Best Of Roger Miller

I'd try for you, die for you
My number one desire is you
Your mama must be elegant
Your papa should be president

I never thought that i would say
The things that i told you today
But i meant every word, love i don't mean maybe
'cos i like you and i need you and i want you
Precious baby

Me, i'm arrogant, i talk too much
And i know i don't deserve your touch
When god made you he made something
To tantalise the inside of me
Precious baby

Whoever said no love is lost must have been mistaken 'cos
Lord there's precious little love around
But if i had your love, love i'd take your lovely face
I'd show it off all over town

And then i'd live for you, and when day was through
That's when i'd hurry home to you
And meet you in the hall, now that's more than halfway
And i'd hold you every night and i'd call you every day
Precious baby

I'd hold you every night and i'd call you every day
'cos i like you and i need you and i want you
And i love you

Precious baby
Precious baby
Precious baby

Saturday in the town, as we buried t.j brown
Good man, spent his life on the k roll ferry line
He was just a man, nothing grand, just a man
But i never heard him treat no-one unkind

Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, while i dry my eyes
Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, it's old t.j's last ride

He feried model a's to the cape cherado shore
Way before my poppa ever had a son
When i was eight or nine i would sit by his back porch
And he would tell me stories from back in world war one

Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, while i dry my eyes
Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, it's old t.j's last ride

T,j's wife passed on, it was back in '61
Seems like yesterday, my my how time does fly
Still i would drop by and we'd sit and reminisce
And i'd stare across the river so as not to wath him cry

Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, while i dry my eyes
Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, it's old t.j's last ride

Well now here we standwith our memories and prayers
Mourning and crying down to the youngest child
And all that's gathered here will remember t.j brown
He will miss his river and we'll miss his old smile

Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, while i dry my eyes
Let him down slow, in the ground slow
Let him down slow, it's old t.j's last ride

So let him down slow

Everybody's talkin' at me
I don't hear a word they're sayin'
Only the echoes of my mind

People stopping, staring
I can't see their faces
Only the shadows of their eyes

I'm goin' where the sun keeps shinin'
Thru' the pourin' rain
Goin' where the weather suits my clothes
Backin' off the north east wind
Sailing on a summer breeze
And skippin' over the ocean like a stone

Everybody's talkin' at me
I don't hear a word they're sayin'
Only the echoes of my mind

When i was a little country boy i had a dream
Our family wasn't poor but rich instead
I took to the road instead of staying home to help
And that dream just withered up inside my head

All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes they fall down
All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes all fall down

When i was a strong young man i fell in love with sue
I wanted her to be my wife someday
But i couldn't bring myself to say "sue, i love you"
And that dream just fell to the ground and blew away

All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes they fall down
All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes all fall down

When i reached middle age i hungered for success
And things like fancy limousines and such
About as close as i came to that fancy limousine
Was a thirty thousand dollar greyhound bus

All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes they fall down
All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes all fall down

When i reached my golden years i often had a dream
That i'd be respected by society
But here i am on skid row with a bottle in my hand
And free advice to give to fools like me

All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes they fall down
All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes all fall down

All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes they fall down
All fall down, all fall down
When you build your dreams on wishes all fall down

She would meet me in the morning
On my way down to the river
Waiting patient by the chinaberry tree
With her feet already dusty
From the pathway to the levee
And her little blue jeans rolled up to her knees

I'd pay her no attention
As she tagged along beside me
Trying hard to copy everything i did
But i couldn't keep from smiling
When i'd hear somebody saying
Looky yonder there goes jody and the kid

Even after we grew older
We could still be seen together
As we walked along the levee holding hands
For as surely as the season she was changin' to a woman
And i'd lived enough to call myself a man

As she often lay beside me
In the coolness of the evening
Til' the morning sun as shining on my bed
And at times when she was sleeping i'd smile when i'd remember
How they used to call us jody and the kid

Now the world's a little older
And the years have changed the river
'cause there's houses where they didn't used to be
And on sundays i go walking
Down the pathway to the levee
With another little girl who follows me

And it makes the old folks smile
To see her tag along beside me
Doing little things the way her mama did
But it gets a little lonesome
When i hear somebody sayin'
Looky yonder there goes jody and the kid