Guitarists From The United States

"I was inspired to write a folk song — about how soldiers have no choice in the matter but to follow orders — but with the irreverence of rock ’n’ roll."

"And it's one, two, three, what are we fighting for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn Next stop is Vietnam. And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates, Well there ain't no time to wonder why, Whoopie! We're all gonna die!"

"Now come on mothers throughout the land Pack your boys off to Vietnam Come on fathers don't hesitate Send your sons off before it's too late And you can be the first one on your block To have your boy come home in a box."

"Don't come back, lover, I'm proud you're under the skyline. We always knew you were the better half of our good times. Those backyard lights don't shine as bright without your face, Out at Sarah's place."

"I'm cuttin' ties with things that bind my heart to this world. I love you and I'm willin' but I cannot keep you, girl. Philly by the morning and Ohio by the night, The thing about a long rope is you can't hold on too tight.Wooden floors and coffee cups, Stepped on and all used up. But I reckon that's what mornings are for. And everyone thinks they know me now In these close-minded leave-me towns, But I'm too young to even know myself."

"My father is a bettin’ man, But I got myself a steady hand. He's sittin' in the corner with a six-pack of Corona, Bettin' that his son'll win again."

"So open the gates I'm here to prove I'm better than my father was and where he came from, too. Open the gates I'm here to ride To Hell I Go with daddy by my side."

"Come as you are, however broken, And we will see if we can make you whole again. Come as you are, with your heart wide open; The bridges that you've burned, they are still there, just floatin'."

"And I recall what she said, That she wanted me dead. There ain't no grave deep enough. Remember all the nights we had. You said it ain't so bad. Just keep those heavy eyes lookin' up."

"There is concrete below me and a sky above so blue. I'm finally leaving Austin and I wish it was with you. I am just a sickness and you seem to be the cure. How much can a southern girl honestly endure? Remember northwest mountains, they were snow-capped in June, You were napping on my arms on a Sunday afternoon. But, babe, I've gotta heal myself from the things I've never felt, Repression is my heaven but I'd rather go through hell."

"Well, I've had cold and humid mornings on city streets and back porches, But I ain’t never breathed a breath as fresh as you. And I've seen children playin' on the coastlines under the white lines, atop the blue tides, But I ain’t ever been baptized in water as cool as you."

"I got a fear, dear, that it's gonna end Won't you get angry at me, say you love me again? I got a fear dear, that it's a Friday spark You only love me like you mean it when it's after dark."

"A cold shoulder at closing time, You were bеggin' me to stay 'til the sun rose. Strangе words come on out Of a grown man's mouth when his mind's broke. Pictures and passin' time, You only smile like that when you're drinkin'. I wish I didn't, but I do Remember every moment on the nights with you."

"There ain't no love a boy can find, You'll feel her in a room if you was blind. There ain't a thing a man can do, She'll only love you for you."

"But love's gonna bring you home, Even God didn't see it comin'. But no matter where you're at, We'll always find the way back."

"So let me go down the line, Let me feel it all, joy, pain, and sky. So let me go down the line, We all burn, burn, burn, and die."

"You won't find no answers safe at home, You can't learn heartbreak from a poem. And every hard time, song rhyme, friend you've got, You'll have, with Heaven on top. You'll have, with Heaven on top."

"Sweet DeAnn, I miss you so, And your words go where I go. The reasons? I don't know, But I'll sing 'em loud and slow. So you can hear me from the Heavens And you can draw my thunder down. I miss havin' you around, But in my heart, you're always found."

"Until the leaving leaves this house, no, we ain't going out 'Til I make some promises that I can't keep. And I wish I could explain how the toxins in my brain Get me so damn down sometimes I can't speak And you'll try to understand why I can't be a better man, But it's hard when I'm yelling at you in the street. So if leaving comes to staying and you walk yourself away, Leave knowing that no one could love you more than me."

"To you, I'm just a man; to me, you're all I am. Where the hell am I supposed to go? I poisoned myself again, somethin' in the orange Tells mе you're never comin' homе. If you leave today, I'll just stare at the way. The orange touches all things around. The grass, trees, and dew, how I just hate you, Please turn those headlights around."

"But if you ever decide to bring your pain and your pride Back to this side of Oklahoma City, There'll be a porch light on from the post you leaned on 'Fore you wound up on the wrong side of pity. And often times I pray for you and often times I don't. Is it the goodbyes that haunt you or the fear of new hellos? Won't stay for long 'cause you won't stop your runnin'. Wait for tomorrow 'til tomorrow's not comin'."

"Today, I'll hold my head up high Knowing someday, comes one day at a time. Today, there's a sun setting soon as suppers warm. Today, I've got someday on my mind."

"I've learned that every waking moment is enough and еxcess never lеads to better things, it only piles and piles atop the things that are already abundantly in front of you like breathing and chasing and slow dancing and love making, fighting and laughing."

"And I think fear and Fridays got an awful lot in common, they're overdone and glorified and always leave you wantin'."

"He said the sun's gonna rise tomorrow Somewhere on the east side of sorrow. You better pack your bags west, Stick out your chest And then hit the road. The sun's gonna rise tomorrow Somewhere on the east side of sorrow. Don't give it a reason to follow. Let it be, then let it go. Let it be, then let it go."

