Folk Singers

"Hitchin' on a twilight train Ain't nothing here that I care to take along. Maybe a song To sing when I want. No need to say please to no man For a happy tune."

"It's Love, Brother Love, say Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show. Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies. And ev'ryone goes, 'cause everyone knows Brother Love's show."

"I'm walkin' But I'm going nowhere at all. I'm 'bout to head any place in the world But the place that I am"

"Red, red wine Go to my head. Make me forget that I Still need her so.Red, red wine, It's up to you. All I can do, I've done. But memories won't go. No, memories won't go."

"Pretty little baby on the cabin floor Little hoss colt playin' 'round the door I love the girl with golden hair And the Tennessee stud loves the Tennessee mare."

"Stirrup to stirrup and side by side We crossed the mountains and the valleys wide. We came to Big Muddy and we forded the flood On the Tennessee mare and the Tennessee stud."

"A professional entertainer who allows himself to become known as a singer of folk songs is bound to have trouble with his conscience—provided, of course, that he possesses one. As a performing artist, he will pride himself on timing and other techniques designed to keep the audience in his control [...] his respect for genuine folklore reminds him that these changes, and these techniques, may give the audience a false picture of folk music."

"The Tennessee stud was long and lean The color of the sun and his eyes were green. He had the nerve and he had the blood And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud."

"Along about eighteen and twenty-five I left Tennessee very much alive I never would have got through the Arkansas mud If I hadn't been a-ridin on the Tennessee stud."

"I found that girl with the golden hair And she was ridin' on a Tennessee mare."

"Folk music is not so much a body of art as it is a process, an attitude, and a way of life; its distinguishing features lie not within the songs themselves, but in the relations of those songs to a folk culture."

"In 1814 we took a little trip Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip. We took a little bacon an' we took a little beans And we caught the bloody British at the town of New Orleans. We fired our guns an' the British kept a'comin'. There wasn't nigh as many as there was awhile ago. We fired once more an' they begin to runnin' Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico."

"Venturing further than the length of your sight Out past the reach of your beginnings There is a gamble in each proud act of flight But the losses pale before the winnings Circling and diving with this freedom you’ve found Illusion blows apart and scatters There is no darkness in this place that we're bound Love is the only thing that matters"

"Ole Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise, If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eyes. We held our fire 'til we seed their faces well, Then we opened up our squirrel guns an' really gave 'em ...well! Yeah, they ran through the briars an' they ran through the brambles An' they ran through the bushes where the rabbits couldn't go. They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico."

"Too many hearts have been broken Failing to trust what they feel. But trust isn't something that's spoken And love's never wrong when it's real."

"She says no When she means yes And what she wants You know that I can't guess. When we want more You know we ask for less Such is the language of love..."

"Looking back now toward the start You said you thought I'd lost my path And I asked if you still considered love an art And you said "No, I think it's more a craft" And I just turned and laughed I just had to turn and laugh."

"We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down, So we grabbed an alligator an' we fought another round. We filled his head with cannon balls an' powdered his behind, An' when they touched the powder off, the 'gator lost his mind."

"The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own."

"There's a place in the world For a gambler There's a burden that only he can bear... And he sees. Oh, yes he sees... There's a light in the depths Of your darkness There's a calm at the eye Of every storm There's a light in the depths Of your [[blindness|darkness}} Let it shine Oh, let it shine"

"Gonna pull in the shutters on this heart of mine Roll up the carpets and pull in the blinds And retreat to the chambers that I left behind In hopes there still may be love left to find Still may be love left to find."

"The leader of the band is tired And his eyes are growing old But his blood runs through my instrument And his song is in my soul -- My life has been a poor attempt To imitate the man. I'm just a living legacy To the leader of the band."

"Longer than there've been fishes in the ocean Higher than any bird ever flew. Longer than there've been stars up in the heavens, I've been in love with you."

"Someone's been telling you stories Someone's been telling you stories And they just ain't true No, they just ain't true They just ain't true Someone's been telling you stories]]."

"We drank a toast to innocence We drank a toast to now. And tried to reach beyond the emptiness But neither one knew how."

"Along the road your steps may stumble Your thoughts may start to stray But through it all a heart held humble Levels and lights your way."

"And it's run for the roses As fast as you can Your fate is delivered Your moment's at hand It's the chance of a lifetime In a lifetime of chance And it's high time you joined In the dance It's high time you joined In the dance."

"The distance between folk society and literate society is ever decreasing, and Teresa Brewer will yet shake hands with Mrs. Texas Gladden. But until that happens—until my own culture, and Teresa Brewer's, develops a folk tradition of its own—If I want to learn something about real folk music, I'll stick with Mrs. Gladden."

