1.Loading Coal
Lyricist：Merle Travis
My pappy said when I was seventeen you're six feet tall and your
face is clean
And it don't look right for a boy that old to not make a livin'
loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal I'm a double first cousin to a dad
blamed mole
Never get rich for to save my soul and forty 'leven years a
loadin' coal loadin' coal
Ain't never got acquainted with a dollar bill and I don't ever
reckon that I ever will
A dollar ain't made for a fellar I'm told that scoops up a
livin' loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal...
I cussed everything in the mining camp from a shovel and my pick
to my carbide lamp
But I know mighty well till I grow old I'll still be a cussin'
but loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal...
I know just as well as coal is black one of these days the mines
were strike
And I'll sit around starvin' till I'm finally told
There's a nickel more a ton for loadin' coal
Loadin' coal loadin' coal...
2.Slow Rider
Lyricist：Johnny Cash
I ride an old paint he's on the worry side
And I'm a saddle tramp about to cross the great divide
Where there's grass in the coolies and water in the drawl
And the forty pound saddle won't make us both raw
Slow rider, slow rider move on a little more
The sky boss is waitin' at the big ranch house door
I can't help but missin' the daughters that I had
One went to Denver the other went bad
My young wife died in a poolroom fight
But I try to keep singin' from morning till night
Slow rider, slow rider move on a little more
The sky boss is waitin' at the big ranch house door
Whenever I die take my saddle from the wall
Strap it on snuffy lead him out of the stall
Throw me on his back and turn him toward the west
He knows how to take me to the spot I love best
Slow rider, slow rider move on a little more
The sky boss is waitin' at the big ranch house door
3.Lumberjack
Lyricist：Leon Payne
I lived on a farm out in Iowa
I pulled the corn and I worked in the hay
Got trapped by a girl but I wiggled free
Heard the Oregon timber callin' me
Will you tell me somethin' Mr lumberjack
Is it one for forward and three for back
Is it two for stop or four for go？
Boy ask a whistle punk I don't know
Well I learned this fact from a logger named Ray
You don't cut timber on a windy day
Stay out of the woods when the moisture's low
Or you ain't gonna live to collect your doe
Will you tell me somethin' Mr lumberjack
Is it one for forward and three for back
Is it two for stop or four for go？
Boy ask a whistle punk I don't know
Well you work in the woods from morning till night
You laugh and sing and you cuss and fight
On Saturday night you go to Eugene's
And on a Sunday morning your pockets are clean
Will you tell me somethin' Mr lumberjack
Is it one for forward and three for back
Is it two for stop or four for go？
Boy ask a whistle punk I don't know
4.Dorraine Of Ponchartrain
Lyricist：Johnny Cash
As I walked by the lake one day by chance my Dorraine passed my
way
Then she and I walked hand in hand on the banks of Ponchartrain
I pinned a flower on her heart, I swore we'd never be apart
She vowed her love forever and as I kissed her did the same
Dorraine, my Dorraine, my dark haired little angel
My belle of Ponchartrain
We sat down on the dock and with our hearts and fingers locked
We laughed and talked and joked about when our names are the
same
And joking I said honey are you marrying me for money
And it took just one quick look to tell it hurt my dear Dorraine
She jumped and stood above me and she cried why you don't love
me
I'm rowing home across the lake you won't see me again
I called and called some more but she rowed fast from the shore
And the clouds brought by a wind began to rain on Ponchartrain
Dorraine, I called Dorraine
Come back my little angel my belle of Ponchartrain
The storm should make her learn that she should make a swift
return
But as the rain fell harder I lost sight of my Dorraine
As panic gripped my heart I drew the oars and made my start
To look for her on raging waters and the rain on Ponchartrain
At darkness I still called but no one heard my cries at all
And when the daybreak came then others helped me look for my
Dorraine
But there was not a thing afloat except the oars from her
rowboat
For all was lost upon the choppy waves and rain on Ponchartrain
Now I come day after day to where my sweetheart rowed away
And I gaze across the water of the rainy Ponchartrain
Just one thing and nothing more ever floated back to shore
Was this flower I hold it is the one I pinned on my Dorraine
Dorraine, my Dorraine, my dark haired little angel
My belle of Ponchartrain
5.Going To Memphis
Lyricist：H. Dew
Bring a drink of water Leroy
Bring a drink of water, no
If I could get to the mercy man
He'd give me some I know
I got a gal in Vicksburg
Bertha is her name
Wish I's tied to Bertha
Instead of this ball and chain
I'm goin' to Memphis, that's right Lord, yeah
A dude took all my money
Wouldn't let me see the cards
I owe the boss about a hundred years
For sleepin' in his backyard
I'm goin' to Memphis, yeah Memphis
Yeah I'm goin' to Memphis
Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed
But when that levee's through and I am too
Let the honky tonk roll on
Come mornin' I'll be gone
I'm goin' to Memphis, yeah Memphis
I never been to Chicago
But it must be a mighty fine place, that's right
I couldn't get past Tennessee
With Mississippi all over my face
I'm goin' to Memphis, that's right Lord, Memphis
