I'm walkin' through streets that are dead
Walkin', walkin' with you in my head
My feet are so tired
My brain is so wired
And the clouds are weepin'.

Did I hear someone tell a lie?
Did I hear someone's distant cry?
I spoke like a child
You destroyed me with a smile
While I was sleepin'.

I'm sick of love that I'm in the thick of it
This kind of love, I'm so sick of it.

I see, I see lovers in the meadow
I see, I see silhouettes in the window
I'll watch them 'til they're gone
And they leave me hangin' on
To a shadow.

I'm sick of love, I hear the clock tick
This kind of love, ah, I'm love sick.

Sometimes the silence can be like thunder
Sometimes I wanna take to the road and plunder
Could you ever be true
I think of you
And I wonder.

I'm sick of love, I wish I'd never met you
I'm sick of love, I'm tryin' to forget you.

Just don't know what to do
I'd give anything to
Be with you.

Gonna walk down that dirt road
'Til someone lets me ride
Gonna walk down that dirt road
'Til someone lets me ride
If I can't find my baby
I'm gonna run away and hide.

Well, I've been pacin' 'round the room
Hopin' maybe she'd come back
Pacin' 'round the room
Hopin' maybe she'd come back
Well, I've been praying for salvation
Layin' 'round in a one-room country shack.

Gonna walk down that dirt road
Until my eyes begin to bleed
Gonna walk down that dirt road
Until my eyes begin to bleed
'Til there's nothing left to see
'Til the chains have been shattered and I've been freed.

But I've been at my shadow
I been watchin' the colors up above
Lookin' at my shadow
Watchin' the colors up above
Rolling through the rain and hail
Lookin' for the sunny side of love.

Gonna walk on that dirt road
'Til everything becomes the same
Gonna walk down that dirt road
'Til everything becomes the same
I'll keep on walkin' 'til I hear her holler at my name.

I'm a-walkin' through the summer nights
The jukebox playing low
Yesterday everything was goin' too fast
Today it's moving too slow.

I got no place left to turn
I got nothing left to burn
Don't know if I saw you
If I would kiss you or kill you
It probably wouldn't matter to you anyhow
You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'
I got nothing to go back to now.

The light in this place is so bad
Makin' me sick in the head
All the laughter is just makin' me sad
The stars have turned cherry red.

I'm strummin' on my gay guitar
Smokin' a cheap cigar
The ghost of our old love has not gone away
Don't look it like it will any time soon
You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'
Under the midnight moon.

Maybe they'll get me, and maybe they won't
But not tonight and it won't be here
There are things I could say but I don't
I know the mercy of God must be near.

I've been ridin' the midnight train
Got ice water in my vein.

I would be crazy if I took you back
It would go up against every rule
You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'
Sufferin' like a fool.

When the last rays of daylight go down
Buddy you're older or more
I can hear the church bells ringin' in the yard
I wonder who they're ringin' for?

I know I can't win
But my heart just won't give in.

Last night I danced with a stranger
But she just reminded me you were the one.

You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'
In the dark land of the sun.

I'll eat when I'm hungry
Drink when I'm dry
And live my life on the square
And even if the flesh falls off of my face
I know someone will be there to care.

It always meaned so much, even the softest touch.

I see nothin' to be gained by any explanation
There's no words that need to be said
You left me standin' in the doorway cryin'
Blues wrapped around my head.

You took a part of me that I really miss
I keep askin' myself how long it can go on like this
You told yourself a lie - that's alright, mama, I told myself one too
I've tried to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.

You took the silver, you took the gold
You left me standin' out in the cold
People ask about you, I didn't tell them everything I knew
Well, I've tried to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.

I'm driftin' in and out of dreamless sleep
Throwin' all my memories in a ditch so deep
Did so many things I never did intend to do
Well, I've tried to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.

I need your love so bad, turn your lamp down low
I need every bit of it for the places that I go
Sometimes I wonder 'til it's just what it's all coming to
Well, I've tried to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.

Well, I don't dare close my eyes and I don't dare wink
Maybe in the next life I'll be able to hear myself think
Feel like talkin' to somebody but I just don't know who
Well, I've tried to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.

Yes, the last thing you said before ya hit the street
Gonna find me a janitor to sweep me off my feet
I said, That's all right, mamma, you, you do what you gotta do
Well, I've tried to get closer, I'm still a million miles from you.

Rock me, pretty baby, rock me all at once
Rock me for a little while, rock me for a couple of months
And I'll rock you too
I'm tryin' to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.

Well, there's voices in the night tryin' to be heard
I'm sittin' here listening to every mind-pollutin' word
I know plenty of people put me up for a day or two
Yes, I'm tryin' to get closer but I'm still a million miles from you.

