Steve Earle
Sidetracks lyrics

Last updated: 17 August 2002



Sidetracks coverSongs:
  • Some Dreams  (Steve Earle)  [from the movie soundtrack The Rookie]
  • Open Your Window  (Steve Earle)  [from the movie soundtrack Pay It Forward]
  • Me and the Eagle  (Steve Earle)  [from the movie soundtrack The Horse Whisperer]
  • Johnny Too Bad  (Winston Bailey, Roy Beckford, Derrick Leapold Crooks, Delroy George Wilson)  [with the V-Roys]
  • Dominick St.  (Steve Earle, Sharon Shannon)  [instrumental, with Sharon Shannon]
  • Breed(Kurt Cobain)
  • Time Has Come Today  (Joseph Chambers, Willie Chambers)  [with Sheryl Crow, from the movie soundtrack Steal This Movie]
  • Ellis Unit One  (Steve Earle)  [with the Fairfield Four, from the movie soundtrack Dead Man Walking]
  • Creepy Jackalope Eye  (Ed Daly, Dan Bolton, Dan Siegal, Ron Heathman)[with the Supersuckers]
  • Willin'(Lowell T. George)
  • Sara's Angel  (Steve Earle)  [instrumental]
  • My Uncle  (Gram Parsons, Chris Hillman)
  • My Back Pages  (Bob Dylan)


  • Some Dreams
    (Steve Earle)

    When I was a little guy
    My daddy told me "Mister,
    Don't ever try to climb too high
    'Cause it's the fall that gets ya
    And some dreams can never come true
    They'll never come true"

    Well, I heard every word he said
    But I don't guess I listened
    But every time I banged my head
    Against the wall insistin'
    That some dreams don't ever come true
    Don't ever come true
    But some dreams do
    If you just hang on
    And your heart is true
    And your hope is strong

    Well, just because you've been around
    And had your poor heart broken
    That's no excuse for lyin' down
    Before the last word's spoken
    'Cause some dreams don't ever come true
    Don't ever come true
    Aw, but some dreams do

    When you're feelin' low
    And you think you're through
    That's when you will know

    Yeah, when you wish upon a star
    Buddy, don't you miss it
    Catch it 'fore it falls too far
    Keep it with your secrets
    'Cause some dreams don't ever come true
    Don't ever come true
    Don't ever come true
    But some dreams do


    Open Your Window
    (Steve Earle)

    Just open your window
    On a night like tonight
    No matter which way the wind blows
    Let your heart out to ride
    High above all the care and woe
    In the world down below
    Just open your window
    Then you'll know where to go

    On a big city sidewalk
    All alone in a crowd
    No one listenin' when he talks
    To himself right out loud
    He was somebody's darlin' boy
    She held him close when he cried
    Just open your window
    And let him inside

    You may think that you're dreaming
    You may think you've gone blind
    If your eyes fail to see 'em
    Listen hard and you'll find
    There's a song that the angels know
    Ringin' true every time
    If you open your window
    Let the music inside


    Me And The Eagle
    (Steve Earle)

    The eagle looked down on the river below
    And he wrapped his wings round him and he fell like a stone
    And the big salmon fought but the talons held true
    And he shuddered as the world turned from silver to blue
    I stood there in awe though I'd seen it before
    I was born in these mountains and I'll die here for sure

    I've traveled around I've seen city lights
    But nothin' that shined like the big sky at night

    CHORUS:
    Some mornings will find me up above the timberline
    Lonesome don't seem like much once you're this high
    When it's all said and done I usually find
    Me and the eagle are of the same mind

    Now when I was young I took me a wife
    But she never took to the high country life
    So now I'm alone I don't really mind
    But her name echoes down from the canyon sometimes

    REPEAT CHORUS

    In my dreams there's a horse, he stands eighteen hands high
    He's as white as the snow and there's fire in his eyes
    And he'll bare only me though others have tried
    And together we'll travel up across the divide

    REPEAT CHORUS


    Johnny Too Bad
    (Winston Bailey, Roy Beckford, Derrick Leapold Crooks, Delroy George Wilson)

