trees were turning gold up top
The talk was buzzing round the beauty shop
"Wasn't he barely half her age?"
"Well that's just how they do nowadays
We should all a'been so lucky"

By spring she'd had the run of all the freeborn men
Ruby turned fifty in a sheep camp tent
Her body still could rock all night
But her heart was closed and locked up tight
Potato fields all muddy and brown
The gossip long since quieted down

After one more Coggins test
Pouring coffee for the county vet

Pictures on the ice box door
of Carlos in the first Gulf War
Black eyed, brown and youthful face
Smiling back from a Saudi base

Then Carlos on the big bay mare
Heavier now and longer haired
Looking past the saddle shed
From way on back inside his head

The old vet said one day Rube
That colt will break an egg in you

Now and then one comes along
You just can't ride then he went on home

The storm door didn't catch
It blew back hard
As she struck a match
But she cupped it just in time
Then she sent that ash tray flying


             Holding back the flood
             Just don't do no good
             You can't unclench your teeth

              To howl the way you should
             So you curl your lips around
             The taste of tears and a hollow sound
             That no one owns but you
             No one owns but you

Carlos took the road gig and he saw it through
He rode the tour bus while the singer flew
Managed out of Music Row
Carlos never saw the studio
Session guys had that all sewn up

He looks out the window as it starts to sleet
Layin’ on a friend's couch on Nevada Street
Lately he's been staying high
Sick all winter and they don't know why
They don't know why or they just won't say
They don't talk much down at the VA

Ruby's in his thoughts sometimes
What thoughts can get out past the wine
He feels her fingers on his brow
And right then he misses how 
She looked in that grey morning light
She never shaved like they all do now

He sees it all behind his eyes
His hands go searching but they come up dry

Halfway in that waking dream
Carlos lets the land line ring

He'd never have guessed it was Ruby calling
A pin in her hip from the grey colt falling
Figure eights in a lazy lope
Stumbled on that slippery slope

             (Chorus)

James McMurtry: vocal, guitar

Chris Maresh: bass viol

Brian Standefer: cello

Harmoni Kelly: harmony vocal

Fire Line Road

My name is Alice Walker and they never told me why

I'm not named for anybody just a name out of the sky

They thought was pretty I guess, way back when

I'll change it someday I like to pretend I'm just visiting here

Like on one of those shows

In a house full of people I don't hardly know

But we'll all get to go home in a week or so

Back to real life

And I'm picking up the carpet in the corner where I crash

And I'm too tired to separate the pennies from the trash

And I don't guess it matters even why Jesus died

I can tell you about sin

We got this duplex out on Fire Line Road

It's way out from town so the rent's pretty low

Not much more than a cinder block cell

Just like the one next door and the next one as well

And the bus don't run out here but three times a day

And the seven eleven's a full mile away

And there's a car in the yard, mostly rust and dents

We moved here in it, but it hasn't run since

              Forget my name can you

              Forget my face

              Gonna lose myself in some finer place            

              Finer places where I'll go

              I'll leave no trace out on Fire Line Road

And there's a pile of daddy's quick picks scattered on the floor

Among the half empty bottles and a chair against the door

In case he comes home drinking with lovin' on his mind

I've never let it happen but that don't stop him tryin’

My sister weren't so lucky he got to her too soon

She never saw it comin and he knew just what to do to keep her silent

Swear to God I'll kill him if I can

He said she made him do it, after all he's just a man

              (Chorus)

Now she snorts that crank and stares at the phone

She ain't big as a minute, just skin on bone

She bites her nails right down to the quick

And they've taken her babies and they won't give 'em back

And I know she loves 'em and God knows she tried

But when you're that far down you're just gonna get high

It's like eating or breathing to the rest of us

She can't even feel bad without that stuff

              (Chorus)

James McMurtry: vocal, guitars

Ronnie Johnson: bass guitar

Daren Hess: drums, percussion

Chris Maresh: bass viol

Brian Standefer: cello

Jon Dee Graham: lap steel

Harmoni Kelly: harmony vocal

Standing in the middle of a Roman street

Marble dust all over my feet

Bearded masses at the gates

Dancing in the ruins while it's not too late

Driving a Rolls through old Bombay

Rickshaw drivers in my way

Well they better move over and they better move fast

Dancing in the ruins of a golden past

              Dancing in the ruins of the Raj

              For Queen and country's noble cause

Standing on the banks of the River Seine

I ain't got tuppence to my name

I stand my ground and cast my net

Dancing in the ruins where the sun don't set

              Dancing in the ruins of the crown

              Enfield rifles keeping us down

I got a thirty aught six and a premium load

In a shotgun shack on a two lane road

Smack in the middle of the Bible Belt

Dancing in the ruins all by myself

We got the National Guard with their bayonets

We got the Ten Commandments on the state house steps

We shalt not steal and we shalt not kill

Dancing in the ruins of our own free will

              Dancing in the ruins of the South

              Confederate flag taped over my mouth

We thank thee Lord for all we got

While the multi nationals call the shots

So scrape them hides and clean that slate

Dancing in the ruins of the nation state

We'll fight 'em on the land, and fight'em in the air

Little cowboy says we gotta fight'em over there

You ain't seen nothing like it since Saigon fell

Dancing in the ruins 'cause we might as well

              Dancing in the ruins of the realm

              A fool and a madman at the helm

              Dancing in the ruins of the Reich

              Down in the bunker on a hunger strike

James McMurtry: vocal, mandoguitar, banjo

Ronnie Johnson: bass guitar, harmony vocal

Daren Hess: drums, tympany, percussion

You'd a' Thought (Leonard Cohen Must Die)

TOP

I'm running round in circles and I'm chasing my tail
Carving my initials with a rusty nail
Betraying my intentions man it happens without fail
You'd a' thought that I'd know better by now

It might be some dark secret I keep bottled up inside
Or just some miniscule transgression
I shouldn't have tried to hide
It's not the size that matters, it's deceit she can't abide
You'd a' thought that I'd know better by now

And of course she knows, ‘cause I can’t fool her
And I know she knows, ‘cause she don’t fool me
And she knows I know she knows and we might discuss it eventually
When the pressure builds ‘til it blows the seals all out from in between
You’d a’ thought that we’d know better by now

             You’d have thought that we’d know better
             You’d have thought we’d understand
             Through all the smoke and mirrors
             I guess we do the best we can
             Hiding out without a doubt it's getting out of hand
             You’d a’ thought that we’d know better by now

And I've seen the phantoms hiding in the shadows in her eyes
It's not that I'm not threatened, it's just that I'm not surprised
"Good for the gander," said the old folks, but they lied
You'd a' thought that we'd know better by now

            

They circle up the wagons, expressing deep dismay
When we know all the words that they can't bring themselves to say
There’s so much they never tell you, there’s so much they hide away
You’d a’ thought that they’d know better by now

              (Chorus)

James McMurtry: vocal, guitar

Ronnie Johnson: bass guitar

Daren Hess: drums

Harmoni Kelly: harmony vocal