"So take me down a road that's a little bit windy To a place they still put sugar in their iced tea, Where the women are fine and the love is fair. Hey, driver, you can drop me off anywhere. Hey, driver, you can drop me off anywhere."

"Did you ever make it back to El Dorado? I'd call and ask, but hell if I know If I still got your number or if you care. You moved away when you was younger. Was it escape or was it hunger?"

"Rotgut whiskey's gonna ease my mind, Beach towel rests on the dryin' line. Do I remind you of your daddy in his '88 Ford? Labrador hangin' out the passenger door."

"I bandage up your body and your bones and your bad days too, Take care of the blood that your love runs through. I know all the damage that some days in this dark world does, You were laughin' last evenin' at somethin’ I dreamed of."

"I ain't spotless, neither is you. For once in my life, I'm gonna see it through. If you want spotless, I'll always losе, I don't want love, lover, I want the truth."

"You don't have to drink tonight. Why don’t we just get some sleep? 'Cause I'm tired of cryin’ in driveways As you slur the words you speak. I know growin' up Has been an evil thing to you. Makes you awfully hard to love From a lover's point of view."

"It's a motorcycle drive by, baby, dry your kind eyes, I think it's about time we headed home. Walkin' on such tight rope with my damn high hopes That country boys don't die alone."

"I'd like to get lost on some old back road, Find a shade tree and a honey hole. And talk to my grandpa again. And I see God in everything: The trees and pain and nights in the spring. So why do I still long for a home?"

"You took a train to the south side of Boston. You showed me where your old man stayed. Took twenty-eight years of blood I was lost in To feel loved on my own birthday. And I always felt like I's in between somethin' Like home and somewhere far away. But tonight on the west side in a bar out in Brooklyn I saw tears outline your face.How lucky are we? It's been a hell of a week, but you're all grown now. There's smoke seepin' out of your bloody teeth But you're home somehow."

"Give me my dawns back 'Cause everything that dies makes its way on back. I lost her last July in a heart attack. I need one small victory."

"We're laying on the roof of my car, Feelin' young, feelin' numb, feelin' starved Of all the things that a moment can be. This one's best kept a memory, The purest parts of my heart are you and me."

"Well, the love that you got Is the love that I need. It's in the air of these hills And the blood that I bleed. And the love that you gave For the awful shape I'm in Led me through the day So I can find my hope again."

"I'm movin' at God speed. Only God and my mama know what I need. And I feel the hardwood floors on my knees, As I beg you just to take it easy on me. I'm movin' at God speed."

"'Cause from where I'm standin’, You got a long climb ahead. I'll be there to wipe the vomit When you cannot lift your head. 'Cause a lover doesn't leave When times like these get dark. I'll be there to watch the sunrise When we reclaim your heart."

"Was a boy who was a dreamer and he flew so high and proud In a world full of people out to cut his young ass down. No one ever understood a single word he said; They cast him to the wolves when he wasn't well and fed.But, boys, we've got a riser, a riser in our midst, And he will get the last laugh if it's the last thing he did. And he used to roll around in that red dirt mud, But now he's skippin' town and that dreamer's out for blood."

"We're having an all-night revival, Someone call the women and someone steal the Bible. For the sake of my survival, Baptize me in a bottle of Beam, put Johnny on the vinyl."

"And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't, 'Cause if I say I miss you, I know that you won't. But I miss you in the mornings when I see the sun, Somethin' in the orange tells me we're not done."

"You are mine again, Every mistake that you made. All the people that you saved took a little piece of you with them. And you are mine again, And I'm so damn glad you're here, Talkin' strong, sober, and clear like you couldn't back then."

"Them damn cold vampires been keeping me awake, Tryna build an empire of the things that they can take. Don't let 'em steal your hope, child, and turn it something green. Damn you and damn all your ties to this machine, Ties to this machine."

"I don’t recall what you were wearing on the first night we met Besides the subtle cloud around you from my last cigarette. And you come from a good place with a happy family, The only bad you've ever done was to see the good in me.'Cause I’ve been livin', waitin' on the day That the good Lord willin', sends you out my way. I'vе seen hard times, bad luck, all that in-between, Sweetest of thе sunflowers, how you're the sun to me."

"The way the grass smells at night and you got flames all in your eyes, As they reflect the sparkler and you say we'll never die. Grab me by the hands, just as callused as I am and say you're proud."

"She's an Oklahoma smokeshow, He's an asshole from back home. She'll never make it out alive Of that small-town bar scene Where small vices kill your big dreams. He'd take you home, but he's too drunk to drive.I've been here, I've been up all night Thinkin' 'bout a life with you and I, One you'll never know 'Cause you're a small-town smokeshow."

"So don't call in the mornin' 'cause I'll already be gone. Oklahoma in the summertime's where my country ass belongs. Love is patient, love is kind, should not make you lose your mind. Thеre's got to be more to this than bеin' pissed off all the time, All the time."

"I do not and will not fear tomorrow because I feel as though today has been enough."

"So don't get hateful, Lord, hot damn There's a fire burnin' in the back forty. I'm still findin' out who the hell I am. And I'm so tired of wastin' it away, Gonna find the time to realize I’m in deep on better days."