Guy Clark was one of the most influential country songwriters.
He died three years ago on May 17, 2016. The songs of Guy Clark are touchstones
of great songwriting.
If I can just get off of this LA freeway
Without
getting killed or caught
I'd be down that road in a
cloud of smoke
For some land that I ain't
bought bought bought.
Standin' on the gone side of leavin'
She found a thumb and stuck it
in the breeze...
And she had a way of her own
Like prisoners have a way with
a file.
And it's country music in the park
and everybody's ruined.
And that old time feelin' rocks and spits and cries,
Like an old lover rememberin'
the girl with the clear blue eyes.
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen
And sang another verse to that
old song.
I have flown like a bird from each cage that confined me
And broken every one of the
ties that bind me.
It's all done with mirrors, of which they have none.
To blend the instant coffee
blues into the morning sun.
Too many days of fightin' the weather
And too many
nights of not being together
So he died... Let him roll.
I wish I had a dime for every bad time
But the bad times always seem
to keep the change.
Old Flint's boat is fine and she's called the Miss-Inclined
And there's no home port
painted on her stern.
I'd cried for every lesser thing
Whiskey, pain and beauty.
And you're really feeling fragile And you really can't get home
And you really feel abandoned But you want to be alone.
Some were one desk away from sweet freedom
Some were were torn from
someone they love.
It's time for a change I'm tired of that same ol' same
The same ol' words the same
ol' lines
The same ol' tricks and the
same ol' rhymes.
Now there's a pair to draw to boys
I would not steer you wrong.
I am just a poor boy, hmm Work's my middle name
If
money was the reason Well, I would not be the same.
So forgive me
all my anger Forgive me all my faults
There's no need to forgive me For thinkin' what I thought.
I got an ol' blue shirt And it suits me just fine
I like the way it feels So I wear it all the time.
One man's right is
another man's wrong,
One man's curse is another man's song
Hank Williams
said it best
He said it a long time ago
"Unless you have made no
mistakes in your life
Be careful of stones that you
throw".
He's one of those who knows that life Is just a leap
of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath
Always trust your
cape.
Ain't no money in poetry
That's what sets the poet free
I've had all the freedom I can
stand.
Here's to the bootleggers and the oilfield crews
Here's
to the one and all of us Red River fools.
What's the use in dyin' If you don't die tryin'
If you don't die tryin' What's the use.
It's once in a lifetime and it won't come again
It's here and it's gone on a
magnolia wind.
Give me some of that Soldier's Joy, ain't you got no more
Hand me down my walkin' cane I
ain't cut out for war.
You know life ain't easy It takes work…
When the final line
unfolds,
It don't always rhyme.
Some have given up, some have given in
Looks like everybody's looking
for a friend
Out in the parking lot.
Now there more to life than whiskey
There's more to words than
rhyme
Sometime nothing works
Sometimes nothing shines.
And I have stumbled in my time
I left my footprints down the road
And the part of me that shines
Ain't the part of me that's showed
Maybe I can paint over that.
My favorite picture of you Is the one where Your
wings are showing
Oh and your arms are crossed Your fists are clenched Not gone
but going.
I don't love you much do I I'd follow you to
hell and back again.
So much for the smell of the black powder smoke
And the stand in the street at
the turn of a joke.
So I hit a couple of chords In my old country
way of strumming.
Black Diamond Strings on a Catalog Guitar
That's pretty high cotton
whoever you are.
It don't matter how much it hurts
You've got to tell
the truth
Some days you write
the song
Some days the song
writes you.
To paraphrase The Guy:
