At My Window

By townes van zandt

Down at the bottom of that dirty ol' river
Down where the reeds and the catfish play
There lies a dream as soft as the water
There lies a bluebird that's flown away


Well, to meet is like springtime
And to love's like the summer
Her brown eyes shone for nobody but me
Then autumn forever, the fool come a fallin'
And the rain turned to freezin' inside of me.


I'll kindle my fires with the words
I can't send you
And the roads i can't follow
And the songs i can't sing


Well, all you young ladies
Who dream of tomorrow
While you're a listenin'
These words will i say
Cling to today with its joy
And its sorrow
You'll need all your memories
When youth melts away.


Well, the angel of springtime
He rides down the southwind
The angel of summer
He does just the same
The angel of autumn
She's blue and she's golden
And the angel of winter
Won't remember your name


Down at the bottom of that dirty ol' river
Down where the reeds and the catfish play
There lies a dream as soft as the water
There lies a bluebird that's flown away


There lies a bluebird
That's flown away

By townes van zandt

When the wind don't blow in amarillo
And the moon along the gunnison don't rise
Shall i cast my dreams upon your love, babe
And lie beneath the laughter of your eyes


It's snowin' on raton
Come morning i'll be through them hills and gone


Mother thinks the road is long and lonely
Little brother thinks the road is straight and fine
Little darling thinks the road is soft and lovely
I'm thankful that old road is a friend of mine


Bid the years good-bye you cannot still them
You cannot turn the circles of the sun
You cannot count the miles until you feel them
And you cannot hold a lover that is gone


Tomorrow the mountains will be sleeping
Silently the blanket green and blue
All that i shall hear the silence they are keeping
I'll bring all their promises to you

By townes van zandt

When i'm with you, babe,
I just can't be lonely
When i'm away, babe,
I think of you only
What can i do, babe,
To get back to you, babe,
I do anything that you say


The night she is a sapphire
Full of blue desire
Follow her love fire
Higher and higher
What can i do, babe,
To stay her with you babe
At least till the east turn to grey


Just you and me, girl,
The stars and the real whirl
Spinning the minutes away


The darkness is passing
She's never long lasting
But my love ain't leaving
Through hurtin' or pleasin'
I am tellin' you true, babe,
Ask me to do, babe,
I'll trade all my treasures for you


The daylight are flashing
Our hearts could be laughing
If only you wanted them to
For just you and me, girl,
The sun shine and turmoil
Will spill from a basket of blue

By townes van zandt

Mister gator he's a-glidin' down the bayou
Mister buzzard he's a-slidin' through the air
Mister turtle be a-hittin' the highway
I ain't goin' nowhere


I ain't leavin you love, babe
I ain't leavin you love, babe
Not for heaven above, babe
I ain't leavin you love, babe


The poor man got him an airplane
Tryin to cruise across the traffic jam
The rich man got him a chevrolet
I'm stayin' right where i am


Now hannibal he climbed the mountains
Cleopatra danced down the nile
Lucky lindy made it all the way to gay paris
I'm stayin right here awhile

By townes van zandt

Why does she sing
Her sad songs for me,
I'm not the one
To tenderly bring
Her soft sympathy
I've just begun
To see my way clear
And it's plain,
If i stop i will fall
I can lay down a tear
For her pain,
Just a tear and that's all.


What does she want me to do?
She says that she knows
That moments are rare
I suppose that it's true
Then on she goes
To say i don't care,
And she knows
That i do


Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song
And who do i think that i am to decide that she's wrong.


She'd like to think that i'm cruel,
But she knows that's a lie
For i would be
No more than a tool
If i allowed her to cry
All over me.


Oh my sorrow is real
Even though
I can't change my plan
If she could see how i feel
Then i know
That she'd understand


Oh does she actually think i'm to blame?
Does she really believe
That some word of mine
Can relieve
All her pain?
Can't she see that she grieves
Just because she's been blindly deceived
By her shame?


Nothin's what it seems,
Maybe she'll start someday
To realize
If she abandons her dreams,
Then all the words she can say
Are only lies
When will she see
That to gain
Is only to lose?
All that she offers me
Are her chains,
I got to refuse


Oh but it's only to herself that she's lied
She likes to pretend
It's something that she must defend,
With her pride
And i don't intend
To stand her and be the friend
From whom she must hide