A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt

By townes van zandt

There's no stronger wind than the one that blows
Down a lonesome railroad line
No prettier sight than looking back
On a town you left behind
There is nothin' that's as real
As a love that's in my mind


Close your eyes
I'll be here in the morning
Close your eyes
I'll be here for a while


There's lots of things along the road
I'd surely like to see
I'd like to lean into the wind
And tell myself i'm free
But your softest whisper's louder
Than the highways call to me


All the mountains and the rivers
And the valleys can't compare
To your blue lit dancin' eyes
And yellow shining hair
I could never hit the open road
And leave you layin' there


Lay your head back easy, love,
Close your cryin' eyes
I'll be layin' here beside you
When the sun comes on the rise
I'll stay as long as the cuckoo wails
And the lonesome bluejay cries.

By townes van zandt

Well, won't you lend your lungs to me?
Mine are collapsing
Plant my feet and bitterly breathe
Up the time that's passing.
Breath i'll take and breath i'll give
Pray the day ain't poison
Stand among the ones that live
In lonely indecision.


Fingers walk the darkness down
Mind is on the midnight
Gather up the gold you've found
You fool, it's only moonlight.
If you try to take it home
Your hands will turn to butter
You better leave this dream alone
Try to find another.


Salvation sat and crossed herself
Called the devil partner
Wisdom burned upon a shelf
Who'll kill the raging cancer
Seal the river at its mouth
Take the water prisoner
Fill the sky with screams and cries
Bathe in fiery answers


Jesus was an only son
And love his only concept
Strangers cry in foreign tongues
And dirty up the doorstep
And i for one, and you for two
Ai'nt got the time for outside
Just keep your injured looks to you
We'll tell the world we tried

By townes van zandt

I'm goin' out to denver
See if i can't find
I'm goin' out to denver
See if i can't find
That lovin' colorado girl of mine


The promise in her smile
Shames the mountains tall
The promise in her smile
Shames the mountains tall
She bring the sun to shining
Tell the rain to fall


It's been a long time, mama,
Since i heard you call my name
Ah, been a long time
Since i heard you call my name
I got to see my colorado girl again


Be there tomorrow
Mama, don't you cry
Be there tomorrow
Now, mama, don't you cry
I got to kiss these
Lonesome texas blues good-bye


I'm goin' out to to denver
See if i can't find
I'm goin' out to to denver
See if i can't find
That lovin' colorado girl of mine
That lovin' colorado girl of mine

By townes van zandt

The drunken clown's still hanging round
But it plain the laughter's all died down
The tears you tried so hard to hide
Are flowin'
A blind man with his knife in hand
Has convinced himself that he understands
I wish him well, miss carousel
But i gotta be a-goin'


Won't you come and get me when
You're sure that you don't need me then
I stand outside your window
And proudly call your name


The ladies been told that all of gold
Is worth so much it can't be sold
No time to weep she'll need her sleep
Tomorrow
When she carries her face to the market place
And bets it on the opening race
She can ring her bells, miss carousel,
But her singing brings me sorrow


It's always done every mother's son
Is shown that grown men never run
And so they fight with all the might
Inside them
When the battle's been fought and they all been taught
That the trick is just not being caught
Will you give them hell, miss carousel,
When they're begging you to hide them


When the need arose your eyes fell closed
You clamped your fingers round your nose
Would you say that's any way
To judge him
You haven't got the authority
To kill him in the first degree
But would you feel compelled, miss carousel,
If you have something to begrudge him


On a velvet beach far beneath the reach
Of those that come to pray and preach
The natural man who tries to stand
Is fallin
How long will it be before he sees
You own his legs but his mind is free
Only you can tell, miss carousel,
How long will he be crawling?


The castle walls has grown so tall
Seem there ain't no hope at all
To reach the top even though you stop
For breathin'
But i ain't gonna try to make you cry
The tear drops couldn't find your eye
It's all been swell, miss carousel,
But the time has come for leavin'

By townes van zandt

Well, the diamonds fades quickly when matched to the face of maria
All the harps they sound empty when she lifts her lips to the sky
The brown of her skin makes her hair seem a soft golden rainfall
That spills from the mountains to the bottomless depths of her eyes


Well, she stands all around me her hands slowly sifting the sunshine
All the laughter that linger down deep 'neath her smilin' is free
Well, it spins and it twirls like a hummingbird lost in the morning
And caresses the south wind and silently sails to the sea


Ah, the sculpter stands stricken and the artist he throws away his brushes
When her image comes dancin' the sun she turns sullen with shame
And the birds they go silent the wind stops his sad mournful singing
When the trees of the forest start gently to whisper'in her name


So as softly she wanders i'll desperately follow her footsteps
And i'll chase after shadows that offer a trace of her sight
Ah, they promise eternally that she lays hidden within them
But i find they've decieved me and sadly i bid them goodbye


So the serpent slide softly away with these moments of laughter
And the the old washy woman has finish her cleanin' and gone
But the bamboo hang heavy in the bondage of quicksilver daydreams
And a lonely child longingly looks for a place to belong