Steve Earle
I Feel Alright

Last updated: 10 March 2001


I Feel Alright album cover

Feel Alright
(Steve Earle)

I was born my papa's son
A wanderin' eye and a smokin' gun
Now some of you would live through me
Lock me up and throw away the key
Or just find a place to hide away
Hope that I'll just go away

I feel alright – I feel alright tonight

I'll bring you precious contraband
And ancient tales from distant lands
Of conquerors and concubines and
Conjurers from darker times
Betrayal and conspiracy
Sacrilege and heresy

I got every thing you wont or need
Your darkest fear, your fondest dream
I ask you questions, tell you lies
Criticize and sympathize
Be careful what you wish for friend
Because I've been to hell and now I'm back again


Hard-Core Troubadour
(Steve Earle)

Girl, don't bother to lock your door
He's out there hollering, "Darlin' don't you love me no more?"
You always let him in before now didn't you
He's just singing the some old song
That he always sang before
He's the last of the hard-core troubadours
Girl, better figure out which is which
Wherefore art thou Romeo you son of a bitch
You'd just as soon fight as switch now wouldn't you
He's come to make love on your satin sheets
Wake up on your living room floor
He's the last of the hard-core troubadours

He's the lost of the all-night, do right
Stand beneath your window 'til daylight
He's the last of the hard-core troubadours
Baby, whet you waitin' for

Girl, figure out what you're gonna do
When he moves on again and he leaves you alone and blue
But you knew he is just passin' through now didn't you
And now you can't just say this is the last time baby
Like you always did before
He's the last of the hard-core troubadours


More Than I Can Do
(Steve Earle)

I'm trying hard to let you go
But it's more than I can do
And every day or two
I wind up right back where I started

I'm trying not to let you know
That I'm still in love with you
I can't just sit home blue
'Cause there ain't no rest for the brokenhearted

Just because you won't unlock your door
That don't mean you don't love me anymore
No matter what you do
Because you know it's more than I can do

You told me that I got to stop
But it's more than I can do
And that ain't nothing new
'Cause we both know that I'm crazy about you

You said you're gonna call the cops
But I ain't gonna run
Because you're the only one
There ain't no way I could live without you

You left me just when I needed you
So l ain't even close to through with you


Hurtin' Me, Hurtin' You
(Steve Earle)

Here I am, out in the rain
I know I can't ever wash out the pain
I never meant to be cruel or untrue
I'm just hurtin' me when I'm hurtin' you

Girl I won't say, I'm hurtin' more
I know that you've heard all that before
So go on believe what you wanna believe
But I'm hurtin' you then I'm hurtin' me

I know it's hard to keep hanging on
You think that I hold all of the cards; I know you're wrong
And girl just like me, you ain't got a clue
I'm just hurtin' me when I'm hurtin' you

You know I love you baby
God only knows that I do
I know I've been bad baby
I never, ever meant to be bad to you
I never meant to be cruel or untrue
I'm just hurtin' me when I'm hurtin' you


Now She's Gone
(Steve Earle)

She was her daddy's little darlin'
Her mama's only child
They didn't understand at all when
She took to running wild

She left town one day and never said goodbye
Left a hole in daddy's lap and a tear in mama's eye
Where'd we go wrong and now she's gone
She met a boy up in Kentucky
Charlie was his name
Just when he thought he got lucky
She stole his watch and chain

She always kept on movin' and she never wasted time
And they said she left quite a string of broken hearts behind
Woke up alone and now she's gone

Me, I wasn't even trying
You could say I was content
She went through my life like lightning
Blew out the other end

I still taste her kisses, smell her perfume in the wind
And if I could you know that I would do it all again
She done me wrong, and now she's gone


Poor Boy
(Steve Earle)

I was born on the other side of town
Everybody over there just puts me down
I never thought about it much, ‘til the first time I saw you
Uh-oh, what's a poor boy gonna do

It's bad enough to love you from afar
Me down here and you up where you are
If you hadn't given me that look, that's all it took it's true
U-oh, what's a poor boy gonna do

Baby what's a poor boy got, not a heck of a lot
Just a heart that's true
One thing he sure doesn't need is a heart that bleeds
And these lovesick blues

I know o poor boy can't go far
Baby, maybe someday drive your car
I can look in my rearview, into those eyes of blue
Uh-oh what's a poor boy gonna do


Valentine's Day
(Steve Earle)

I come to you with empty hands
I guess I just forgot again
I only got my love to send
On Valentine's Day

I ain't got a card to sign
Roses have been hard to find
I only hope that you'll be mine
On Valentine's Day
I know that I swore that I wouldn't forget
I wrote it all down: I lost it I guess
There's so much I want to say
But all the words just slip away

