Saint Mary of the Woods 2002

SAINT MARY OF THE WOODS

	James McMurtry 2002 Sugar Hill Records

1 Dry River ~Dave Alvin		6 Broken Bed ~with Ronnie & Daren
2 Valley Road		7 Red Dress
3 Saint Mary of the Woods		8 Gulf Road
4 Out Here in the Middle		9 Gone to the Y
5 Lobo Town		10 Choctaw Bingo

*Thanks* toCraig Seth for trancscribing1 through 10

1	Dry River ~Dave Alvin
1	I was born by a river that was paved with cement I was born by a river that was paved with cement Still I'd stand out in that river and dream that I was soaking wet (chorus) Someday it's gonna rain Someday it's gonna pour Someday that old dry river Won't be dry anymore I played in the orange groves 'Til they bulldozed the trees I played in the orange groves 'Til they bulldozed the trees Still I'd stand out in those dead stumps And smell the blossoms on the leaves (chorus) Some day it's gonna rain Someday it's gonna pour Someday those old dead trees Won't be dead anymore I fell in love with a woman But she did not love me I fell in love with a woman But she did not love me Now I'm as dry as that old river And I'm as dead as those old trees Someday it's gonna rain (chorus) Someday it's gonna pour Someday this old heart of mine's Gonna fall in love once more Someday it's gonna rain Someday it's gonna pour Someday that old dry river Won't be dry anymore

2	Valley Road			TOP
2	Short tables - no slop eight ball line of crank off his gold top Les Paul Woke you up. Set you right. Kept you talkin' to the middle of the next night He had the stance. Major attitude. Vibrato you could o' thrown a cat through A little much A little heavy I guess the world just wasn't ready Just a ghost from back a long time ago, Blue-eyed shadow You never mention anymore Nothin' ventured Nothin' saved You poured it out like bourbon on a fresh grave And learned your lesson well And learned your lesson well (chorus) No Helmet or a care in the world. Bein' such a bad little girl Your face buried in the back of his shirt Shut your eyes and you'll never get hurt On the Valley road Black wall Looking through the front door Mirror ball in the middle of the dance floor And in the dream It's still the same But in the daylight none of that remains Waking up to the cold hard facts Seems like everybody's livin' in the third act That's how it happens It's kinda weird The whole scene just disappeared We learned our lesson well We learned our lesson well He missed a curve on a hard tail sled, nothin' broken 'Cept for his head. You know it's kinda fittin' somehow Hard to picture what He'd look like now You learned your lesson well You learned your lesson well (chorus) No Helmet or a care in the world Bein' such a bad little girl Your face buried in the back of his shirt Shut your eyes and you'll never get hurt Flying in the Papago Wind Half way to Gila Bend No Helmet or a care in the world Bein' such a bad little girl On the Valley road

3	Saint Mary of the Woods
	Where you going with your head hung down Papers blowin' through the streets of town They've already taken all of your posters down Didn't take 'em long once the orders came down Sunrise off the lake shining in your eyes Shining on the wasted and the wise All you hear ringing in your ears are boldfaced lies That scream like the gulls in that smoke stained amber sky (chorus) Fly back to the nest if it helps at all Saint Mary of the Woods in the early fall The leaves are turning on the Wabash now and children sing to you They sing a song of your dreams come true Where you goin' brandy on your breath Bottle's open spilled across the desk Snifter's broken, smashed against the wall Just the way your standin' says it all You hung the sign out please do not disturb Driver's waiting out front on the curb Write it off as one more half sold show Once they've seen your best they can forget about the rest don't you know