    Walkin' down the road with a pistol in your waist
    Johnny Too Bad, woh oh oh
    Walkin' down the road with a ratchet in your waist
    Johnny Too Bad, woh oh oh
    You're just robbin' and stabbin' and lootin' and shootin'
    Johnny Too Bad
    You're just robbin' and stabbin' and lootin' and shootin'
    Johnny Too Bad
    One of these days when you hear the voice say 'come'
    Where you gonna run to, woh oh oh
    One of these days when you hear the voice say 'come'
    Where you gonna run to, woh oh oh
    You're just runnin' to the rock for refuge
    But there will be no rock
    You're just runnin' to the rock for rescue
    And there will be no rock


    Dominick Street
    (Steve Earle)

    (instrumental)


    Breed
    (Kurt Cobain)

    I don't care
    I don't care
    I don't care
    I don't care
    I don't care
    Care if I'm old

    I don't mind
    I don't mind
    I don't mind
    I don't mind
    Mind
    Don't have a mind

    Get away
    Get away
    Get away
    Get away
    Get away
    Away from your home

    I'm afraid
    I'm afraid
    I'm afraid
    I'm afraid
    Fraid, of a ghost

    Even if you have
    Even if you need
    I don't mean to stare
    We don't have to breed
    We can plant a house
    We can build a tree
    I don't even care
    We could have all three

    She said
    She said
    She said


    Time Has Come Today
    (Joseph Chambers, Willie Chambers)

    Time has come today
    Young hearts can go that way
    Can't put it off another day
    I don't care what others say
    They say we don't listen anyway
    Time has come today
    The rules have changed today
    I have no place to stay
    Thinking about the subway
    The love has flown away
    My tears have come and gone
    Oh my lord, I have to roam
    I have no home
    I have no home

    Now the time has come
    No place to run
    I might get burned up by the sun
    But I had my fun

    I've been loved and put aside
    I've been crushed by tumbling tide
    And my soul has been psychedelicized

    Now the time has come
    There are things to realize
    Time has come today
    Time has come today
    Time


    Ellis Unit One
    (Steve Earle)

    I was fresh out of the service
    It was back in ‘82
    I raised some Cain when I come back to town
    I left to be all I could be
    Come home without a clue
    Now, I married Dawn and had to settle down

    So I hired on at the prison
    Guess I always knew I would
    Just like my dad and both my uncles done
    And I worked on every cell block
    Now, things're goin' good
    But then they transferred me to Ellis Unit One

    Swing low
    Swing low
    Swing low and carry me home

    Well, my daddy used to talk about them long nights at the walls
    And how they used to strap ‘em in the chair
    The kids down from the college and they'd bring their beer ‘n all
    ‘N when the lights went out, a cheer rose in the air

    Well, folks just got too civilized
    Sparky's gatherin' dust
    ‘Cause no one wants to touch a smokin' gun
    And since they got the injection
    They don't mind as much, I guess
    They just put ‘em down at Ellis Unit One

    Swing low
    Swing low
    Swing low and carry me home

    Well, I've seen ‘em fight like lions, boys
    I've seen 'em go like lambs
    And I've helped to drag ‘em when they could not stand
    And I've heard their mamas cryin' when they heard that big door slam
    And I've seen the victim's family holdin' hands

    Last night I dreamed that I woke up with straps across my chest
    And something cold and black pullin' through my lungs
    ‘N even Jesus couldn't save me though I know he did his best
    But he don't live on Ellis Unit One

    Swing low
    Swing low
    Swing low and carry me home
    Swing low
    Don't let go
    Swing low and carry me home


    Creepy Jackalope Eye
    (Ed Daly, Dan Bolton, Dan Siegal, Ron Heathman)

    An elaborate tale
    So convincingly real
    Things can seem so amazing
    'Til you get up close
    And see they're no big deal
    Like the stars in the sky
    Or the one on the stage
    Just a big ball of gas
    And a regular guy
    Fresh out of minimum wage

    In a jackalope space
    On a jackalope high
    I'm staring you down
    Creepy jackalope eye

    Many things in this life
    Are not what they appear
    Yeah I look like a hare
    But if you stop and you stare
    I'm related to a deer

    I got a jackalope face
    I'm a jackalope guy
    And I'm staring you down
    Creepy jackalope eye

    Is it so hard to imagine
    Is it so hard to believe
    Something so outrageous
    Something so far fetched
    Well how 'bout Adam and Eve?