Well, the freezin' ground at night
Is my own foldin' bed
Pork salad is my bread and meat
And it will be till I'm dead
Well, I brought me a little water
In a Mr. Prince Albert can
But the boss man caught me drinkin' it
And I believe, he broke my hand
They all call me crazy for sassin' Mr. Scott
My brother was killed for a deed I did
But I dis remember what, yeah
Well another boy is down
The shovel burned him out
Let me stand on his body
To see what the shoutin's about
I'm goin' to Memphis, yeah I'm goin' to Memphis
Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed
But when that levee's through and I am too
Let the honky tonk roll on
Come mornin' I'll be gone
I'm goin' to Memphis, yeah Memphis
6.When Papa Played The Dobro
My papa was a hobo when they delivered me
We didn't have a doctor cause he couldn't pay the fee
But when the goin' got too bad to ease his misery
Papa played the dobro this a way and he'd go
When company would come around he kept the dobro hid
He knew he couldn't play the way the other players did
Why the guitar's resonator was a gallon bucket lid
But papa played the dobro this a way and he'd go
Well now that papa's gone away it's hanging by the flue
The top of it's rusted and the strings're rusty too
It won't ever sound the way that it did when it was new
When papa played the dobro this a way and he'd go
7.Boss Jack
Lyricist：Tex Ritter
Pick a lot o'cotton, drag a long sack
Comin' across the field, well, I see Boss Jack
He's a ridin' straddle of a single foot roan
When you know that horse, you'll leave him alone
The ole roan's got green in his eyes
Mean as the devil and twice as wise
A fire in his nose and a bow in his back
Can't nobody ride him but Boss Jack
Come on children, bend your back
Work a little faster, fill your sack
Then you hitch up the wagon, take it to the gin
Finish pickin' before the winter sets in
Now here while back, when the crop was laid by
Remember who took us on a big fish fry？
Caught a heap of catfish, goggle eye and carp
Dashed and sang to the guitar and the harp
Well, someday old Boss Jack is gonna set us all free
Gabriel gonna blow for you and me
Angels gonna bring that chariot from above floppin'
Their wings like a turtle dove, come on children
8.Old Doc Brown
Lyricist：Red Foley
He was just an old country doctor
In a little country town
Fame and fortune had passed him by
Though we never saw him frown
As day by day in his kindly way
He'd serve us one and all
Many a patient forgot to pay
Although Doc's fees were small
Though he needed his dimes and there were
Times that he'd receive a fee
He'd pass it onto some poor soul
That needed it worse than he
He had to sell his furniture
Couldn't pay his office rent
So to a dusty room over a livery stable
Doc Brown and his satchel went
And on the hitchin' post at the kerb below
To advertise his wares
He nailed a little sign that read
'Doc Brown has moved upstairs'
And one day he didn't answer
When they knocked upon his door
Old Doc Brown was layin' down
But his soul was no more
They found him there in that old black suit
On his face was a smile of content
But all the money they could find on him
Was a quarter and a copper cent
So they opened up his ledger
And what they saw gave their hearts a pull
Beside each debtor's name old Doc
Had write these words, 'Paid in full'
Old Doc should had
A funeral fine enough for a king
It's a ghastly joke our town was broke
And no one could give a thing
'Cept Jones an undertaker
He did mighty well
Donated an old iron casket
He had never been able to sell
And the funeral procession
It wasn't much for grace and pomp and the style
But those wagon loads of mourners
They stretched out for more than a mile
We wanted to give him a monument
We kinda figured we owed him one
'Cause he made our town a better place
For all the good he'd done
We pulled up that old hitchin' post
Where Doc had nailed a sign
We'd painted it white and to all of us
It certainly did look fine
Now the rains and the snows
Have washed away our white trimmin's of paint
There ain't nothin' left but Doc's own sign
And that's gettin' pretty faint
But you can still see that old hitchin' post
As if in answer to our prayers
Mutually tellin' the whole wide world
Doc Brown has moved upstairs
9.The Fable Of Willie Brown
Lyricist：Johnny Cash
Well I knew A boy named Willie Brown He was A lover of our town
wherever he went the girls fell down, and cryed for Willie Brown
crazy about Willie Brown Tall and dark and lean and long
Big as A bull and twice as strong, He loved the girls and turned
them down, A sheek was Willie Brown Dang sheek Willie Brown
Well A new girl moved in on our street, We knew that she and
Will would meet, But when we inquired around she had not met
Willie Brown,
She said who's Willie Brown, The prettiest girl you ever saw
head to
toe without A flaw, When we met one night in town she fell for
Willie Brown, In love with Willie Brown, But the trouble was
that
we all knew Willie Brown was falling too Then He announced
when June comes around She'll marry Willie Brown She's in love
with Willie Brown. But then the girl denied it all,she said
its true that I did fall but he took my love for granted now
To heck with Willie Brown, conceided Willie Brown, Willie Brown
was shocked to learn that his love had at last been spearned so
on A
hill ouside of town we buried Willie Brown, we buried Willie
Brown
10.Second Honeymoon
Lyricist：Autry Inman
I walked up to the desk and asked the man about a room
I asked about the bridal suite, I told him I'm the groom