4	Out Here in the Middle			TOP
4	They broke into your car last night, took the stereo Now you say you don't know why you even live there anymore The garage man didn't see a thing, so you guess it was an inside job You made a reservation, a table for three They said you'd have to wait, somebody must have bribed the maitre'd Boss got mad and he blamed it all on you Food was bad and the deal fell through (chorus) Well out here in the middle you can park it on the street Step up to the counter; you nearly always get a seat Nobody steals. Nobody cheats Wish you were here my love Wish you here my love We got tractor pulls and Red Man chew Corporate relo refugees that need love too we ain't seen Elvis in a year or two we got justification for wealth and greed~ Amber waves of grain and bathtub speed We even got Starbucks what else you need? (chorus) Out here in the middle Where the center's on the right And the ghost of William Jennings Bryan preaches every night To save the lonely souls in the dashboard lights Wish you were here my love Wish you were here my love (chorus) Out here in the middle Where the buffalo roam We're putting up towers for your cell phones And we screen all applicants With a fine tooth comb Wish you were here my love Wish you were here my love

5	Lobo Town
	Grand Daddy's good name Fits like a shackle and a chain And all them others, long dead Still hanging round my head Hard working kind of men There's not a one left of them There's only me There's only mine~ I guess we're all the other kind Throwin' dice and dippin' snuff Out in a trailer back in the brush Sippin' Crown and smokin' weed Huntin' hogs and cookin' speed That's how we do it Nowadays `No matter what the teachers used to say Pass judgment if you dare See if any of us care (chorus) You're goddamn right You got no clue So don't tell me I'm dyin' That old black dog has got me down And I can't get loose from Lobo Town The post mistress telling tales While all the blue hairs come get their mail Wonderin' why a boy like me Gets into trouble Well let me see They might be kinder if I were poor But they might only hate me more When they only know you by your car It's who you come from not who you are Two hundred channels on big TV Won't fill the holes inside of me I'm getting twisted I'm getting sick I need some help and I need it quick 'Cause I can feel the curtain fall when won't no one return my calls I used 'em hard I used 'em up I never will amount to much (chorus) I'll take the house and the land Gonna list it get what I can Sell the horses Sell the cows Sell 'em all Sell 'em now

6	Broken Bed ~with Ronnie & Daren			TOP
	Where'd you go last night? ~ I never heard you leaving~ Woke up in such a fright When I could no longer feel you breathing~ I could smell the rain from the storm blowing in~and I looked outside where your car should have been Just a street light's glare on an empty street~ When that rain came down in a twisted sheet(chorus) Drive on slowly~ Drive on by~ One red rose in the candlelight Where'd you go last night? When the show was over~ When the band quit playing~ When the bar was closing~ When the rain slacked off and the wind died down~ and a siren wailed somewhere across town~ Nothing to be done ~ Nothing to be said~ Just had to lay back down in this broken bed(bridge) You could call me later~ Walk me through this one more time I guess you got your needs and I got mine

7	Red Dress
	Remember when we'd get together Burn the candle don't you know Smoke and drink and live forever No on e there to tell us no This time I'm gonna kill that bastard This time I'm not gonna miss~ this time I'm not gonna miss This time there ain't no doubt about it Let me be quite clear on this Out the back and down the alley Gone to get your bucket spiked Come back when you think you need me Come back any time you like Where'd you get that red dress Where'd you get that red dress Yes I'm drunk but damn you're ugly Tell you one thing yes I will Tomorrow morning I'll be sober You'll be just as ugly still Where'd you get that red dress I don't know what you got going on But You know I never seen you with that red dress on Tell me where'd you get that red dress Watching out the kitchen window Right here in this old brown chair Stack the empties on the table Toss 'em down the basement stairs Where'd you get that red dress Where'd you get that red dress Remember when we'd get together Burn the candle don't you know Smoke and drink and live forever No one there to tell us no

8	Gulf Road			TOP
	Not a hot cup of coffee, nor a cold glass of tea Ever crossed your lips in my company Straight bourbon whiskey was all we'd abide So let's don't hold back now we've got nothing to hide So much we savored yet so much we missed You know I never meant you to see me like this Just a faint distant flicker from the last of the storm You know a taste of that liquor could do me no harm (chorus) Light me a candle. Light me a fire. We'll sit by the window with the shades drawn To the best of intentions and the worst of desires We'll leave by the Gulf Road in the grey dawn Take a short handled shovel Take a long handled hoe Cover my bones when the west wind blows Smooth it off even, pack it down hard I'll no more be here but I'll never be far I'll no more be here but I'll never be far (chorus)