"The beer was empty and our tongues were tired And running out of things to say. She gave a kiss to me as I got out And I watched her drive away.Just for a moment I was back at school And felt that old familiar pain And as I turned to make my way back home The snow turned into rain."

"An only child alone and wild A cabinet maker's son. His hands were meant for different work And his heart was known to none -- He left his home and went his lone and solitary way And he gave to me a gift I know I never can repay."

"Love when you can Cry when you have to... Be who you must That's a part of the plan Await your arrival With simple survival And one day we'll all understand... Your conscience awakes and you see your mistakes And you wish someone would buy your confession The days miss their mark and the night gets so dark"

"Dusty day dawning Three hours late Open the curtains And let the rest wait My mind goes running Three thousand miles east I may miss the harvest But I won't miss the feast... And it looks like you're gonna Have to see me again... Cause I've got a woman Who waits for me there And I need a breath of that Sweet country air"

"Changing horses in the middle of a stream Gets you wet and sometimes cold"

"I can see you in the distance And you're heading for a fall Sinking deeper by the minute You're about to lose it all... You better change Before the sun goes down You better leave Before you are the last in town You better raise Your fortresses or tear them down... Tear them down!"

"As the Raven Flies Lyrics I see the raven's made Her nest in your eyes She's got you thinking that Her love is a prize And you'll go under from The weight of her lies"

"Now the wind is still In a moment it will be raging Now my soul is young In a moment it will be aging And high above the pines I wrote several lines And left them in a bottle For you to find"

"Just yesterday morning, they let me know that you were gone. Suzanne, the plans they made put an end to you. I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song, I just can't remember who to send it to. I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend. But I always thought that I'd see you again."

"Take to the highway, won't you lend me your name? Your way and my way seem to be one and the same, child. Mamma don't understand it. She wants to know where I've been. I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool To want to pass that way again. But I could feel it On a country road."

"Won't you look down upon me, Jesus, You've got to help me make a stand. You've just got to see me through another day. My body's aching and my time is at hand And I won't make it any other way."

"And as the moon rises he sits by his fire Thinking about women and glasses of beer. And closing his eyes as the dogies retire, He sings out a song which is soft but it's clear, As if maybe someone could hear.Goodnight you moonlight ladies. Rockabye sweet baby James. Deep greens and blues are the colors I choose. Won't you let me go down in my dreams? And rockabye sweet baby James."

"In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina. Can't you see the sunshine? Can't you just feel the moonshine? Ain't it just like a friend of mine To hit me from behind? Yes, I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind."

"I’ve been walking my mind to an easy time, My back turned towards the sun. Lord knows the cold wind blows it’ll turn your head around. Well, there’s hours of time on the telephone line, To talk about things to come. Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground."

"Where do those golden rainbows end? Why is this song so sad? Dreaming the dreams I've dreamed my friend Loving the love I love To love is just a word I've heard when things are being said Stories my poor head has told me cannot stand the cold And in between what might have been and what has come to pass A misbegotten guess alas and bits of broken glass…"

"Do me wrong, do me right, Tell me lies but hold me tight, Save your goodbyes for the morning light, But don't let me be lonely tonight."

"Most everybody's got seed to sow It ain't always easy for a weed to grow, oh no. So he don't hoe the row for no one. Oh for sure he's always missing. And something is never quite right. Ah, but who would want to listen to you Kissing his existence good night."

"Sweet Baby James laid down the template for ‘singer-songwriter’ when he broke through in the early ‘70s, and has subsequently become an institution. Sensitive and fragile at first blush, Taylor’s songs have steel in the walls that have ensured they’ve passed the test of time. As fine a fingerpicker as there has been, and a songwriter of immense depth and emotional courage, James Taylor is an icon with good reason."

"I passed on the cocaine, Said bye-bye to my methadone. Put down the bottle for one more day. Backing off of my Tobacco Jones. Still I feel like a hopeless junkie, Like a man who can't say no. I look back and there's that monkey; Rascal won't let go."

"First kiss ever I took Like a page from a romance book. The sky opened and the earth shook."

"If I had stopped to listen once or twice If I had closed my mouth and opened my eyes If I had cooled my head and warmed my heart I'd not be on this road tonight."

"At that time my heart was all broke I looked like ashes and smelled like smoke. And I turned away from my loving kind Try to leave my body and live in my mind. But it's much too much emotion To hold it in your hand. They've got waves out on the ocean They're gonna wear away the land."