The air is getting hotter, there's a rumblin' in the skies
I've been wading through the high muddy water
With the heat risin' in my eyes
Every day your memory grows dimmer
It dosn't haunt me like it did before
I've been walking through the mirror to nowhere
Tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door.

When I was in Missouri they would not let me be
I had to leave there in a hurry
I only saw what they let me see
You broke a heart that loved you
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore
I've been walkin' that lonesome valley
Tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door.

People on the platforms, waitin' for the trains
I can hear their hearts a-beatin'
Like pendulums swinging on chains
When you think that you've lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more
I'm just goin' down the road feeling bad
Tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door.

I'm goin' down the river, down to New Orleans
They tell me everything is gonna be all right
But I don't know what all right even means
I was ridin' in a buggy with Miss Mary Jane
Miss Mary Jane got a house in Baltimore
I've been all around the world, boys
And I'm tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door.

Gonna sleep down in the parlor and relive my dreams
I close my eyes and I wonder
If everything is as hollow as it seems
Some trains don't pull no gamblers
No midnight ramblers, like they did before
I've been to sugar town, I shook the sugar down
Now I'm tryin' to get to heaven before they close the door.

Well my nerves are exploding and my body's tense
I feel like the whole world gonna end up against the fence
I've been hit too hard, seen too much
Nothing can heal me now but your touch
I just don't know what I'm gonna do
I was all right 'til I fell in love with you.

Well, my house is on fire, burnin' to the sky
Well, I thought it would rain but the clouds passed by
And I feel like I'm comin' to the end of my way
I know God is my shield and he won't lead me astray
Still, I don't know what I'm gonna do
I was all right 'til I fell in love with you.

Boys in the street beginnin' to play
Girls like birds, flyin' away
When I'm gone you will remember my name
I'm gonna win my way to wealth and fame
Yet I just don't know what I'm gonna do
I was all right 'til I fell in love with you.

Well, junk's pilin' up, takin' up space
My eyes feel like they've fallen off my face
Sweat pourin' down, I'm starin' at the floor
I'm thinkin' about that girl who won't be back no more
I just don't know what to do
I was all right 'til I fell in love with you.

Well, I'm tired of talkin', I'm tired of tryin' to explain
My attemps to please ya, they were all in vain
Tomorrow night before the sun goes down
If I'm still among the livin' I'll be Dixie bound
Still, I just don't know what I'm gonna do
I was all right, 'til I fell in love with you.

Shadows are fallin' and I've been here all day
It's too hot to sleep and time is runnin' away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal
There's not even room enough to be anywhere
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there's been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin' what was in her mind
I just don't see why I should even care
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Well, I've been to London and I been to gay Paris
I've followed the river and I got to the sea
I've been down on the bottom of the world full of lies
I ain't lookin' for nothin' in anyone's eyes
Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
Every nerve in my body is so naked and numb
I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don't even hear the murmur of a prayer
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

I'm beginnin' to hear voices and there's no one around
I'm all used up and the fields have turned brown
I went to church on Sunday as she passed by
And my love for her has taken such a long time to die
Well, I'm waist deep, waist deep in the mist
It's almost like, almost like, I don't exist
I'm twenty miles out of town, Cold Irons bound.

Well, the walls of pride are high and wide
Can't see over to the other side
It's such a sad thing to see beauty decay
It's sadder still to feel your heart turn away
One look at you and I'm out of control
Like the universe has swallowed me whole
I'm twenty miles out of town and Cold Irons bound.

There's too many people, too many to recall
I thought some of 'em were friends of mine, I was wrong about 'em all
Well, the road is rocky and the hillside mud
Up over my head, nothing but clouds of blood
I found my world, found my world in you
But your love just hasn't proved true
I'm twenty miles out of town and Cold Irons bound
Twenty miles out of town, Cold Irons bound.

Well the winds in Chicago have torn me to shreds
Reality has always had too many heads
Some things last longer than you think they will
Some kind of things you can never kill
Though it's you, and you only, I'm singin' about
But you can't see in and it's hard looking out
I'm twenty miles out of town and Cold Irons bound.

Well, the fat's in the fire and the water's in the tank
Well, the whiskey's in the jar and the money's in the bank
I tried to love and protect you because I care
I'm gonna remember forever the joy we've shared
Looking at you and I'm on my bended knee
You've no idea what you did to me
I'm twenty miles out of town and Cold Irons bound
Twenty miles out of town and Cold Irons bound.

When the rain is blowin' in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love.

I know you haven't made your mind up yet
But I would never do you wrong
I've known it from the moment that we met
No doubt in my mind where you belong.

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawlin' down the avenue
No, there's nothin' that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love.