    I know you gotta have faith
    I know the need to hope
    But the truth is always in place
    It's right in front of my face
    The mighty jackalope
    (Yeah)

    In a jackalope space
    On a jackalope high
    I'm staring you down
    Creepy jackalope
    And I'm staring down
    Creepy jackalope
    And I'm staring you down
    Creepy jackalope eye
    Freaky jackalope eye
    Creepy jackalope eye
    Creepy jackalope eye


    Willin'
    (Lowell T. George)

    I been warped by the rain, driven by the snow
    I'm drunk and dirty, don't ya know,
    And I'm still willin'
    Out on the road late last night,
    Seen my pretty Alice in every head light
    Alice, Dallas Alice

    I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
    Tehachapi to Tonapah
    Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
    I've driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
    If you give me: weed, whites, and wine
    And you show me a sign
    I'll be willin' to be movin'

    I've been kicked by the wind, robbed by the sleet
    Had my head stoved in, but I'm still on my feet
    And I'm still... willin'
    Now I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico
    Baked by the sun, every time I go to Mexico
    And I been from Tuscon to Tucumcari
    Tehachapi to Tonapah
    I've driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
    I've driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
    And if you give me: weed, whites, and wine
    And you show me a sign I'll be willin' to be movin'


    Sara's Angel
    (Steve Earle)

    (instrumental)


    My Uncle
    (Chris Hillman, Gram Parsons)

    (Steve Earle version)

    A letter came today from my draft board
    With trembling hands I read the questionnaire
    It asked a lot of questions 'bout my mamma and poppa
    That ain't exactly what I call fair

    Chorus:
    So I'm headed for the nearest foreign border
    Vancouver might be just my kind of town
    'Cause they ain't got the kind of law and order
    That tends to keep a good man underground

    A sad old soldier once told me a story
    About a battlefield that he was on
    He said a man should never fight for glory
    I guess he knows what's right and what is wrong

    chorus

    Now I don't know how much I owe my uncle
    I expect that it's more than I can pay
    He's asking me to sign a three year contract
    I guess I'll catch the next bus out today

    chorus x 2


    My Back Pages
    (Bob Dylan)

    Crimson flames tied through my ears
    Rollin' high and mighty traps
    Pounced with fire on flaming roads
    Using ideas as my maps
    "We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
    Proud 'neath heated brow
    Ah, but I was so much older then
    I'm younger than that now

    Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
    "Rip down all hate," I screamed
    Lies that life is black and white
    Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
    Romantic facts of musketeers
    Foundationed deep, somehow
    Ah, but I was so much older then
    I'm younger than that now.

    Girls' faces formed the forward path
    From phony jealousy
    To memorizing politics
    Of ancient history
    Flung down by corpse evangelists
    Unthought of, though, somehow
    Ah, but I was so much older then
    I'm younger than that now

    A self-ordained professor's tongue
    Too serious to fool
    Spouted out that liberty
    Is just equality in school
    "Equality," I spoke the word
    As if a wedding vow
    Ah, but I was so much older then
    I'm younger than that now

    In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
    At the mongrel dogs who teach
    Fearing not that I'd become my enemy
    In the instant that I preach
    My pathway led by confusion boats
    Mutiny from stern to bow
    Ah, but I was so much older then
    I'm younger than that now

    Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
    Too noble to neglect
    Deceived me into thinking
    I had something to protect
    Good and bad, I define these terms
    Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
    Ah, but I was so much older then
    I'm younger than that now


    © 2003-2007 Clint Harris  (clint@steveearle.net) – All Rights Reserved
    © 1995-2003 Lisa Kemper  – All Rights Reserved

       | Return to Steve's page |

     | Home|
     | Accolades |Articles |Bibliography | Biography |
    | Chart Positions |Covered Songs | Discography |The Dukes |

    | | Fans'Picks | Links |Lyrics |
    | Photos |PR Info |Recent TV | Song Index |
    | Sound Files | Tablature|Tour Dates |Video |