Eternal & Lowdown
Three Days Straight
Three Days Straight
I’m going down to the police station
Just go on and turn myself in
For all the bad things I been doing
Then maybe I won’t do ‘em again
7 old dogs in the backyard
6 cat gut strings on an old guitar
3 days straight I been puttin’
Everything I own in an old mason jar
I went down to the mobile depot
Wanted to see Mr. Garfields’ train
All I saw was people cryin’
Creosote smoke and falling rain
7 last words to the faithful
6 shades of gray on a piece of wood
3 days straight I been sinking,
I ain’t been doing what I should
I went down to see the fortuneteller,
Gonna get my future read
She looked at my hand, said “It’s bad”
Crossed her eyes and fell back dead
7 miles as the crow flies
6 black birds flying somewhere
3 days straight I been thirsty, it’s gettin’ to where I don’t care
So I been standing in muddy water
Waitin’ for the sun to shine
I ain’t been doin’ what I ought to
Ol’ crystal ball don’t sympathize
7 x 7 is 49
6 x 9 is 54
3 days straight I been thinkin’,
Well I ain’t gonna do that no more
Written By Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP), Administered by Bug Music
The Sleep of the Just
The Sleep of the Just
There always is consequences
For every thing that I do
I been awake here now all night
Shaking like the apostles used to do
Looks like I’ll never know, I’ll never know the sleep of the just
Each and every night is worrisome
Miseries cross my mind I declare
I guess it could be a guilty conscience
Who’d a thought I could ever care?
Looks like I’ll never know, I’ll never know the sleep of the just
Have mercy Lord, have mercy
I just can’t shed these blues
Both you and I know I can’t be fixed
With bailing wire, nails or screws
I thought I heard a voice calling
Outside my window at the break of day
Said, “Be much obliged when you’re leaving”
Things just ain’t going my way
Looks like I’ll never know the sleep of the just
So I been walking round in circle
Look at these holes in my shoes
The reason I’m leaving Houston
Ain’t nothing here left I can use
Looks like I’ll never know, I’ll never know the sleep of the just
Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)
Administered by Bug Music
Mississippi Flush
Mississippi Flush
Well they got a little game called 5-card draw
They take it serious in Arkansas
You can make a little money wagering on cards
You can’t get to heaven living this hard
Deliver me from my sorrow and shame
Release me from my burden and pain
It’s a one eyed jack and a suicide king
Ace of spades and two black queens
Never draw to an inside straight
I feel a ten knocking at the gate
Deliver me from my sorrow and shame
Release me from my burden and pain
Blackbird, blackbird fly away home
Say a prayer over St. John’s bones
Tell the gamblers they’re gonna die alone
Blackbird, blackbird fly away home
Blackbird, blackbird come back again’
Don’t tell mamma where I been
Going to the river and I’m gonna jump in
Blackbird, blackbird come back again
It’s an ace high straight and all the same suit
Read ‘em and weep this hand can’t lose
Somebody said “That ain’t good enough,
That don’t beat a Mississippi flush”
Mr. Ledbetter will you tell me again
What’s a Mississippi flush and how’s it beat this hand
He said “They don’t ask questions in the graveyard
It’s a small revolver and any five cards”.
Written By Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)
Administered by Bug Music
Sugar Cane
Sugar Cane
From where I stand it looks like rain off the coast of Louisiana
It’s gonna get bad and wet all the way up to Atlanta
Run tell mama here comes the storm, and put on your flyin’ shoes
Levy’s gonna break and the bottom’s gonna flood
That’ll get you some Delta blues
Might be the devil playin’ a little game
I can’t stand this old rain
Need a little something to ease the pain
Oh Lord have a little mercy on the sugar cane
If the world was the way it was, no God would be required
Now the woman comes along and something is to be desired
There ain’t a lot of praying going on in the houses on St. LaRue
It’s money for the bump and the grind, and that’ll get you some Delta blues
I heard it told, I didn’t see it myself, I guess it could be a lie
I‘ve come to believe it’s the Gospel truth, so help me hope to die
If you want a little more than this old world’s got and don’t care what you lose
Go down to the crossroads, make a little deal and get you some Delta blues
Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP) Administered by Bug Music
Nighttime
Nighttime
Down in New Orleans, they say there’s two kind of people in the world
The day people and the night people
And it’s the night people’s job to get the day people’s money.
