Tijuana To Birmingham

She was born in Tijuana 

Wild as that old western town

Somehow the years found her

Out here in Birmingham 

We met in a restaurant 

Swapping stories of the west

As the nighttime rolled along

She touched away the misery that was beating in my chest

And I shared with her the stories

Of a wild man who roams

She laughed with understanding 

Sharing stories of her own

She was born in Tijuana 

Wild as that old western town

Then landed in El Paso 

And made her way to Birmingham 

In the morning she told me

How she would hold me until I moved on

I knew from the night we spent without sleeping

I found a dream I thought was gone

And I shared with her the stories

Of a drunk man singing a lonesome song

She smiled with understanding

And shared a lonesome dream of her own

She was born in Tijuana 

Wild as that old western town

The good lord sent her

To save a wild man from dying alone in Birmingham 

She was born in Tijuana 

Wild as that old western town 

The Gypsy Queen

When his dear mother died

He did not grieve

He didn't bat an eye

When his pretty wife told him to leave

He spent a lifetime 

Just letting things go

Like he'd never have to feel

What he would not show

And he headed east

Towards New Orleans

Dreaming in the arms 

Of a gypsy queen 

She charmed his eyes

And his riddled mind

With illusions of a future

He would never find

She could see

He was a desperate man

So she picked his pocket

As she held his hand

He so easily placed

His misplaced dreams

In the hands

Of a gypsy queen

But as his pockets

Were relieved of there gold

Like a crushing stone

That gypsy rolled

Then one night

That life would end

Popping dollar beer with Vicodin 

In a $50 room at the chateau inn

Looking out a window

Over magazine

He saw a sad lost man

Being conned by a gypsy queen 

One life over 

A new began

He paid $50 

And he left the chateau inn

He cried for his mother

And he cried for his wife

And he smiled down the road

At a brand new life 

He thought of the horror

And the pleasures seen

Everything has a purpose 

He just paid for the service of a gypsy queen

He thought of the horrors

And the pleasures seen

Everything has a reason

Even that gypsy queen 

These Lies I Tell

Since you've been gone

I've been pretending to be strong

I've been pretending to be strong 

Since you've been gone

Trying to play it cool

No one knows I'm a fool

I'm the coolest fool you'll ever see

Because these lies I tell

I tell them so well

No one knows I'm lying but me 

My lying smile

Says I'm happy on my own

With no one here to raise hell

And carry on

My lying smile 

Says I'm happy you're gone

And if I really miss you

No one could ever know

When I want to kiss you

There's no way to let it show

Because I've learned to play it cool

No one knows I'm a fool

Hey, I'm the coolest fool you'll ever see

And these lies I tell

I tell them so well

No one knows I'm lying but me

I've learned to play it cool

No one knows I'm a fool

Hey, I'm the coolest fool you'll ever see

And these lies I tell

I tell them so well

No one knows I'm lying but me

Paved In Sin

I dreamed there is a road out there

That leads somewhere

I ain't never been

But every hill I've been up and down

Every corner I've turned around 

Traveling a highway paved in sin

Like every goodbye story

With every doe eyed girl

As with every morning dreamer 

In the whole wide world

Laying with devils

That haunt me still today

And I keep praying the good lord

Will wash my stains away

When I'm alone

The struggles seem so vain

And these sins still remain 

Alone and unconquered 

As the evening sun hides her gold

Like a long haired young girl

Out there somewhere 

With a storm raging in her soul

I don't know where I'm going

Anymore, I ain't really sure where all I've been

I've been riding a highway

Paved in sin

The days are getting shorter now

The nights seem shorter too

I've been trying different things 

But nothing feels like it's new

Running out of a gas

But I can see the end

The crossroads down by the river

Just before the bend

A complicated life 

set so easy to the tune of a highway 

Paved in sin

The Song

His blue eyes were wild

As his steady hand

Everyone could see

He was a troubled man

A heartbroken renegade

Out on some prairie trail

He chose a heartbreaking story 

Over some old fairytale

Sitting quiet in a corner

Holding his whiskey drink

He didn't say much

But everyone could hear him think

And it's not that he's bad

It's just that he did not belong

He was never the singer

He was always the song

He never was the singer

He just lived like a song

Her eyes were burning

Scorched behind her fair skin

As she took measure of a life she didn't really choose, but it's the one she was living in

