TOM OVANS    DEAD SOUTH LYRICS

KILLING ME Train whistle blowing over the hill Sun going down but the day is still Walk that line, dig that ditch Do everything to keep the rich man rich   Gabriel, Gabriel blow your horn I ain't alive I ain't even been born Jesus, Jesus where you be In the name of Christ you're killing me   I ain't a kid you know I've been around I've seen lots of good men cut down I've been soaked in oil, I've been washed in blood I've been through the fires, I've been through the floods   Gabriel, Gabriel blow your horn I ain't alive I ain't even been born Jesus, Jesus where you be In the name of Christ you're killing me   Well I'm going south, I'm going deep I'm going where nobody sleeps I'll pop these pills, I'll take a drink I don't care what nobody thinks   Gabriel, Gabriel blow you horn I ain't alive I ain't even been born Jesus, Jesus where you be In the name of Christ you're killing me

1945   The changing of the guard brought only grief There was no place to run there was no relief We only did what we had to   Saw you in the station hair full of rain I was just a soldier in between trains I guess there was something about you   In a run down bar we had a few drinks In a room down the hall we crossed the brink And I never felt like that before   But the morning came like the days ahead As the war raged on and we buried the dead And nothing was ever the same no more   Now many years have gone I'm just an old man Living in an age I don't understand Everything seems to be about greed and fame   But sometimes at night when the city's asleep I sit by the window and let my memories weep And realize I never knew her name       RITA, MEMPHIS AND THE BLUES   Hanging on the corner working for the man Running these numbers, pushing cocaine Going up to Memphis to sing me some blues Oh pretty baby I'm tired of being used Rita Where you been so long Rita Where you been so long   Down by that river in the middle of the night Tumbled them dice right into a fight When the smoke cleared now I'm telling you the truth You pull a gun on someone you just better shoot Rita Where you been so long Rita Where you been so long   Shackles on my feet, hounds on my trail Made it all the way from that county jail Then I took a wrong turn in the wrong part of town Now I'm coughing blood up man I'm going down Rita Where you been so long Rita Where you been so long   Well listen up friend don't say another word You ain't seen me why you ain't even heard Go tell my mother, my poor sister too I'm still up in Memphis, still singing them blues Rita Where you been so long Rita Where you been so long EXILE Standing on this highway standing on this road I'm standing where nobody ever goes I can hear the thunder, I can hear the rain I can hear the wind crying, and the pain   Baby I'm calling you not because I still care I just had to know you're still there Honey ain't it scary, honey ain't it strange How things get started how people change   Man of love, man of hate I just don't know how much more of this I can take Well here we go again blame the rich, blame the poor Seems like I've seen this movie before   Now honey don't say it, don't break this spell I just had to talk can't you tell And I'll be alright, I'll be okay You know I was just leaving anyway       PRAY FOR ME   Pray for me my darling one Pray for me my darling one You know I'm out here I'm on the run   Got me a bottle, got me some smoke Got me a bottle, got me some smoke Gonna take me a drink, gonna take me a toke   They say I killed him in the first degree They say I killed him in the first degree Well if you call that murder then I guess I'm guilty   Couldn't take no more what he done to you Couldn't take no more what he done to you I only did what any man would do   So pray for me my own true love Pray for me my own true love Cause you know it'll be you I'll be thinking of       BETTER OFF ALONE   Clock strikes five the watch says ten Phone is ringing but there's nobody in Oh babe better off alone   Went to the corner to get some beer Didn't see you or nobody there Oh babe better off alone   Well the word is out up and down the street Summer's coming he's bringing the heat My throat is dry my thirst is gone I'm walking on water but I'm sinking like a stone   Got me a book, got me a gun Got me a race I don't have to run Oh babe better off alone   Well I had me friend from a long time ago What happened to him I still don't know Gonna take me a trip down across the track If I bet myself lucky I ain't coming back   Looking out the window waiting on the change Watching the kids all selling cocaine Oh babe better off alone       IN THE RAIN   It was long ago and far away another place, another day When dreams were easy and love was just a state of mind She was young she was pretty looked like a girl from the city But he was tough and afraid of wasting time So he ran away and he hid out on the road Left her heart burning at the stake But he's driving back tonight got to see if she's alright He's wondering if it's not to late   He grew up in a little town Friday nights drinking friends down Gambling money waking up alone He met her in a little bar, sweetest thing he ever saw Took her out 'til one night he took her home But she made him promise that he would never leave Never break her heart in two But he'd never been here before, soon ran out of words to say He did the worst thing a man could do   Find a man with lots of luck never trust one who smiles to much Mamma always use to say to her So out she went like a little girl with her head full of curls Looked at love as a friend never saw the danger And down the stairs she fell her body choked with pain By a memory that she could not erase Time and love they'll work as foes until one finally knows And gets used to its bitter taste   He finally reaches the door knocks twice and then once more Standing there shivering in the cold She opens up he sees a face but he can't find a trace She looks like somebody he don't know And she tells him he must leave must leave for she wants to sleep And that he's not the right man for her He falls back into the night races away out of sight With a feeling that's just to much to bear   She turns out the light not so sure what she did was right Once she would of cried but now she just stares Into the maze of the dark listens to her pounding heart And tells herself she doesn't have to care And the city lights can be so cruel and couples seem so unreal Especially when you got no one who waits