Jeannie C. Riley

They say you've found somebody new, But that won't stop my loving you. I just can't let you walk away, Forget the love I had for you. Guess I could find somebody, too, But I don't want no one but you. How can you leave without regret? Am I that easy to forget...

On the back side of Dallas in the dingy bar on a wornout stool she sits And her trembling hand thumbeles for another kingside filter cigarette She blows a puff of smoke then settles back and look across that light blue haze And from the back side of Dallas her...

Wintertime comes early to the north part of this state I walk along the river where we used to come and skate The trees're now all gone and by the river there's a sign Trespassin' is a twenty dollar fine Lookin' up the road toward the schoolhouse on the hill T...

I had a love he was mine said he'd love me all the time I was sure our love was pure if love can be Then one morning without warning truth came calling on me and her name was Louise I needn't tell you what she said I just wanted to be dead For she didn't show...

If he brings you happiness Then i wish you all the best It's your happiness that matters most of all But if he ever breaks your heart If the teardrops ever start I'll be there before the next teardrop falls Though it hurts to let you go I want you to know I'l...

The class reunion invitation was delivered to me today It brought back burning mem'ries of a happy yesterday I went to my cedar chest got down on my knees The chest that once was full of hope is now a box of memories As I carefully open up the box my mind wand...

A change of heart would ben' mine eventually a changin' of mind Be consider and you will find a change of heart would bein' mine Please realize it's not too late we're still the masters of our fate A type of love is hard to bein' find a change of heart would...

Children go run and jump and play you'll be men and women some day Then you'll have to leave your world of make believe now children Young carefree children Children need someone to understand children need someone to hold their hands yeah To cheer you when yo...

I was raised in the middle of the cotton belt babe but I ain't gonna stay I'll lose my shape fast draggin' cotton sacks and eatin' butter beans ever day Yeah I'm a sweet young thing I just turned eighteen and I'm unhookin' the latch Cause I've got too much cla...

New York is a long way from Texas Vegas is a long way from Abilene I spend lots of my time flying out to LA And if you've never been there you don't know how lonesome big towns can be Oh what I'd give to be a country girl again To be with my people my man and...

If I never love again I won't feel cheated You gave me more than I knew how to use From the day we met my journey was completed Even though my autum years won't be with you Seems like yeasterday we called each other darling Seems like yesterday you reached an...

A conscience never speaks above a whisper And mine would have to shout for me to hear I only ask again where can I meet you And a voice within me cries into deaf ears. I'm deaf dumb and blind to what I'm doing And you know that I'm yours at your command...

When my lips get kissed it's just from force of habit For a long long time I've known what's going on His pretending hasn't fooled me for a minute And it's duty not desire that brings him home My heart is a foot stool he uses and he only takes advantage of my...

Edna Burgoo wore a shoe size No 10 When the roll was called that fall and class was ready to begin She was five feet nine and showin' signs of growin' still some more Every time she'd sit down she bump her knees and knock her pencils on the floor There was one...

Sometimes I wish you were a fine feathered fowl And sometimes I wish I was a cat out on her midnight growl So if you were a bird you would sing from a cage And if I were a cat I could watch you all day And I know in my mind that you'd never get away If I were...

Oh the games people play now Every night and every day now Never meaning what they say now Never saying what they mean And they wile away the hours In their ivory towers Till they're covered up with flowers In the back of a black limousine La-da da da da da...

Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah When you see a little baby sittin' on his mama's lap Well it's just the beginnin' of a thing called the generation gap It's not the difference of age now everybody's talking bout It's all those no-no's that make up the...

Papa worked but his cheque was small Mama sewed just to help us all And our old house sure needed paint And when it rained the roof would leak Well the teacher's pet was Susie Grout Born with the silver spoon in her mouth Miss Goody-Two-Shoes in sovereignt...

I've got a lot of memories, To last me the rest of my life So if you don't want to love me, Baby that'll be alright I'm gonna take all the lovin' That I had for you Gonna take all the loneliness Sit right down to the blues I'm gonna give myself a party Serve...

You ask me if we con live together Marriage doesn't fit your way of life And you say that you'll be with me forever Well if that's true please make me your wife Cause if I'm good enough to be your woman good enough to share your life Good enough to live toget...

I want to tell you all a story 'bout a Harper Valley widowed wife Who had a teenage daughter who attended Harper Valley Junior High Well her daughter came home one afternoon and didn't even stop to play She said, "Mom, I got a note here from the Harper Valley...