Though storms are raging on the rollin' sea
And on the highway of regrets
Though winds of change are throwing wild and free
You ain't seen nothin' like me yet.

I could make you happy, make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love.

I can't wait, wait for you to change your mind
It's late, I'm tryin' to walk the line
Well, it's way past midnight
And there's some people all around
Some on their way up, some on their way down
The air burns and I'm tryin' to think straight
An' I don't know how much longer I can wait.

I'm your man, I'm tryin' to recover the sweet love that we knew
You understand that my heart can't go on beatin' without you
Well your loveliness has wounded me
I'm reelin' from the blow
I wish I knew what it was that keeps me lovin' you so
I'm breathin' hard, standin' at the gate
Ah, but I don't know how much longer I can wait.

Skies are gray
I'm lookin' for anything that will bring a happy glow
Night or day, it doesn't matter where I go anymore, I just go
If I ever saw you comin' I don't know what I might do
I'd like to think I could control myself but it isn't true
That's how it is when things disintegrate
And I don't know how much longer I can wait.

I'm doomed to love you
I've been rollin' through stormy weather
I'm thinkin' of you
And all the places we could roam together.

It's mighty funny
The end of time has just begun
Oh, honey, after all these years you're still the one
Well, I'm strollin' through the lonely graveyard of my mind
I left my life with you somewhere back there along the line
I thought somehow that I would be spared this fate
I don't know how much longer I can wait.

Well, my heart's in the highlands, gentle and fair
Honey suckle bloomin' in the wildwood air
Bluebells blazin' where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well, my heart's in the highlands, I'm gonna go there when
I feel good enough to go.

Windows were shakin' all night in my dreams
Everything was exactly the way that it seems
Woke up this mornin' and I looked at the same old page
Same old rat race, life in the same old cage.

I don't want nothin' from anyone, ain't that much to take
Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come and push back the clock for me.

Well, my heart's in the highlands, wherever I roam
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind it whispers to the buck-eyed trees of rhyme
Well, my heart's in the highlands, I can only get there one step at a time.

I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone's always yellin', Turn him down
Feel like I'm driftin', driftin' from scene to scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean.

Insanity is smashin' up against my soul
You could say I was on anything but a roll
If I had a conscience, well I just might blow my top
What would I do with it anyway, maybe take it to the pawn shop.

My heart's in the highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the black swan
Big white clouds like chariots that swing down low
Well, my heart's in the highlands, only place left to go.

I'm in Boston town, in some restaurant
I got no idea what I want
Or maybe I do but, I'm just really not sure
Waitress comes over, nobody in the place but me and her.

Well, it must be a holiday, there's nobody around
She studies me closely as I sit down
She got a pretty face, with long white shiny legs
I said, Tell me what I want, she say, You probably want hard boiled eggs.

I say, That's right, bring me some.
She says, We ain't got any, you picked the wrong time to come.
Then she says, I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me.
I said, I would if I could but I don't do sketches from memory.

Well, she then, she says, I'm right here in front of you, or
haven't you looked?
I say, All right, I know but I don't have my drawing book.
She gives me a napkin, she say, You can do it on that.
I say, Yes I could but I don't know where my pencil is at.

She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says, All right now go ahead, draw me, I'm stayin' right here.
I make a few lines and I show it for her to see
Well, she takes her napkin and throws it back and says, That
don't look a thing like me.

I said, Oh, kind Miss, it most certainly does.
She say, You must be jokin', I say, I wish I was.
Then she says, You don't read women authors do ya? at least
that's what I think I hear her say
Well, I said, How would you know and what would it matter anyway?

Well she says, You just don't seem like you do. I said,
You're way wrong.
She says Which ones have you read then? I say, I've read
Erica Jong.
She goes away for a minute and I slide out, out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street but nobody is goin' anywhere.

Well, my heart's in the highlands with the horses and hounds
Way up in the border country far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and the snap of the bow
My heart's in the highlands, I can't see any other way to go.

Every day is the same thing, out the door
Feel further away than ever before
Some things in life it just gets too late to learn
Well, I'm lost somewhere, I must have made a few bad turns.

I see people in the park forgettin' their troubles and woes
They're drinkin' and dancin', wearin' bright colored clothes
All the young men, with the young women lookin' so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of 'em in a minute, if I could.

I'm crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog
Talkin' to myself in a monologue
I think what I need might be a full length leather coat
Somebody just asked me if I've registered to vote.

The sun is beginnin' to shine on me
But it's not like the sun that used to be
The party's over and there's less and less to say
I got new eyes, everything looks far away.

Well, my heart's in the highlands at the break of day
Over the hills and far away
There's a way to get there and I'll figure it out somehow
Well, I'm already there in my mind, and that's good enough for now.