Step Inside This House

If i needed you
Would you come to me
Would you come to me
And ease my pain
If you needed me
I would come to you
I'd swim the seas
For to ease your pain

In the night forlorn
Ah, the morning's born
And the morning shines
With the lights of love
You will miss sunrise
If you close your eyes
That would break
My heart in two

Lady's with me now
Since i showed her how
To lay her lilly hand in mine
Loop and lil agree
She's a sight to see
And a treasure for
The poor to find

I've had enough
Of words and games
I don't think i know you
I can't forget your name
Your eyes are clear
The way is strange
The light's in the hallway
If you forget your way

You were here to be only
What you wanted anyway
You were sad to be sorry
You were sorry everyday
You were here to be loved
But love's trickled away
From your eyes

I tell myself
I'm least of all to blame
For these words of my choosing
For my rules that make the game
But my eyes are clear
I can see the way is strange
Through the dark of the hallway
That echoes back your name

I was here to be only
What i wanted anyway
I was sad to be sorry
I was sorry everyday
I was here to be loved
But love's trickled away
From my eyes

Last night you know i couldn't sleep
I was tossing, turning, and counting sheep
To tell the truth
The next thing i knew
I woke up on the outside
In the middle of the avenue

A policeman spied me traffic there
In my t-shirt and my underwear
He said, son, son
It sure don't look good
The way you've been calling for your baby
All over the neighborhood

It seems i was sleepwalking
Again last night
The way i was sweet talking
It must have caused a terrible fright
Last night when i was sleepwalking

Someone saw me at a doughnut shop
I was sitting, crying on a tabletop
It was not a pretty sight
I was out of control
The way that i was carrying on
About my sweet jelly roll

I said officer please
My baby's got me down on my knees
Lying in bed
Late at night
Sometimes i just go out of my head
At night
And i go out sleepwalking

Later on down at the jail cell
I was hoping things would turn out well
Because i don't recall
That masquerade ball
And i don't remember nothing y'all
About that blown up rubber doll

So lately i've stopped going anywhere
And i've taken to sleeping with a teddy bear
It's a very full and rich
Imaginary life
And it's sure enough better than dreaming y'all
About any imaginary wife

Well won't you lend your lungs to me
Mine are collapsing
Plant my feet and bitterly breathe
Up the time that's passing
And breath i'll take and breath i'll give
And pray the day's not poison
Stand among the ones that live
In lonely indecision

Fingers walk the darkness down
Mind is on the midnight
Gather up the gold you've found
You fool it's only moonlight
And if you try to take it home
Your hands will turn to butter
You better leave this dream alone
Try to find another

Salvation sat and crossed herself
Called the devil partner
Wisdom burned upon a shelf
Who'll kill the raging cancer
Seal the river at its mouth
Take the water prisoner
Fill the sky with screams and cries
Bathe in fiery answers

Jesus was an only son
And love his only concept
Strangers cry in foreign tongues
And dirty up the doorstep
And i for one and you for two
Ain't got the time for outside
Just keep your injured looks to you
We'll tell the world that we tried

It's a busted old town
On the plains of west texas
The drugstore's closed down
The river's run dry
The semis roll through
Just like stainless steel stallions
Goin' hard
Goin' fast
Goin' wild
Rollin' hard
Rollin' fast
Rollin' by

The mission still stands
At the edge of the plateau
And a stone marks the graves
Where the old cowboys lie
Asleep in a time
In a town just a young man
Goin' hard
Goin' fast
Goin' wild
Rollin' hard
Rollin' fast
Rollin' by

The drive-in don't play
No friday night picture
With no big silver screen
To light up the sky
And gone are the days
Of post-wartime lovers
Goin' hard
Goin' fast
Goin' wild
Rollin' hard
Rollin' fast
Rollin' by

And me i stand here
At the last filling station
While the wind moans a dirge
To a coyote's cry
And i'm back in my car
And i'm out on the highway
Goin' hard
Goin' fast
Goin' wild

My days they are the highway kind
They only come to leave
But the leaving i don't mind
It's the coming that i crave
Pour the sun upon the ground
Stand to throw a shadow
Watch it grow into the night
And fill the spinning sky

Time among the pine trees
It felt like breath of air
Usually i just walk these streets
And tell myself to care
Sometimes i believe me
Sometimes i don't hear
Sometimes the shape i'm in
Won't let me go

I don't know too much for truth
But my heart knows how to pound
My legs know how to love someone
My voice knows how to sound
It's a shame that it's not enough
It's a shame that it is a shame
Follow the circle down
Where would you be

You're the only one i want
I've never heard your name
Let's hope we meet someday
If we don't it's all the same
And i'll meet the ones between us
And be thinking about you
And all the places i have seen
And why you were not there

The sun went down like a curtain
Memphis looks bigger at night
All the tatooed boys in uniform
Step in and out of the light

She bought me good whiskey in memphis
She bought supper and she paid for the room
And as best as i can remember
She paid dearly for loving me too

She said hey don't i know you
Now ain't you the one
The one with the guitar boys
And all them sad songs
About men in the rain
Did you ever miss a plain
In memphis

We laughed at the strangers we were in the bed
Two cigarettes lit up the room
Like two backseat lovers can't wait to get started
Knowing everything's over too soon

Now memphis ain't bad in the morning
Good coffee well it's just hard to find
But let me suggest that you never leave memphis
With anything on your mind

