I was on a Delta highway
Twilight rising from the road
Lightning shone on cotton fields
I drove through pink skies alone

Went to Lourdes and Santiago
Traveled down to New Orleans
Between pilgrims and les bon temps
G ~ ~
Live the visions and the dreams

CHORUS:
All this searching leads down such winding roads
Funny how the time goes
So far away from home

Climbed the Yellow Mountain
Held the sun in my hand
Worshipped the warriors
In tombs of ancient lands

Did not reach to the leper
Though she gave me a smile
I just played this old guitar
G ~ ~
Amidst a 1000 Chinese eyes

CHORUS:
All this searching leads down such winding roads
Funny how the mind goes
So far away from home

INSTRUMENTAL: G ~ ~ ~ Am D G Am D G ~ ~ ~ Am D G Am D G Am

Maybe on the midland prairies
We could trace familiar tears
Or wander through the desert
In hopes of Tunis or Algiers

And may the Moors next enchant me
Tall, dark friend I have known
But when on the Delta highway
G ~ ~
I’ll think of you and you alone

CHORUS:
All this searching leads down such winding roads
Funny how the mind goes
So far away from home

CHORUS:
All this searching leads down such winding roads
Funny how the mind goes
So far away from home

INTRO: C F C G C (one more, two, three) C F C G C

Who did you say it was brother?
Who was it fell by the way?
When whiskey and blood run together
Did you hear anyone pray?

CHORUS:
No, I didn’t hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn’t hear nobody pray
And I heard the crash on the highway
But, I didn’t hear nobody pray

When I heard that crash on the highway
I knew what it was from the start
And I went to the scene of destruction
And a picture was stamped on my heart

There was whiskey and blood all together
Mixed with the glass where they lay
There to lay their hands in destruction
But I didn’t hear nobody pray

CHORUS:
No, I didn’t hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn’t hear nobody pray
I heard that crash on the highway, but
I didn’t hear nobody pray

INSTRUMENTAL: C F C G F C F C G C

I wish I could change this sad story
That I am now telling you
But there is no way I can change it
For somebody’s life is now through

Their soul has been called by the master
They died in a crash on the way
And I heard the groans of the dying
But, I didn’t hear nobody pray

CHORUS:
No, I didn’t hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn’t hear nobody pray
And I heard that crash on the highway, but
I didn’t hear nobody pray

CHORUS:
No, I didn’t hear nobody pray, dear brother
I didn’t hear nobody pray
And I heard that crash on the highway, but
I didn’t hear nobody pray

INTRO: D

I’m a selfish girl

In a selfish world
And each town has her selfish ways
And each girl has her selfish days

Especially me

Longing to be free
From all the old complaining crew
And all the new ones moaning, too
Then there was you
Smiling when I couldn’t smile
Drawing me to tears

Feeling out these aches and pains

‘Cause nothing here comes easy
In this stone____ cold____
Stone____ cold world
For a selfish girl

You’re a pioneer

Headed for Newfoundland
And each land has his newfound joys
And pioneers must be big boys

Especially you

Longing to be true
To what your people came here to do
And who your mama said you could be
Then there was me
Crying when I wasn’t sad
Slouching in my shoes

Damning expectations

‘Cause nothing here comes easy
In this stone____ cold____
Stone____ cold world
For a selfish girl

I saw the tip of an iceberg explode
But I’m no tourist on this deep blue sea
Off that hard rock shore
In this stone____ cold____
Stone____ cold world
For a selfish girl

INTRO: G D G D G

Shall we walk the narrow way
Crooked, straight, rough places plain
Raised up in the yin and yang
Takes her around and back again

She’s got her act down
A shadow of a sound
And her show’s on the road
‘Cause she knows what she knows

CHORUS:
Can you see her
I can see her
Can you see her now____
A-midst all her states of grace
I can see her now

INTERLUDE: D C G D C G

Tightrope across an ocean wide
Can we reach the other side
Where china dolls and worlds collide
Where we fall and are baptized

She’s got her act down
A shadow of a sound
And her show’s on the road
‘Cause she knows what she knows
N.C.
That she knows

CHORUS:
Can you see her
I can see her
Can you see her now____
A-midst all her states of grace
I can see her now

BRIDGE:
She’s got a slight frame
For such a heavy burden
She’s on the highway of her lord

INTERLUDE: G Am C G C Am C

CHORUS:
Can you see her
I can see her
Can you see her now____
A-midst all her states of grace
I can see her
I can see her
I can see her now

OUTRO: D C G D C G D C G

INTRO: C F (4x)

Time goes by so quickly now
On this freight train line through my hometown
There are days I wait for night to come
When I fall asleep just to wake again

CHORUS:
Oh, to walk beside an honourable man
Honey, sometimes I just do the best that I can
And you show me a little bit of mercy
Of mercy
Of mercy
More than a little bit of mercy

Striving for that golden crown
Will he say, “Well done”, when the trumpet sounds
Standing where our fathers stood
We learn their ways to make them good

CHORUS:
But where is the heart in an honourable man
Honey, sometimes you just do the best that you can
And I show you a little bit of mercy
Of mercy
Of mercy
More than a little bit of mercy

INSTRUMENTAL: G F Am G F Am G

Underneath this house of stones
A whole wide world beckons us on
To leave behind the walls and doors
Windows, ceilings and floors

CHORUS:
Let us breathe in mountains, breathe out sun
For ourselves and this race we run
If you’ll show me a little bit of mercy
Of mercy
Of mercy
More than a little bit of mercy
And I’ll show you a little bit of mercy
Of mercy
Of mercy
Of mercy
Of mercy
More than a little bit of mercy