9	Gone to the Y
	Hey little brother are they at it again You heard the motor fire up and the car door slam He's gone to the Y to sleep it all off He won't be back 'til morning She's pacing the porch around and around Crying soft and whispering loud And if you listen close you can make it out (chorus) She's saying "Wait till I get I my hands on him He's gonna wish he'd never been born…again Soon as I get hands on him He's gonna wish he'd never been born They had their good sides in and the bad side showing You couldn't tell 'em apart when they really got going 'Cause their voices got higher like cats on a fence And neither one made a lick of sense It's happened before and it'll happen again He won't be back till morning chorus She's mad as a wet hen but it's all right Better get some sleep while it's nice and quiet I know it looks bad now but I got no doubt He'll be back home when church lets out He's just gone to the Y to sleep it all off He won't be back till morning Gone to the Y to sleep it all off He won't be back till morning

10	Choctaw Bingo			TOP
	Strap them kids in Give 'em a little bit of vodka in a cherry coke We're going to Oklahoma to the family reunion for the first time in years It's up at uncle Slayton's cause he's getting on in years You know he no longer travels but he's still pretty spry He's not much on talking and he's just too mean to die And they'll be comin' down from Kansas and from west Arkansas It'll be one great big old party like you never saw Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride Back in the thickets with his Asian bride He's got a Airstream trailer and a Holstein cow He still makes whiskey 'cause he still knows how He plats that Choctaw bingo every Friday night You know he had to leave Texas but he won't say why He owns a quarter section up by Lake Eufala Caught a great big ol' blue cat on a driftin' jug line Sells his hardwood timber to the shipping mill Cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell He cooks that crystal meth because the shine don't sell You know he likes his money he don't mind the smel lMy cousin Roscoe Slayton's oldest boy from his second marriage up in Illinois He was raised in East St. Louis by his momma's people Where they do things different Thought he'd just come on down He was going to Dallas Texas in a semi truck called from that big McDonald's You know the one they built up on that great big ol' bridge Across the Will Rogers Turnpike Took the Big Cabin exit stopped and bought a couple of cartons of cigarettes At that Indian Smoke Shop with the big neon smoke rings In the Cherokee Nation hit Muskogee late that night Somebody ran a stoplight at the Shawnee Bypass Roscoe tried to miss 'em but he didn't quiteBob and Mae come up from little town Way down by lake Texoma where he coaches football They were two A champions now for two years running But he says they won't be this year no they won't be this year And he stopped off in Tushka at that "Pop's Knife and Gun" place Bought a SKS rifle and a couple a full cases of that steel core ammo With the berdan primers from some East bloc nation that no longer needs 'em And a Desert Eagle that's one great big ol' pistol I mean .50 caliber made by badass Hebrews And some surplus tracers for that old BAR of Slayton's Soon as it gets dark we're gonna have us a time We're gonna have us a timeRuth Ann and Lynn come down from Baxter Springs That's one hell raisin' town way up in Southeastern Kansas Got a biker bar next to the lingerie store That's got them Rolling Stones lips up there where everyone can see 'em And they burn all night you know they burn all night you know they burn all night Ruth Ann and Lynn they wear them cut off britches and those skinny little halters And they're second cousins to me Man I don't care I want to get between 'em With a great big ol' hard on like a old bois d' arc fence post You could hang a pipe rail gait from Do some twisted sisters 'til the cows come home And we'd be havin' us a time Uncle Slayton's got his Texan pride Back in the thickets with his Asian bride He's cut that corner pasture into acre lots` He sells 'em owner financed Strictly to them that's got no kind of credit 'Cause he knows they're slackers When they miss that payment Then he takes it back He plays that Choctaw Bingo every Friday night Drinks that Johnny Walker at that Club 69 We're gonna strap them kids in give 'em a little bit o' Benadryl And a cherry coke we're goin' to Oklahoma Gonna have us a time .