Mary martin was a schoolgirl
Just seventeen or so
When she married billy archer
About fourteen years ago
Not even out of high school
Folks said it wouldn't last
But when you grow up in the country
You grow up mighty fast

They married in a hurry
In march before school was out
Folks said that she was pregnant,
"just wait and you'll find out."
It came about that winter
One gray november morn
The first of many more to come
A baby boy was born

And cattle is their game
And archer is the name
They give to the acres that they own
If the brazos don't run dry
And the newborn calves don't die
Another year from mary will have flown
Another year from mary will have flown

Now billy kept what cattle
His father could afford
Bouncing across the cactus
In a 1950 ford
The cows were sick and skinny
And the weed was all that grew
But billy kept the place alive
The only thing he knew

And mary cooked the supper
And mary scrubbed the clothes
And mary busted horses
And blew the baby's nose
And mary and a shotgun
Kept the rattlesnakes away
How she kept on smiling
No one could ever say

Now the drought of '57
Was a curse upon the land
No one in bosque county
Could give bill a helping hand
The ground was cracked and broken
And the truck was out of gas
And cows can't feed on prickly pear
Instead of growing grass

Well the weather got the water
And a snake bite took a child
And a fire in the old barn
Took the hay that bill had piled
The mortgage got the money
And the screw worm got the cows
The years have come for mary
She's waiting for them now

Darlin' don't walk out on me
Tryin' to teach me a lesson
Thinkin' you'll come back to a better man
If you don't like the way things go
Just stay here and tell me so
'cause there's one thing about me
You've got to understand

I've had enough lonesome
In my education
I don't want to study anymore
About a woman and a slammin' door
If i want to be blue
I've got enough information
I know about lonesome
Teach me about love

Now the words from your sweet lips
And the looks from your sweet eyes
Are lessons that i study day by day
Each day i pick up something new
Each night i learn a thing or two
But how can i learn anything
When teacher's gone away

I've had enough lonesome
In my education
I don't want to study anymore
How to make it through a barroom door
I've been down and out
I'm ready for inspiration
I know about lonesome
Teach me about love

Well, the last time i remember
That train stopping at the depot
Was when me and my aunt veta
Came riding back from waco
I remember i was wearing
My long pants and we was sharing
Conversation with a man
Who sold ball-point pens and paper

And the train stopped once in clifton
Where my aunt bought me some ice cream
And my mom was there to meet us
When the train pulled into kopperl

But now kids at night break window lights
And the sound of trains only remains
In the memory of the ones like me
Who have turned their backs on the splintered cracks
In the walls that stand on the railroad land
Where we used to play and then run away
From the depot man

I remember me and brother
Used to run down to the depot
Just to listen to the whistle
When the train pulled into kopperl
And the engine big and shiny
Black as coal that fed the fire
And the engineer would smile and say,
"howdy, how ya fellows?"

And the people by the windows
Playing cards and reading papers
Looked as far away to us
As next summer's school vacation

That picture hangin' on the wall
Was painted by a friend
He gave it to me all down and out
When he owed me ten
Now it doesn't look like much i guess
But it's all that's left of him
And it sure is nice from right over here
When the light's a little dim

Step inside my house babe
I'll sing for you a song
I'll tell you 'bout where i've been
It shouldn't take too long
I'll show you all the things i own
My treasures you might say
Couldn't be more'n ten dollars worth
But they brighten up my day

Here's a book of poems i got
From a girl i used to know
I guess i read it front to back
Fifty times or so
It's all about the good life
And stayin' at ease with the world
It's funny how i love that book
And i never loved that girl

Hold this piece of glass
Up to the light comin' through the door
It's a prism glass i found on the road
Can you see that little rainbow
Well it's not really a prism i guess
It just broke in a funny way
I found it on my way from texas
Headed for l.a.

This guitar was given me
By old man thomas gray
It's not too much to look at
But i pick it every day
It's been across the country
Four or five times i guess
Between me and old man tom
It never got much rest

Well that's about all i own
And all i care to i guess
Except this pair of boots
And that funny yellow vest
And that leather jacket and leather bag
And hat hangin' on the wall
Just so it's not too much to carry
Could i see you again next fall

© 1971 chappel & co. (ascap)

Guy clark says "step inside this house"
Is the first song he ever wrote;
It had never been recorded.
I learnt it from eric taylor.
-- lyle (from the step inside this house cd booklet)

Below are all the differences i could find
Between guy clark's original lyrics
And the way lyle sings the song.
Lyle's changes are in italics.

Step inside this house girl
I'll sing for you a song
I'll tell you 'bout just where i've been
It shouldn't take too long
I'll show you all the things that i own
My treasures you might say
Couldn't be more than ten dollars worth
They brighten up my day

This book of poems was given me
By a girl i used to know
I guess i read it front to back
Fifty times or so

Now you hold this piece of glass
Up to the light that's shinin' through the door
It's a prism glass i found it on the road
Can't you see that tiny rainbow
It's not really a prism i guess
It just kinda broke a funny way
I was on my way through houston
And i was headed for l.a.

This guitar was given me
By old man thomas gray
It's not too much to look at
But i play it every day

Well that's just about all i own
And all i care to i guess
Except this pair of boots maybe
And that funny yellow vest
And that leather jacket and that leather bag
And that hat hangin' on the wall
Just so it's not too much to carry babe
Could i see you again next fall