Looking at a picture book

Maybe, forty years from now

And she drinks it over

How she made it through somehow

She will always know

Her greatest mistake

The biggest thing she lost

Was on the long shot chance

That she did not take

And she still thinks about a renegade boy

On some hard prairie trail

And the safe life she chose 

Over some damned old fairytale

She tried to stay true

And she tried to stay strong

She was always the singer

But she could've been the song

She was only the singer

She should've been the song

Thirty years of dust and gravel

On some hot old southern ground

And they look back at how lost they really were

And how easy it would've been to get found

And he loves her still today

A lifetime ago and that many miles away

As he stares down one last prairie trail

He gets lost in make believe

With a smile and a tear 

He just disappears into some old fairytale

He closed his eyes one last time

Knowing she could do no wrong

He was just the writer

She was the song

He was just the writer

And she was his sad sad song 

Getting High And Laying Low

People talk

But they don't know

I've been doing what I had to do

Laying with it don't matter who

I've been getting high and letting go

I've been staying high and laying low

I like to whisper

But some people shout

Most folks don't know what they're screaming about

It don't bother me no more

Down the hall is another door

Down the hallway

There's another door 

I try to listen 

And I try not to scream

I can't miss what ain't seen

I can learn and I can grow

But I keep getting high and letting go

I've been getting high and letting go

Down the corner

Around the street

Where the creatures gather

And the saints all meet

Wasting time

When time moves slow

Just staying high and laying low

29 Months

I guess I'll work out my sentence 

Finish up the time I have to serve

It won't be long babe, I'll be out of here,

To get what I deserve

29 months babe

I've only got 29 more

In 29 months babe

They'll unlock that door

I said 29 month babe

Pay attention, I only got 29 more

In 29 months babe

They'll unlock that door

I've been down out

Ball and chained

You know I've been down and out

I've been ball and chained

But 29 months are all that remain

Until they have to set me free

In 29 months I'll be gone

But everyone her will remember me

I said 29 months babe

I only got 29 more

In 29 shorts months, darling

They gonna open that door

Time

Didn't I do it all

Everything I said I would

Didn't I do it all, baby,

Didn't I...didn't I do it good

Things change, I know,

Things change

You and I know things change

But it feels so strange

Going away without you

Time moves on

They say time moves on

But I think time has been chasing me

We can't change what has come and gone

They say time just moves on

But lately I think time is catching up with me

Look at that old mountain

Where I used to play king

Standing on top and looking down 

At the world  I owned

Blinded by the shine

Kissing the ring

Of my own crown

And time keeps moving on

But didn't I do it all

Everything I said I would

Didn't I do it all babe

Didn't I do it good...

Believing In Love

There are scars on my face

Scars on my heart

Scars on my legs 

From chasing in the dark

It's easy to see

If you look at me

I've been hurt in my time

But I've never felt so free

As when she looks at me

Says I am hers and she is mine

I'll never stop believing in love

I'll never stop believing in love

Some people say

Love is make believe

Like dreaming in the day

I'm ashamed to admit

The older I get

The more I see things that way

So it's easy to see

If you look at me

I've been hurt in my time

But I will never feel so free

As when she looks at me

Says I am hers and she is mine

I will never stop believing in love

I'll never stop believing in love

Sex And Whiskey

My life ain't nothing but sex and whiskey

That ain't as fun as it sounds

Seeing the same old face in every girl who will miss me

When the morning sun rolls around

Getting wasted 

And wasting life

Writing songs that I can't sing

And singing songs I couldn't write

Out of time 

Without a key

I've got'em standing in line

But that line ain't as long as it used to be 

My life ain't nothing but sex and whiskey

That ain't as fun as it sounds

Seeing the same old face in every girl who will miss me

When the morning sun rolls around