Author: Jim

The Fields Have Turned Brown

Jim,

—Carter Stanley

I left my old home to ramble this country
My mother and dad said son don't go wrong
Remember that God will always watch o'er you
And we will be waiting for you here at home

Chorus:
Son don't go astray was what they both told me
Remember that love for God can be found
But now they're both gone this letter just told me
For years they've been dead, the fields have turned brown

For many long years this world I have rambled
No thoughts of the day when I would return
Now as I go home and find no one waiting
The price I have paid to live and to learn

Verse:

I I I I
IV IV I I
IV IV I I
V V I I

Chorus:

|:   IV IV I I
V V I I   :|


Dim Lights Thick Smoke

Jim,

—Joe Maphis, Rose Lee Maphis, and Max Fidler

Chorus:
Dim lights, thick smoke, and loud, loud music
Is the only kind of life you'll ever understand
Dim lights, thick smoke and loud, loud music
You'll never make a wife to a home-loving man

A home and little children mean nothing to you
A house filled with love and a husband so true
You'd rather have a drink with the first guy you meet
And the only home you'll know is the club down the street

A drinking and dancing to a honky tonk band
Is the only kind of life you'll ever understand
Go out and have your fun, you think you've played it smart
I'm sorry for you and your honky tonk heart

Verse & Chorus:

I I I IV
I I I V
I I I IV
I I V I


If That's the Way You Feel

Jim,

—Ralph & Peggy Stanley
I don't blame you for I know you want him
That your love for me was never real
I could hold you but you'd be unhappy
But it's alright if that's the way you feel

Chorus:
I know that I will always go on caring
And my feelings now I must conceal
I still need you and I want you with me
But it's alright if that's the way you feel

I always knew some day I would lose you
When those lies about me were revealed
Its plain to see sweetheart you believe them
But its alright if that's the way you feel

Verse:

I – IV I V I
I – IV I V I

Chorus:

IV I V I
I – IV I V I

 

JCJ

Jim,

Jim, Chris and John's Working List


Song List (11/21/2024) 

Played:
I Am a Pilgrim – G
Long Black Veil – E
Sin City – D
Sitting Alone in the Moonlight – G
If That's the Way You Feel – G
Love Please Come Home – G
Old Home Place
Deep River Blues – E
It's a Long Long Way – C
Stormy Horizons – G
The Boxer – C
I Saw the Light – G
Proposals:.

Stumptown Stomp

Jim,


How Come I Ain't Dead

Jim,

—Tim O'Brien

I begged her not to go, said I could not live without her
She said don't be dramatic, you'll survive
She drove away, the sky turned gray
I cried all night about her
I'm still breathin' but her leavin' hurts more
Each day I'm alive

Chorus:
If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead
Six feet down in the cold, cold ground
With a stone above my head
But somethin's wrong 'cause now she's gone
And I live on instead
If I can't live without her, how come I ain't dead

I wake up every mornin' scared to open up my eyes
I don't know if I'll be there in the mirror
But there I am, a broken man
I look somewhat surprised
I'm grateful for another day
But amazed that I'm still here

Chorus

Bridge:
Saint Peter's waitin' for me outside the pearly gates
But I'm waitin' on the angel band, I guess they're runnin' late

Chorus

Verse:

I I I V
V V I I
I I I IV
V V V I

Chorus:

IV IV IV I
V V V I
IV IV IV V
V V V I

Bridge:

II II VI VI
II II V V

Old Chattanooga

Jim,





Lazy John

Jim,


We're going to dance Saturday night
We're gonna dance til the broad daylight
Then I'll walk my baby back home
Why don't you get away lazy John

Chorus:
Lazy John, lazy John
Why don't you get your day's work all done
You're in the shade and I'm in the sun
Why don't you get away lazy John

I've got a girl who lives in the town
Her hair is curly and her eyes are brown,
My heart says stay, my feet say run
What'll I do old lazy John

Every night when I go home
It's peas in the pot and the old jawbone
Here today, tomorrow gone
Why don't you get away lazy John

We're gonna dance like it's Saturday night
We're not coming home 'til the morning light
I'll shine my shoes and I'll see my hon'
Why don't you go away lazy John

Extra verses:

Work all week in the noon day sun
Fifteen cents when Saturday comes
Goin to a dance to have some fun
Why don't you get away lazy John

Got a gal lives down the road
Her eyes are crooked and her legs are bowed
But we sure have a lot of fun
Why don't you get away lazy John



Sales Tax on the Women

Jim,

—Dorsey M. Dixon (The Dixon Brothers) 1936

You may sales tax the flour, the lard and the meat
Take the pennies 'way from me and my pals
You may sales tax everything that we have to eat
But don't put a tax on the gals

Chorus:
One cent, two cents, three cents in cash
That's the way my money goes a-spendin'
But take off my hat and hit me with a bat
If you put the sales tax on the women

Don't put the taxes on the good-lookin' girls
Although I know the pennies have to go
Well, I wouldn't have it done for a hundred or more
'Cause the boys wouldn't stand a bit of show

I love the little girls with the lovely little curls
If that is wrong, I hope I will repent
I would sure be sore and I couldn't love no more
If I had to pay the taxes as I went

That's the way it goes, Uncle Sam knows
He's just torturin' me and my pals
We would die with the blues without any shoes
If you put the sales tax on the gals

Well, I don't mean any harm when I step out at night
Happy times with the ladies I've spent
Sales taxes on the kisses just wouldn't be right
In my pockets I would never have a cent

Verse:

I I I V
I I IV – V I

Chorus:

IV I IV I
IV I I – V I

Early Morning Breeze

Jim,

—Dolly Parton

I open up my door to greet the early morning sun
Closing it behind me and away I do sun
To the meadow, where the meadow lark is singing in the tree
In the meadow I go walking in the early morning breeze

I cup my hands to catch a multi-colored butterfly
Perched upon the petals of flowers growing wild
Freeing it, I Watch it as it flies away from me
To visit with the flowers in the early morning breeze

Chorus:
Rainbow colored flowers kissed with early morning sun
The aster and the dahlia and wild geraniums
Drops of morning dew still linger on the iris leaves
In the meadow where I'm walking in the early morning breeze

Misty-eyed I look about the meadow where I stray
For it's there I find the courage to greet the coming day
For there among the flowers, I kneel gently to my knees
To have a word with God in the early morning breeze

Verse:

I I I I
IV IV VII V
I IV I IV
I VII IV I

Chorus:

V V IV I
V V IV I
I I IV I
I VII IV I