Dave Alvin

When I was young I never needed anyone And making love was just for fun Those days are gone Living alone I think of all the friends I've known But when I dial the telephone Nobody's home All by myself Don't wanna be all by myself anymore All by mysel...

Sundown on the San Joaquim An old woman walks home from work Another day in the fields another day in the dirt She lights a sacred candle Next to a faded photograph And she says a prayer for a man Who fell between the cracks She stares at the photo of...

I got up this mornin', feelin' sad and blue I lost my baby now tell me, what I'm goin' to do You know I'm so lonesome, Way these blues keep doggin' me Yeah baby but that's all right, I will be up someday When my baby left me, she left me broken down She...

The pills you kept beside your bed Were never enough to ease your mind And the men who came then always left Not all of them treated you real kind You tried booze and God and cigarettes But nothing could keep you from crying Black Rose of Texas I hope...

Now you're gone, and it's hotels and whiskey and sad-luck dames And I don't care if they miss me, 'cause I never remember their names They say if you get far enough away, you'll be on your way back home Well, I'm down at the station, but I can't get on the tra...

Let your hair down, baby, and put your dirty nightgown on Let your hair down, baby, and put your dirty nightgown on Now let me stare at you, mama, 'til I don't know right from wrong The doors are locked, sweet mama, and there's no one else around Pour you...

Who will take the coal from the mines? Who will take the salt from the earth? Who'll take the leaf and grow it to a tree? Don't look now, it ain't you or me Who will work the fields with his hands? Who will put his back to the plow? Who'll take the moun...

Down on the riverbed Down on the riverbed Down on the riverbed I asked my lover for her hand A red tailed hawk circled overhead A red tailed hawk circled overhead A red tailed hawk circled overhead The church on the hill is what she said A monster cl...

I was born Everett Ruess I been dead for sixty years I was just a young boy in my twenties The day I disappeared. Into the Grand Escalante Badlands Near the Utah and Arizona line And they never found my body, boys Or understood my mind. I grew up in C...

I'm old, weak and grey and I'm running out of time Yeah, but you should have seen me, brother, when I was young and in my prime Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959 I was a steel working man with 2 kids and loving wife And the Union was strong, smokestacks burnin...

Another morning, another motel bed, Another city waiting up ahead, Light another menthol to clear my mind. Feelings andmemories I try to forget, Cause I always wanted to live without regrets, But, yeah, I still think of her from time to time. Is she stil...

When I was young, my mama told me She said, "Child, take your time Don't fall in love too quickly Before you know your mind" She held me 'round the shoulders In a voice so soft and kind She said, "Love can make you happy And love can rob you blind" H...

Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son" Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on" God say, "No." Abe say, "What?" God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin' you better run" Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"...

Why don't you tell me, lovin' mama, how you want you're rollin' done? Why don't you tell me, lovin' mama, how you want you're rollin' done? Lord, I give you satisfaction, now, if it's all night long Lord, I got up this morning just about the break of day...

I got a letter, it come to me by mail My baby says she's comin' home And I hope that she don't fail You know I feel so good Yes I feel so good Now I feel so good I feel like ballin' the jack I feel so good, I hope I always will I feel just like a jack...

Down in Houston, Texas, on the Christmas Night, With a gun in his hand and his nameup the lights He was young and handsome,the Prince of the Blues, In a shark-skin suit and aligator shoes. He was filledwith the women, who had come backstage, And he said:"...

It was a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind It was a dream, Lord, what a dream I had on my mind Now, and when I woke up, baby, not a thing there could I find I dreamed I went out with an angel, and had a good time I dreamed I was satisfied, and no...

Oh, I'll never swim Kern River again It was there that I met her It was there that I lost my best friend And now I live in the mountains I drifted up here with the wind I may drown in the still water But I'll never swim Kern River again I grew up in an...

I got the key to the highway, and I'm billed out and bound to go I'm gonna leave here runnin', 'cause walkin' is most too slow I'm goin' down on the border, now where I'm better known 'Cause woman you don't do nothin', but drive a good man 'way from home...

I was ridin' number nine Headin' south from Caroline I heard that lonesome whistle blow Got in trouble, had to roam Left my gal and left my home I heard that lonesome whistle blow Just a kid actin' smart I went and broke my darlin's heart I guess I was too y...

If I had a gun for every ace I have drawn I could arm a town the size of Abilene Don't you push me, baby 'Cause I'm all alone and you know I'm only in it for the gold All that I am askin' is for ten gold dollars And I could pay you back with one good han...

Manzanita growing wild on the hillsides Where sage and eucalyptus fill the air Through the years I dream of returning But in my heart the manzanitas there Her parents never liked it when I took her Walking in the canyons after sundown Through the cactus,...

Come on and saddle up boys 'cause the governor said He'll pay three thousand dollars for Murrietta's Head I hear Joaquin Murrietta's steals horses and gold Killed a sheriff in Mariposa or so I'm told He's the Devil's bloody bastard, wicked and no good But...

No Worries Mija, everything will be fine I'm gonna make us some money doing a drive cross the borderline It's a favor for a friend and it shouldn't take much time So No Worries Mija, everything will be fine No Worries Mija, 'cause I've done this job befor...

Pretty little one, how has it all begun? They're teaching you how to walk but you're already on the run Little one, what you gonna do? Little one, honey, it's all up to you Now your daddy's in the den shootin' up the evening news Mama's with a friend, lat...

The other kids called him Conejo 'cause he was fast on his feet And he was quick with his fists if he had trouble in the streets But when his old man would hit the bottle, he'd kick Conejo's ass So with a wounded heart Conejo swore he'd out run his past Ru...

Me and the boy's we cinched up our saddles And rode to Sonora last night Gun's hanging proud, daring out loud For anyone looking to fight Card cheats and rustlers would run for their holes When the boys from the old broken O Rode up and reined on the st...

Early early one morning, water was comin' in my door Early one morning, water was comin' in my door It was the old high river, tellin' us to get ready and go It was dark and it was rainin', you could hear that howlin' wind It was dark and it was rainin',...

I got on a streetcar one day, the conductor held out his hand, You can't get no free ride here, man don't you understand You must have, stuff they call money You must have, down in your pocket You must have, the stuff they call money Don't you can't ride...

Little surfer, little one Made my heart come all undone Do you love me, do you surfer girl? Surfer girl, my little surfer girl I have watched you on the shore Standing by the ocean's roar Do you love me, do you surfer girl? Surfer girl, surfer girl [...

I choose not to see the things that be, Or the miles and years that are gone. I pay no heed to tomorrow's need, I'm blinded by the snow and the sun, 'til all I could see is my darlin' and me, Like young flowers bloomin' in spring. Like flowers that grew...

See that woman, her hands up over her head? Did you hear me, what I said? She's a truckin' little woman, don't you know. She's a truckin' little woman, don't you know. She's a truckin' little woman, here from Tennessee. Wake up, boys. Don't you be no fool...

Two Lucky Bums doing what we do Sitting in a bar and knocking back a few And taking life as it comes, Two Lucky Bums Ain't got much sense, ain't got much dough Ain't too good looking but somehow, you know, We've had our share of fun, Two Lucky Bums Been...

I've been fighting this guitar over 30 long years Until there's blood on my hands and ringing in my ears Sing my songs round the world, one end to the other But all anyone ask is What's up with your brother? I catch rattlesnakes with my bare hands Sang j...

I got a gal down in Georgia, one in Mississippi, too I got a gal down in Georgia, one in Mississippi, too Lord, I found out what that a little gal in New Orleans can do She said her mother was too young, an Indian was her dad She said her mother was too y...