Words And Music

I've been a traveler the most of my life
I never took a home, i never took a wife
Ran away young and decided to roam
But now i'd like to see my mama and my papa back home

Home, where the rivers run cold (gold)
The water tastes good, the winters ain't cold
Home, where the trees grow tall
The home fires burn, the whippoorwills call

Well i remember stories that my daddy used to tell
Yeah my eyes'd get big, his just'd swell
I could sit for hours and listen with glee
As he'd tell of how he lived when he's a boy like me

Home, where the river runs cold (gold)
The water tastes good, the winters ain't cold
Home, where the trees grow tall
The home fires burn, and the whippoorwills call

Now, mama dear, mama do you still love your boy
After all my roamin' can i still bring you joy
Mom you sent a letter, got it not long ago (momma sent a letter..)
And you said to come home, 'cause you were missin' me so(..it said ..'cause she's..)

Home, where the rivers run cold (gold)
The water tastes good, the winters ain't cold
Home, where the trees grow tall
The home fires burn, and the whipperwills call

Back about eighteen hundred and some
A louisiana couple had a redheaded son
No name suited him, jim, jack or joe
So they just called him billy bayou

Billy, billy bayou, watch where you go
You're walking on quicksand, walk slow
Billy, billy bayou, watch what you say
A pretty girl'll get you one of these days

Now bill was a boy kind of big for his size (..kinda big boy size)
Red hair and freckles, and big blue eyes
Thirteen years from the day he was born
Bill fought the battle of the little big horn

Billy, billy bayou, watch where you go
You're walking on quicksand, walk slow
Billy, billy bayou, watch what you say
A pretty girl'll get you one of these days

Now one sad day billy cried "ho! ho!
I whipped the feathers off of geronimo" (i could whip..)
He smarted off, the chief got mad
This like to ended our louisiana lad (that likely ended..)

Billy, billy bayou, watch where you go
You're walking on quicksand, walk slow
Billy, billy bayou, watch what you say
A pretty girl'll get you one of these days

And one day in eighteen seventy-eight
A pretty girl walked through bill's front gate
He didn't know whether to stand there or run
He wound up married 'cause he did neither one

Billy, billy bayou, watch where you go
You're walking on quicksand, walk slow
Billy, billy bayou, watch what you say
A pretty girl'll get you one of these days

I got up and made my morning cup of coffee
Fooled around the house an hour or more l'd guess
L did all this before l even had one thought of you
More and more l think about you less and less

L'm suprised but after all it's been a while now
Since l lost your love and all my happiness
But looks as though l just might maybe learn to smile again
More and more l thing about you less and less

L wouldn't be suprised if any day now
All these teardrops l've been crying
All these heartaches you've caused me
Began to withering and dying

Just now someone asked me if l'm hearing from you
And l felt a lot like crying l'll confess
But l didn't cry, l think the worst is over now
More and more l think about you less and less

You say that others tempt you and it's hard to turn 'em down
You say that you get lonesome, when l'm not around
Please remember you're my kingdom
And l want to always wear the crown

Though temptation's knocking, please don't let him in
Tell him that it's my arms you long to be in
Please remember you're my kingdom
And l want to always wear the crown

And tell your heart, these times that we're apart
And you're so alone, that my love for you goes on and on

And tell your heart, these times that we're apart
And you're so alone, that my love for you goes on and on

Though temptation's knocking, please don't let him in
Tell him that it's my arms you long to be in
Please remember you're my kingdom
And l want to always wear the crown

And tell your heart, these times that we're apart
And you're so alone, that my love for you goes on and on

L'm a two pack a day man, smoke like a fiend
Like a burned out bearing in a bad machine
L can't breath in the morning 'til l get myself a cigarette lit
L say dad blame anything a man can't quit

L'm a brand new newly-wed, married again
Nine times previous and this makes ten
L ought to be kicked so hard 'til l can hardly walk around or sit
L say dad blame anything a man can't quit

Still l keep it up, keep it up and do it all the time
Every now and then l make up my mind
To give it up, give it up, throw it away
L usually change my mind later on up in the day

L'm a two pack a day man, smoke like a fiend
Like a burned out bearing in a bad machine
L can't breath in the morning 'til l get myself a cigarette lit
L say dad blame anything a man can't quit

I've been a fool, i've been a foo-ooo-ooool
Forgivin' you each time you done me wrong
I've been a long time leavin' ya, but i'll be a long time gone

Loved you so much, loved you so mu-u-huuuch
I stayed around when i should've moved along
I've been a long time leavin' ya, but i'll be a long time gone

I say hi there high line, hello highway
Here come a big old semi my way
I stick up my thumb, hear the truck come
But the truck goes by and he looks like he's flyin'
And he whoops the big legs on my levi's
They go woop woop woop woop woop

I've been a fool, i've been a foo-oo-ooool
Forgivin' you each time that you've done me wrong
I've been a long time leavin' ya, but i'll be a long time gone

I say hi there high line, hello highway
Here come a big old semi my way
I stick up my thumb, hear the truck come
But the truck goes by and he looks like he's flyin'
And he's whoopin' the big legs on my levi's
Woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop

I've been a fool, i've been a foo-oo-ooool
Forgivin' you each time that you've done me wrong
I've been a long time leavin' ya, but i'll be a long time gone

Gone gone gone
Gone gone gone