The way you love me every day
Is Valentine's Day

If I could I would deliver to you
Diamonds and gold; it's the least I can do
So if you'll take my IOU
I could make it up to you
Until then I hope my heart will do
For Valentine's Day


The Unrepentant
(Steve Earle)

In the middle of the night
In the middle of a lonely night
Stands alone in the pale moonlight
Screams out in defiance
He's got no one to turn to
You could talk ‘til you turn blue
He'd just turn his back on you
Ain't no compromising

‘Cause he's totally untamed
No fear of the unnamed
But he'll take the blame
‘Cause someone's gotta do it

Now he's out on the highway
He's got the key and the right of way
His tank is full and his toll's paid
Hellbound and determined
He run a dangerous payload
When he comes to the crossroads
Ah, man it's all times to explode
You'll just see the sky burnin'

Now he's standin' at hell's door
With a bad attitude and a forty-four
The devil said, "What's up man
Now what you come here for?"
He said, "Man, let's just get to it"
He said, "I always heard that you were the bad one
There's a few places I ain't been, a few things I ain't done
You got your pitchfork and I got my gun"
Someone's gotta do it


CCKMP (Cocaine Cannot Kill My Pain)
(Steve Earle)

Cocaine cannot kill my pain
Like a freight train through my vein
Cocaine cannot kill my pain

Whiskey got no hold on me
Left them chains in Tennessee
Whiskey got no hold on me

Don't come knockin' on my door
Even that won't work no more
Don't come knockin' on my door

Heroin is the only thing
The only gift the darkness brings
Heroin is the only thing

Guess you'd best leave me alone
At least until these blues have gone
Guess you'd best leave me alone


Billy And Bonnie
(Steve Earle)

Billy was 17 and mean as hell
Bonnie said she was 30, it was hard to tell
Billy met Bonnie on a Saturday night
At the dirt track races, it was love at first sight
Bonnie was wilder than the west wind blows
Taught Billy every single thing he knows
But she never told billy what she left out
The part about the trouble when your times runs out

When the thrill is gone, when your deal goes south
It's all over when your time runs out

Bonnie said, "Billy, don't you think it's time
We moved on a little further down the line"
So they knocked off a Texaco south of town
Blew down the highway with the ragtop down
Billy woke Bonnie up about first light
Said, "You drive honey, I've been up all night"
Now Billy wasn't sweatin' no APB
‘Cause they didn't leave a single soul alive to see

The boy was just 16, made his mama proud
That don't mean nothin' when your time runs out

Bonnie kept pushin' that Cadillac
Billy passed out with the seat reared back
Slept through Louisiana, then just past dark
Bonnie pulled over in a roadside park
Left Billy sleeping and she called the cops
He never knew nothin' when the dime was dropped
Bonnie knew what she had to do
She called the sheriff and she cried on cue

And the state police rousted Billy out
He was dreaming about Bonnie when his time ran out

The sheriff told Billy, "Boy, you're bound to die
‘Cause this young lady's gonna testify
That you done took her off against her will
And she told us about the robbery and the boy you killed"
The judge said, "Billy, what you got to say
Before I have the sheriff carry you away"
Billy looked Bonnie right in the eye
But he didn't even have to ask her why
But he turned around as they led him out

He said, "I'll see you down in hell when your time runs out"


South Nashville Blues
(Steve Earle)

I went downtown, it was just to ease my pain
I ended up out walkin' in the rain

I took my pistol and a hundred dollar bill
I had everything I needed to get me killed

Southside girls, they suit me just fine
As long as I got money they don't whine

The devil lives on Lewis Street I swear
I seen him rockin' in his rockin' chair

I start way up top of Lewis Street
And I walk down to the end
I start way up top and I walk down to the end
I go way down in the bottoms
And I come back up again

Now Mama told me, Papa too
They both talked ‘til they turned blue
But I got them ol' South Nashville blues again
I won't be satisfied until they lock me up again


You're Still Standing There
(Steve Earle)

I've spent my life following things I cannot see
And just when I catch up to them, they slip away from me
I've been down a thousand trails I've never walked before
I found out that without fail, they lead me to your door

And the world keep turning round and round
It leaves me hanging in the air
My heart keeps turning upside down
And you're still standin' there

Lately I see all the signs, I feel it in the wind
The same thing happens every time that you come back again
I admit that there are nights when I sit up and cry
But sometimes I turn out the lights and pray you'll pass me by

Since you're gone my empty arms have nothing left to hold
And your memory cannot keep me warm but it never leaves me cold


© 1995-2001  LiKe  (lisa.k@att.net)   —   All Rights Reserved

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

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