Our Mother The Mountain

By townes van zandt

You're wakin' next to me
Tears splash across the sun
You whisper soft to me
That i ain't the only one
To breathe your yellow hair
Caress your bosom fair
Do you think i really care?
Do you think it matters?


What do your feelin's mean?
Do you think i'd love more
If you stood pure and clean
Of those you'd known before
Would your words be sweeter then
Upon november's wind
If you began again
Could your smile be softer?
Would your eyes more brightly shine?
Would your laughter be so tender
If you'd been only mine
For as long as you remember?


I don't want tears from you
Don't build your love on shame
All what we've done is through
And all we can do remains
My lady can't you see
I love not jealously
But for all you are to me
And all you'll be tomorrow

By townes van zandt

When she had twenty years she turned to her mother
Saying mother, i know that you'll grieve
But i've given my soul to st john the gambler
Tomorrow comes time leave
For the hills cannot hold back my sorrow forever
And dead men lay deep 'round the door
The only salvation thats mine for the asking
So mother, think on me no more


Winter held high round the mountains breast
And the cold of a thousand snows
Lay heaped upon the forests leaf
But she dressed in calico
For a gambler likes his women fancy
Fancy she would be
And the fire of her longing would keep way the cold
And her dress was a sight to see


But the road was long beneath the feet
She followed her frozen breath
In search of a certain st john the gambler
Stumbling to her death
She heard his laughter right down from the mountains
And danced with her mothers tears
To a funeral drawn a calico
'neath the cross of twenty years


To a funeral drawn a calico
'neath the cross of twenty years

By townes van zandt

Mr ten dollar man
Let me tell where you're bound
Drink your green liqour, lord
You'll roll to the ground
But you come around here
With your money in your hand
Taste of my woman
Well, you die where you stand


Snake mountain blues
Got me down low
I could die in the morning
But noone would know
When my woman come around
My body she'd find
Go down to dundee
Have her a time


Snake mountain gonna crumble
And fall from the sky
Before that woman of mine
Stops tellin' her lies
If i'd die, lord, she'd weep
She'd weep and she'd mourn
Soon as i's buried
Forget i'd been born


Love of blackskin woman
She won't do you no wrong
Slow to start moaning
She don't moan for long
Yellow headed woman
Brings nothing but pain
Take all you give her
She leaves only shame


My daddy, lord, he rides
On a long holy train
First winds of winter
I see him again
In this farewell to this
Yellow headed misery i've known
Snake mountain's calling
Calling me home


Snake mountain blues
Got me down low
I could die in the morning
But noone would know
When my woman come around
My body she'd find
Go down to dundee
Have her a time

By townes van zandt

My home is colorado
With their proud mountains tall
Where the rivers like gypsys
Down her black canyons fall
I'm a long, long way from denver
With a long way to go
So lend an ear to my singing
Cause i'll be back no more


I left as a young man
Not full seventeen
With nothin' for company
But the wind and a dream
'bout all the fast ladies
And livin' i'd find
When i left my proud mountains
And rivers behind


So i rolled and a-rambled
Like a leaf in the wind
Well, i found my fast ladies
And some hard livin' men
Well, i sometimes went hungry
With my pockets all bare
Lord, i sometimes had good luck
With money to spare


I made me some friends, lord,
That i won't soon forget
Some are down under
And some are rambling yet
But as for me
I'm headed for home
Back to high colorado
Never more for to roam


So friends, when my time comes
As surely it will
You just carry my body
Out to some lonesome hill
And lay me down easy
Where the cool rivers run
With only my mountains
'tween me and the sun


My home is colorado

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

By townes van zandt

Her face was crystal
Fair and fine
Her breath was morning
Her lips were wine
Her eyes were laughter
Her touch divine
Her face was crystal
And she was mine


If only she
Could feel my pain
But feelin' is a burden
She can't sustain
So like a summer thursday
I cry for rain
To come and turn
The ground to green again


If only she
Could her my songs
'bout the empty difference
'tween the rights and wrongs
Then i know that i
Could stand alone
As well as they
Now that she's gone


Her face was crystal
Fair and fine
Her breath was morning
Her lips were wine
Her eyes were laughter
Her touch divine
Her face was crystal
And she was mine