I was born on a levy A little bit south of Montgomery Mama worked at the big house And daddy he worked for the County I never had no learnin' Until I turned 16 When Joe Henry come up the river, y'all And made a woman out of me Lord, he made a woman ou...

Take the ribbon from my hair.Shake it loose and let it fall Laying soft against your skin like the shadows on the wall Come and lay down by my side till the early morning light All I'm taking is your time help me make it through the night I don't care what's...

My troubled mind had planned to tell you no I'd stay here at home where I belong Then the phone starts to ring and my heart begins to sing How can anything so right be so wrong. The words I planned to say I can't recall Your voice only makes my love grow stro...

We were dancin' and he led just like you used to He squeezed my hand and he teased me just like you used to And so close to my lips the words came That I almost yes I almost called your name Yes I almost called your name In so many ways you both are the same...

Well, here we are together it's the first time in my life I have no business being here I'm someone else's wife But I like the way you look at me and the way you call my name I don't know what I'm doing here but I'm so glad I came. I don't know what I'm doing...

He was just every day plain as water or a piece of clay Why did I let him stay I love him Early morning the paper came he would run out in the rain He would kiss me on his way I love him Then for breakfast I'd make a mess burn his bacon and what was left His...

You look at me with respect and admiration You look at her with hunger and starvation But you say she's no good she's a woman of the world Well, your good girl's tired of bein' good while you're with her in her world. You want my dress below my knees and neve...

If you could read my mind love what a tale my thoughts could tell Just like an old time movie bout a ghost from a wishing well In a cast the dark or a fortress strong with chains upon my feet You know that ghost is me And I will never be set free as long as I'...

Mr Harper (what do you want) I feel sorry for you (oh yeah) Cause I understand the reason you drink and think what you do Mr Harper (what) your woman is weak (oh yeah) You can't hold up your head and walk down Harper Valley streets Mr Harper (yeah) you're the...

He's gotta shine kind of a smile And when he smiles at me I collect all warm inside Yes he's got me right where he wants me And I wouldn't trade him for the King of Siam Oh my no man knocked my man He's got a birddog and her name is Ruby And when I watch him...

While looking through an old scrapbook of mine I let the pages take me back through time Just an old scrapbook yellowed with age But a million old mem'ries still live on each page Memories that never will die from our first hello to our last goodbye Old souven...

Don't look at me that way you might destroy this tortured mind I haven't been kissed or held like this in such a long long time Don't hold me so close to you And look at me I know what you're thinking of Yes, I've been neglected and I'm starving for love. I'm...

The train whistle blew for Coal Road Crossin' in a few more minutes we'll pull into town I'll have to face the folks who'll come to meet us I'll try to keep the tears from fallin' down It won't be the way we always had it pictured the day me and daddy went awa...

No one ever lost more than I lost when I lost you No one ever lost more when you left for someone new She meant more to you than me so you told me starry eyed Leaving my heart to cry tears as you walked from my side. Goodbye to heaven was all that I could say...

Oh singer sing me an old song yeah Oh singer sing me an old song sing me an old song about cotton bales Tell me how the good earth feels down in the high white cotton yeah Cause in my life I'll never get to walk on my knees in the fields Oh singer sing about...

We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee We don't take our trips on LSD We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street Cause we like a living right and being free We don't make a party out of loving Cause we like holding hands and pitching woo We don't let our...

How much would you give me Mister pawnbroker For this one slightly used wedding band. Though parting will bring sorrow I can't face life tomorrow With this one slightly used wedding band. Just one slightly used wedding band The symbol of love's great co...

The teacher said it's time to think about the annual play To be put on next month and sponsored by the PTA Most of you have seen the script and now the question is Who would like to play the part of honey The part calls for a lady who was beauty wit and charm...

I keep the books at the country courthouse And answer phones of every kind from coast to coast Help keep the astronauts in space with complicated formules And give you echoes of my voice in song I wash your dishes iron your shirts and give you children And nev...

There are the roses and there are the thorns There's a time for happiness and there's a time to mourn There's a time to love then when love is faded and worn Oh oh instead of the roses there are the thorns Once there was spring and the flowers were gentle and...

I was born a way back in the hills in a shack the oldest child of ten On one hot and sultry day mama got sick and passed away Givin' birth to baby brother Ben I stood there and I cried as I watched my mama die I guess I was too young to understand Papa didn't...

