Our Mother The Mountain

By townes van zandt

My lover comes to me with a rose on her bosom
The moon's dancin' purple
All through her black hair
And a ladies-in-waiting she stands 'neath my window
And the sun will rise soon
On the false and the fair


She tells me she comes from my mother the mountain
Her skin fits her tightly
And her lips do not lie
She silently slips from her throat a medallion
Slowly she twirls it
In front of my eyes


I watch her, i love her, i long for to touch her
The satin she's wearin'
Is shimmering blue
Outside my window her ladies are sleeping
My dogs have gone hunting
The howling is through


So i reach for her hand and her eyes turns to poison
And her hair turns to splinters,
And her flesh turns to brine
She leaps cross the room, she stands in the window
And screams that my first-born
Will surely be blind


She throws herself out to the black of the nightfall
She's parted her lips
But she makes not a sound
I fly down the stairway, and i run to the garden
No trace of my true love
Is there to be found


So walk these hills lightly, and watch who you're lovin'
By mother the mountain
I swear that it's true
Love not a woman with hair black as midnight
And her dress made of satin
All shimmering blue

By townes van zandt

It's plain to see, the sun won't shine today
But i ain't in the mood for sunshine anyway
Maybe i'll go insane
I got to stop the pain
Or maybe i'll go down to see kathleen.


A swallow comes and tells me of her dreams
She says she'd like to know just what they mean
I feel like i could die
As i watch her flying by
Ride the north wind down to see kathleen.


Stars hang high above, the oceans roar
The moon is come to lead me to her door
There's crystal across the sand
And the waves, they take my hand.
Soon i'm gonna see my sweet kathleen.


Soon i'm gonna see my sweet kathleen.

By townes van zandt

The name she gave was caroline
Daughter of a miner
Her ways were free
It seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her


She came from spencer
Across the hill
She said her pa had sent her
'cause the coal was low
And soon the snow
Would turn the skies to winter


She said she'd come
To look for work
She was not seeking favors
And for a dime a day
And a place to stay
She'd turn those hands to labor


But the times were hard, lord,
The jobs were few
All through tecumseh valley
But she asked around
And a job she found
Tending bar at gypsy sally's


She saved enough to get back home
When spring replaced the winter
But her dreams were denied
Her pa had died
The word come down from spencer


So she turned to whorin' out on the streets
With all the lust inside her
And it was many a man
Returned again
To lay himself beside her


They found her down beneath the stairs
That led to gypsy sally's
In her hand when she died
Was a note that cried
Fare thee well... tecumseh valley


The name she gave was caroline
Daughter of a miner
Her ways were free
It seemed to me
That sunshine walked beside her

By townes van zandt

She came and she touched me
With hands made of heaven
Reflections sent spinnin'
Through a face laced in mist
Now i stand where she left me
Buried deep 'neath her shadow
And the mirror plead sadly
Does it all come to this
And i wonder: will she call my name?


The wind careens madly
Through wide windows paneless
Fragrancies mingle
In a room full of shade
The peons pick partners
And waltz cross the ceilings
But the violins whisper
That i've been betrayed
Tryin not to look ashamed


The drunkards drink deeply
From cups full of nothingness
Ghost lovers laugh
At the games that they play
The moments do somersaults
Into eternity
Cling to their coattails
And beg them to stay
Saying i got nothing to hide


Illusions projected
On walls made of tiffany
Mad men you adds to
A sad satin song
A harlequin mandolins
Harmonize helplessly
Hoping that endlessly
Won't last for long
Praying that their god ain't dying


Then i turn and i see her
In a dress made of moonlight
Teardrops like diamonds
Run slow down her face
Her arms surround me
Like chains made of velvet
And the demons fall faithfully
Into their place
And the rivers run with jewels


Now the morning lies open
The night went quite quickly
Memory harmlessly
Fractures and fades
All the poets do push-ups
On carpets of rubber foam
Loudly they laugh
At some joke that's been made
And the wise men speak like fools

By townes van zandt

Like silent she stands
Like laughter she falls
From a castle of sand
Like a memory she crawls
And the mockingbirds grieve
'cause they can't make her cry
They'll soon start to believe
That the lady has died
What it all goes to show
It ain't my job to say
For who am i to know
Why she's actin' this way


Once again turn away
If you're sure that it's done
Tell your prophets to pray
Tell your bandits to run
Take your eyelids of stone
They won't do you no harm
Take your cross made of bones
Take your your fly-paper arms
And when everything's placed
In your coffin and go
Through a scarf 'round your face
'cause the subway gets cold
Pack up your sunflower smile
And your bandana blues
Take your worthless denials
They're all you've got left to lose
Take your tinkerbell lies
And your weary desires
Take the tears in your eyes
Take your cup full of fire
Give your lover a call
If your legs start to fail
And he'll come break your fall
With a bed full of nails


No need to glance back again
There ain't nothin' to see
Just this drunken old man
And this woman and me
And you've made it quite plain
That we're just wastin' time
And you say that it seems strange
That i'm staying behind
But you don't worry 'bout me
I can make it alone
'cause i got no place to be
And i ain't far from home