Nighttime is when I come around
Nighttime is when I come around
I get right when the sun goes down
Nighttime is when the neon comes on
Nighttime is when the neon comes on
When the sun goes down is when we shake and moan
Nighttime is for hi-jinx and kicks
Nighttime is for hi-jinx and kicks
Go downtown and hear some greasy guitar licks
Waste some time hanging out with Gurf Morlix
Pretty soon I gotta get back to New Orleans
And make a little money
Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP) Administered by Bug Music
Black Dog
Black Dog
Well you call me a dog when I’m gone honey babe
It’s black dog when I’m gone
When I get back with a hundred dollar bill
It’s “Daddy where you been so long”
I was born in old Kentucky
Raised in Tennessee
Any old place I hang my hat
Looks like home to me
My daddy taught me to gamble
Told me to bet on the deuce and trey
When I see my last deal go down
I’m gonna bet on the old deuce and trey
I roll my dice in Cuba
Dealt my cards in Spain
When I hear some lonesome whistle blow
I jump on an old freight train
Well you call me a dog when I’m gone honey babe
It’s black dog when I’m gone
When I get back with a hundred dollar bill
It’s “Daddy where you been so long”
Joyride
Joy Ride
Understand I was not lookin’ whereby to fall in love
I’d come downtown to check out this band at The Continenetal Club
When a Mamie Van Doren looking woman come in the door
I don’t know if she had seen the light, she seemed at home in the dark
She was untamed youth, rebellion and truth and so much more
Her eyes met mine and it was like the time they split the atom apart
She could have had any biker in the bar but she come up to me
She said “You’re done sleeping around, from now on you’re with me”
Understand I did not know if this was my last or my lucky day
She said “You wanna go for a joy ride or you wanna stand here and pray”
I thought about my choices and I guess I could have said no
She had and old Camero with naga hide tuck and roll
It was just a band I’d come to see, so I mumbled let’s go
She said “You can’t live down in Texas if you don’t have a lot of soul”
The stereo blasting Mendicino by Doug Sahm
She said “Fasten your seatbelt, you’re with me from now on”
Understand I was not sleeping at the next day’s sunrise
This joy ride angel and I stayed up all night I guess it’s no surprise
When we got to her house said “Go on and take off your shoes,
I don’t smoke afterwards I prefer to listen to blues”
“I know you’re an old root rocker and that’s a compliment”
When she said “Do you want to hear some Slim Harpo”,
I knew she was heaven sent
In her fine presence is where I want to be
I’m done sleeping around
From now on she’s with me
Written By Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP), Administered by Bug Music
Weevils
Weevils
John the Revelator’s knocking at my door
John the Revelator’s knocking at my door
Got an “O” Resonator made in 1934
Weevils in my cotton, crows in my corn
Weevils in my cotton, crows in my corn
You say my Redeemer wears a crown of thorns
I know a woman make a freight train moan
I know a woman make a freight train moan
Combs her hair with catfish bones
I threw a nickel in a wishing well
I threw a nickel in a wishing well
If I get to heaven time will tell
Going where the water taste like wine
Going where the water taste like wine
Water in Texas here taste like turpentine
Weevils in my cotton, crows in my corn
Weevils in my cotton, crows in my corn
You say my Redeemer wears a crown of thorns
You say my Redeemer wears a crown of thorns
Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP) Administered by Bug Music
Don’t Bother Asking Me
Don’t Bother Asking Me
I been walking out in the sun
The reason is my old car don’t run
Busted windshield, four flat tires
One day I just up and set the damned thing on fire
Don’t bother asking me I wouldn’t tell you if I knew
I don’t know why I do what I do, I just do
I been writing all these songs
Believed I was done, I was wrong
So I got me an old mandolin
I hit this chord and then I up and hit it again
Don’t bother asking me I wouldn’t tell you if I knew
I don’t know why I do what I do, I just do
For heaven’s sake, for crying out loud
The sun just went behind the clouds
Now you can’t tell me I don’t care
It’s just I’d rather cast a spell than say a prayer
Don’t bother asking me I wouldn’t tell you if I knew
I don’t know why I do what I do, I just do
Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard
2000 Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP) Administered by Bug Music Group
Didn’t Have a Prayer
Didn’t Have A Prayer
I used to take comfort
From the loneliness with whiskey
It tore up my soul
And it turned against me
I stood at the fire with my hand on the knife
Didn’t have a prayer to save my life
I stood at the crossroads with tears in my eyes
I’d come as far as I could bring me
I could not live and I could not die
There was darkness all around me, no sun up in the sky
Didn’ t have a prayer to save my life
I wasn’t looking for something to fall from the sky
I’d come to believe just what I see with my eyes
I wasn’t looking for nothing but love from the start
I need to get me, I got to find me, I got to have me
A little peace in my heart
I stood in spiritual rags
Blinded by the dust of pride
Poisoned by my own cold, cold heart
And the shallow reign of my life
In the distance there was thunder
I saw the lightning strike twice
I threw out a little prayer
I threw out a little prayer
Threw out a little prayer, not expecting a reply
Written By Ray Wylie Hubbard
1994 Snake Farm Publishing (SESAC), Administered by Bug Music