Then I took the elevator to the floor I was assigned
I fumbled with the key the way I did that other time
Inside I thought of all the things that started in this room
But I'm alone on our second honeymoon
I hear the happy people laughing in the street below
But the loneliness I feel tonight I hope you never know
The life that was a happy song has ended much too soon
And I'm alone on our second honeymoon
I look around the room and see you standing everywhere
The fragrance of your bridal flowers seems to fill the air
The blushing bride that gave me such a free and eager kiss
Two loving arms around me as you offered wedded bliss
We'd said that we'd return to live it over in this room
But I'm alone on our second honeymoon
11.The Ballad Of The Harpweaver
Lyricist：Edna St. Vincent MillayThelma M. Moore
Son said my mother when I was knee high
You need of clothes to cover you and not a rag have I
There's nothing in the house to make a boy's britches
Nor shears to cut a cloth with nor thread to take stitches
There's nothing in the house but a leaf end of rye
And the harp with a with the woman's head nobody will by and she
began to cry
That was in the early fall and when came the late fall
Son she said the sight of you makes your mother's blood crawl
Little skinny shoulder blades stickin' through your clothes
And where you get a jacket from God above knows
It's lucky for me lad your daddy's in the ground
And can't see the way I let his son go around and she made a
queer sound
That was in the late fall when the winter came
I'd not a pair of bridges nor a shirt to my name
I couldn't go to school or out of doors to play
And all the other little boys passed our way
Son said my mother come climb into my lap
And I'll chave your little knees while you take a nap
And oh but we were silly for half an hour or more
Me with my long legs draggin' on the floor
I rocked rocked rocked to a mother goose rhyme
Oh but we were happy for half an hour's time
But there was I a great boy and what would folks say
To hear my mother singin' me to sleep all day in such a daft way
Men say the winter was bad that year fuel was scarce and food
was dear
A wind with a wolf's head howled about our door
And we burned up the chairs and sat upon the floor
All that was left us was a chair we couldn't break
And the harp with the woman's head nobody would take for song or
pity sake
The night before Christmas I cried with the cold
I cried myself to sleep like a two year old
And in the deep night I felt my mother rise
And stare down upon me with love in her eyes
I saw my mother sitting on the one good chair
A light falling on her face from I couldn't tell where
Looking nineteen and not a day older
And the harp with the woman's head leaned against her shoulder
Her thin fingers moving in the thin tall strings
Were weave weave weaving wonderful things
Many bright threads from where I couldn't see
Were running through the harp strings rapidly
And gold threads whistlin' through my mother's hands
I saw the web grow and the pattern expand
She wove a child's jacket and when it was done
She laid it on the floor and wove another one
She wove a red cloak so regal to see
She's made it for a king's son I said and not for me but I knew
it was for me
She wove a pair of bridges and quicker than that
She wove a pair of boots a little cocked hat
She wove a pair of mittens she wove a little blouse
She wove all night in the still cold house
She sang as she worked and the harp strings spoke
But her voice never faltered and the thread never broke
But when I awoke there sat my mother
With the harp against her shoulder lookin' nineteen and not a
day older
A smile about her lips and a light about her head
And her hands in the harp strings frozen dead
And piled up beside her toppling to the skies
Were the clothes of a king's son just my size
12.Smiling Bill McCall
Well, the whole town listened to the radio
For the Smiling Bill McCall Show
Everyone in Nashville
Was listenin' to Bill
I don't want to be layin' in bed
When they pronounce me dead
He'd stand and breathe in the microphone
With his guitar hangin' to his knee bone
All the girls just sat and dreamed
When Bill began his sing
I don't want my hat to be hung
When my last song is sung
But he never let fame go to his head
'This is Smiling Bill McCall', he said
'Gonna pick and sing a song or two
You all listen till I'm through'
And if you're at the house or in your car
Tune in this time tomorrow
To all the boys he was a big hero
They'd glue their ears to the radio
Then talkin' a most unusual drawl
Imitatin' Bill McCall
Daddy, can I get me a guitar
'Cause I want to be a star
The girls would say of Bill McCall
Why I bet he's over six feet tall
Handsomest man in Nashville
They said of Smiling Bill
He won't be plantin' potato slips
When he cashes in his chips
Then one day Bill didn't make the show
Didn't even show up for a week or so
The station's boss said to city hall
'Find Smiling Bill McCall'
It won't be hard to track him down
He's got the biggest feet in town
Well, there's a creek that runs through Nashville
And on the bank they found Smiling Bill
He's committin' suicide
But they grabbed him before he tried
'Turn me loose, I want to jump', he screamed
''Cause I can't stand that theme'
Let this be my final breath
'Cause I'm scared to half to death'
The big brave Smiling Bill McCall
Is only four feet tall
I'd rather be in the river dead
Than to hear 'em laughin' at my bald head
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