INTRO: C G F C (4x)

CHORUS:

I went up to the mountain
And I came back a wise woman
Went to the river, came back wiser still
Only to see, you’re as dear to me as the air I breathe
Won’t you meet me at that mansion on the hill

Stuffed your mattress and wove your sheets
Patched your blanket, piece by piece
If the lord had granted me a choice, I’d a held up my hand
We ground the corn, moulded lard and lye
Had ten children and watched four die
I’ll stand beside you when you meet the promised land

CHORUS:

Because I went up to the mountain
And I came back a wise woman
Went to the river, came back wiser still
Only to see, you’re as dear to me as the air I breathe
Won’t you meet me at that mansion on the hill

INSTRUMENTAL: F C F C F G C F C F C F G C

Danced to the fiddle on a Saturday night
And chopped the cotton before daylight
The sun don’t go down on a poor man’s woes
But my love, if you don’t meet the dawn
I promise you, I’ll carry on
Singing, ‘Precious Memories’, as I plant along the rows

CHORUS:

Because I went up to the mountain
And I came back a wise woman
Went to the river, came back wiser still
Only to see, you’re as dear to me as the air I breathe
Won’t you meet me at that mansion on the hill
Won’t you meet me at the mansion on the hill
Won’t you meet me at the mansion on the hill

OUTRO: C G F C F C F G C

INTRO: C G D G D

If I were to die tomorrow
At least we’d have tonight
Spend the hours knowing we’re alive
Laughing under stars and running fields throughout the night

CHORUS:
Amen and Amen
Pass the biscuits darling, this supper’s heaven sent
You mean more than any fame and fortune I could find
And the Carolina Moon is rising in the Texas sky

To the blue of the canyon
I will love you my whole life
Autumn all yellow, rust and red
I’d trade seasons for time with you instead

CHORUS:
Amen and Amen
Pass the biscuits darling, this supper’s heaven sent
You mean more than any fame and fortune I could find
And the Carolina Moon is rising in the Texas sky

INSTRUMENTAL: C G B7 Em C D G C G D

So let’s sing our hallelujahs
And we’ll have our sit-right-down
Pass that corn and okra, black-eyed peas
Can I have more of those kisses from you, please

CHORUS:
Amen and Amen
Pass the biscuits darling, this supper’s heaven sent
You mean more than any fame and fortune I could find
And the Carolina Moon is rising in the Texas sky

OUTRO: C G D G

Flee as a bird to your mountain
Thou who art weary with sin
Go to the clear flowing fountain
Where you may wash and be clean

Fly for the avenger is near thee
Call, and the saviour will hear thee
He on his bosom will bear thee
Thou who art weary of sin
Oh, thou who art weary of sin

INTERLUDE: Am C G Am E Am (2x)

He will protect thee forever
Wipe every falling tear
He will forsake thee, oh, never
Sheltered so tenderly there

Haste now the hours are flying
Spend not the moments in sighing
Cease from your sorrow and crying
The saviour will wipe every tear
Oh, the saviour will wipe every tear

INTERLUDE: Am C G Am E Am (2x)

Haste now the hours are flying
Spend not the moments in sighing
Cease from your sorrow and crying
The saviour will wipe every tear
Oh, the saviour will wipe every tear

I had a few more questions
I never knew to ask
You were feeling downhearted
The last time we parted

With the shock of the white hair
Life has changed a lot you know
And I’m kind of scared of that
It bottoms out in seconds flat

You said you had a good friend
He died so needlessly
Knocked over by a garbage truck
They threw him down, then they picked him up

And your son was back home again
Your little boy and his children
He’s fighting off a mean disease
That’s killing off his faculties

CHORUS:
Tell me a little joke
Let’s play the dozens
Say something about my mama
In a veiled quadrille round
I’m just a white girl
From a segregated town
And I’m looking for some answers
That I haven’t found

I remember Memphis
Like it was yesterday
And a Ford station wagon
So full of us, it was dragging

With your books in our grasping hands
We heard you speak, we made our plans
To hoist the flag and rule the world
All the hopes we had unfurled

CHORUS:
Tell me a little joke
Let’s play the dozens
Say something about my mama
In a veiled quadrille round
I’m just a white girl
From a segregated town
And I’m looking for some answers
That I haven’t found

BRIDGE:
I want to be just like you
I want to love first, I do
Look people in the eye
Make them feel good
Then I’ll make them think
Just like you would

Y’all were off on a night stroll
Down the capitol boulevards
You were emboldening another son
Of this grand nation

I would vote for you for president
But you’re floating with the butterflies
Soaring with the seagulls
Or the eagle as he takes the skies

Let’s eat some democratic soup
And Eastern Market cheese
Meals with you and Cornelia
Were my most precious memories

I don’t know what the hell to do
Please give me a little tap
Tell me I can take it
That I won’t bottom out in seconds flat

Gather round my table, say grace with me
In my little trailer, in the mountains of Wise County
Grief is mine forever, sadness my story
Down in Inman Holler, in the mountains of Wise County

CHORUS:
Bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye
Bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye

Mountaintops are made of 1,000 pound boulders
That roll down the hills and on to our shoulders
Lord, let me bear it for safe keeping
Lord, let me shield it from my dearest Jeremy

CHORUS:
Bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye
Bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye

INSTRUMENTAL: G C G D G (2x)

Mama will rock you ‘til you are sleeping
Angels will hold you in their keeping
Powerful men will make their money
Your name will live here in the mountains of Wise County

CHORUS:
Oh, bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye
Bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye

CHORUS:
Bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye
Bye baby, baby bye
Little baby bye-bye
My little baby bye-bye

OUTRO: G C G D G