Pours himself another shot from an old bottle of scotch A drink he never thought he'd have to take   And I myself in all my travels and all the clues that have unraveled Have come to see and know more and more But one thing that remains unclear a question that I always hear Without love what are we living for Do you try to convince yourself in all the things you don't believe Or do you just become drunk from the pain Standing there like a stone captured into a life alone Just another teardrop in the rain       HERE SHE COMES   You know I've been cheated so misused You know I've been left for dead all along this avenue Well you know it don't matter no not at all Cause I, I just heard my baby call   Here she comes Here she comes Here she comes My baby for me   You know all over this town doors slam in my face Cause I don't play the game, don't worship their race But you know that shit don't matter no not at all Cause I, I just heard my baby call   Here she comes Here she comes Here she comes My baby for me   Well you know they say there's a darkness that's coming across this land You know they say the end is near and a new day is at hand Well you know I can't be thinking about that stuff no not right now at all Cause I, I just heard my baby call   Here she comes Here she comes Here she comes My baby for me   Here she comes Here she comes Here she comes My baby for me   Lord have mercy Lord have mercy Lord have mercy For my baby and me   THE FOLKSINGER   Now what did I say you know I've lost track of it all I was just some kind of gypsy headed for a fall And when the rains came down you know I fought real hard Now my days are numbered there's been a changing of the guard   I was bound for glory as I rambled and roamed Said good bye to my Ma, turned my back on my home And I sang out my songs on the streets of Babylon And I watched one by one 'til all my friends were gone   Now I'm standing here with got no place to go And the wind's blowing hard and the night's turning cold And as I look around I feel like some old dinosaur I guess you are what you are then you are no more   So baby before you hang up the phone Remember me sometime when you're all alone For I'll be out there somewhere still playing this guitar Maybe in a foreign country or drunk in some bar     SONG FOR THE HOMELESS   The lights are all shinning on this city tonight But everything is not as bright as it seems For deep in the shadows on streets dark and narrow Lives the other side of the American dream   Ah but you who are hungry for you who are homeless For you who are troubled and down This world don't much care about its children Lost on the streets of its towns   Now I've heard the preacher and I've heard the politician Make headlines about once every year But when the money's collected and the votes are all counted Ain't it funny how compassion disappears   Ah but you who are hungry for you who are homeless For you who are troubled and down This world don't much care about its children Lost on the streets of its towns   Well the night's almost over and all of the party goers Go back to houses safe and warm With no idea what it's like to spend every night Not knowing if you'll ever see the dawn   Ah but you who are hungry for you who are homeless For you who are troubled and down This world don't much care about its children Lost on the streets of its towns     REAL TELEVISION   Photograph your brain boy carry it like a passport So when you become disconnected you'll have some paper support Turn around fast girl before they turn the switch off Before the buttons are pushed before the hype begins to stop Last night I had a dream babe last night I had a vision There was a blackout down below and I saw some real television   I got a heartache in my ankle I got bitten by a snake Poison on my fingertips and a fever I can't shake Well here comes another future another virtual blast Dancing girls and flapping lips some more icons falling fast Last night I had a dream babe last night I had a vision   I could hear the walls whispering and I saw some real television Cars and trucks crashing through the gates Everybody wants to save us by stealing all they can take Hate crimes on the airways human cargo on the road Sons and daughters all waiting for that latest basket case to explode   There was garbage in the alley broken bottles everywhere I'd seen blood in her eyes man barbed wire in her hair Ambulances were screaming as we stood there in a trance Then the cameras zoomed in and the truth never had a chance Last night I had a dream babe last night I had a vision I could smell the bodies burning and I saw some real television   No use having an opinions no use having a thought The saviors have all been slaughtered all your heroes have all been bought You can't trust nobody you can't even trust yourself For when trouble comes you know you're gonna be blaming someone else   I was stranded on the highway a thousand miles below I'd seen the death of the hustler and the auctioning of his soul I ran up to the hill stood beneath the acid sky Then I heard his voice and the last words he cried Last night I had a dream babe last night I had a vision I could feel the earth shaking and I saw some real television     JAMES DEAN COMING OVER THE HILL   The sky is blue the sky is black John Train he ain't ever coming back   Papa was a rolling stone Now he ain't nothing but a coughing bag of bones   Hang around this old town They'll build you up just to cut you back down   Going down to New Orleans Gonna to make a deal gonna get myself clean   Hey babe got my eye on you A rambling girl knows all about these blues   Jesus saves Jesus kills James Dean coming over the hill     DROWNING MAN   Somebody better tell me Before I go insane They say there's a darkness coming They say it's going to rain They say it's going to rain dear They say it's going to rain   You see I met this stranger Out on the lonesome road He said this world was doomed And I better save my soul I better save my soul dear I better save my soul   So I went to the river And I threw myself in Only to discover That I could not swim That I could not swim dear No I could not swim   So now I stand before y'all I hope you understand I don't mean no trouble I'm just a drowning man I'm just a drowning man dear I'm just a drowning man

All songs © 1997 Tom Ovans Except "Here She Comes" © 1986 Tom Ovans

back to dead south back to ovans releases

nsr home    tom ovans   lou ann bardash   catalogue   links    contact nsr