We saw a sign Welcome Satan Place when we moved to town that day And rows of little white homes that looked like castles all along the way But after livin' there a while we found it wasn't what we thought at all They had a private little scandal goin' on behin...

When I am gone sing for me no sad songs plant no flowers at my head Feed the green grass that coveres me or a dew drop wet And I hope you'll remember even if I forget And sing me no sad songs and shed me no tears My eyes will be blinded my ears will not hear...

Sippin' Shirley Thompson is a gas Anytime you see her you can always count on Shirley for a glass She knows more words with just four letters than the dictionary ever had She uses them to color up the stories of the simple life she's led Sippin' Shirley Thomp...

From the seed of a lifetime to the harvest years A girl knows the bitter and sweet taste of tears The first love was a green love it was free and sincere It ended in heartbreak and the young taste of tears Then came the fool's love of life's wasted years Time...

It's so still I can't hear the pages that fall as I look through my yearbook again And I know I'll cry at the picture I see teardrops on page forty-three There's a picture of us on page forty-three together with you I wanted to be In the back of my book you wr...

You had quite good thing goin' with the girls you used to knowin' You went up and down your list just like a yo-yo And though it may be hard to stop it I'm afraid you'll have to drop it Cause if you want me to love you that's a no no I know you're used to goi...

It's a vicious circle he and I are loving in He loves everyone around but me Each time he leaves I say I'll never take him back again He comes back just when I'm feelin' weak. There goes my heart playing the part Of the most foolish heart in this whole town T...

There was a time I really thought it did some good To get down on my knees to you and I would But baby now that's all changed today's a brand new day And you ain't worth the price I pay to stay. Just because you're the best looking man that I've ever seen Ain...

Don't be troubled 'bout me cause I'm tired From workin' 'round the house When day is done Don't think you failed me cause you can't afford That dishwasher to make my life more fun You know, the measure of a man is Much more than just the money he can make And...

There was a time we'd sit in the backyard cause the house would get so hot From the summer sun there was no way of sleepin' And you'd play your old guitar we'd fight mosquitos and enjoy You backyard concerts for we had no television We'd just begun our life as...

The neigbor next door looks worried her face looks tired and hurried And she just told me that she couldn't go on The man she married for money has found another honey And that great big nice house has just become an ice house And she gets tired of staying all...

What about her, what about him What about the hearts we're gonna break Oh, I love you but what about them? What about him I made vows I'm not forsakin' them What about her you made vows that were the same What about the hearts we're gonna break when we t...

Oh what was her name she used to sit next to me in math Had the saddest eyes I'd ever seen and like me she was only sixteen What was her name she was so silent and strange Then the word leaked out and time brought about the truth and the tragedy began She was...

I know it's been a long time since my family moved away And I've been lookin' forward to this trip back here today I'd like to hear bout all the folks here in my old hometown Like whatever happened to Charlie Brown I see that Bobby Rosenbloom now runs his dadd...

See the moon above the mountain watch the stars light up the sky Oh wherever you are darling do you feel the same as I Tell your heart you know that I love you and I never see us to care Oh wherever you are my darling if I could I would be there Do you wherev...

Ask any young man in this town who is over thirteen To tell you about the things and places he's seen If he tells you somethin' bout women you haven't known You can attribute his knowledge of anatomy to widow Jones Well Jones-y was a gogo girl a little while b...

Some folks say he's comin' other say he came Some say he's a different colar some use the different name No matter what they're sayin' well it all comes up the same Who's leadin' the children who's takin' them home Who's leadin' the sheep to the promised land...

Everyday the memories of someone that was dear to me Keep running through my mind The thoughts of all the love we shared and all the little things you said That prove to me you cared Time will never take away the mem'ries if our yesterday I cherrish them all...

The weather was bad it was windy and rainin' outside So I decided to stay in clean my room and give a lift to my pride I was cleanin' out the corner of my closet and overturned a boxlid And there were my yearbooks and pictures and my yesterday friends On the v...

Let's write a song about the love that grew and then just died We'll tell about the times we laughed and the times we cried And it will be the saddest song that's ever heard You write the music, I'll write the words. You can tell of the love we knew with some...

Today I found your old love letters I burned them slowly one by one Before I'd light the flame I read them To try and find the wrongs I've done. The first you wrote me was the sweetest The last one broke my heart in two Now all alone I left you weeping For th...