Manny?s Hat Song
Jerry Jeff Walker

Manny was a maker of hats, Manny was much more than that
He was the kind of guy, you and I would want for a friend
Manny was a regular guy, with an old soul look in his eye
He was a man of word, and true to himself to the end

Chorus:
Manny loved to laugh and share a good story or two
If he’s a making you a hat, he needs to know some things about you
He’d say, ”Set yourself down, tell us what you’re [C/B]thinking about
Your hat says something about you, ?fore you even open your mouth”

Manny had a funky hat shop, south of town where everyone stopped
To sit and chat, get a hat, and maybe get a new attitude
He loved to sit up front and greet folks, take their measurements and laugh at their jokes
You couldn’t stop by without staying there all afternoon
His wife Norma she sat in the back, sewing sweatbands in all of his hats
She listened to the radio, some times I’d sing her a tune

Chorus

He made hats for a lot of great men but none were finer then he made for a friend
He made ‘em the old way, steamed, and creased ‘em by hand
He’d take your old hat and make her brand new, he’d shape it any way you wanted him too
He’d fix it up fine with a porcupine-beaded hatband
You know his hats were worn all over the world, by real cowboy, women?s and pearls
He even made one for me he jokingly called “the old friend”

Bridge:
Well when old friends disappear, I sometimes wonder where
I’d like to think maybe there just somewhere round the bend
But Manny’s in heaven I bet, I’ll go you one better yet
I’ll bet money John B. and Manny are talking God into a hat

Old Manny used to take me aside, he?d say Jerry Jeff you know how to write
Why don’t you make up a hat song and do it just the way that you do
Well now that old Manny has gone, I finally made him up Manny’s hat song
‘Cause it’s the best way to keep your old friend alive in a room

Chorus

Manny was a maker of hats, Manny was much more than that
He was the kind of guy, you and I would want for a friend

[Verse 1]
Got my irons in the fire down in Texas
Got a toe hold in Tennessee
Got my foot in the door of that California Store
Now I’m up to my ears in me

Don’t be concerned if the song sounds familiar
Don’t be concerned if it all seems the same
Just be concerned that your policies will kill you
It’s all just public domain

[Verse 2]
I took a bite of the Big Apple
And I dabbled in that forbidden fruit
No they promised me points
And they slipped me skinny joints
And I’ve yet to see me any loot
From that man in the high-heeled Gucci shoes

Don’t be concerned if the song sounds familiar
Don’t be concerned if it all seems the same
Just be concerned that your policies will kill you
It’s all just public domain

[Instrumental]




[Verse 3]
I sang in the Red River Valley
I’ve drank with the whores in Santa Fe
Yeah, I ran with the snuff queens in Dallas
Like I ran from Snow White in L. A.
Now I’ve broken all my vows to Demolay

Don’t be concerned if the song sounds familiar
Don’t be concerned if it all seems the same
Just be concerned that your policies will kill you
It’s all just public domain
It makes sense to get into the rain

The Cape
By Jerry Jeff Walker & Django Walker
Written By Guy Clark

C/B ‘ X20010
Am/G ‘ 3X2210

Capo 2

Well he’s eight years [C/B]old with a flour sack [Am/G]cape tied all around his neck
He’s climbing [C/B]up on top the [Am/G]garage, he’s figurin’ what the heck
So screws his [C/B]courage up so darn [Am/G]tight that the whole thing come unwound
He got a runnin?[C/B]? start and bless hi[Am/G]s heart, he headed for the ground

Chorus :
‘Cause he's one of those who knows his life
Is just a leap of faith
Gotta’ spread your [C/B]arms and hold your [Am/G]breath
And always trust your cape

Well he’s all grown up, he’s got a flour sack cape, tied all around his dream
He’s full of ps and vinegar, ah, he’s bustin’ at the seams
So licks his finger and checks the wind, it’s gonna be do or die
He wasn’t scared of nothin’, boys, he was pretty sure he could fly

Chorus

Now he’s old and grey with a flour sack cape, tied all around his head
And he’s still jumpin’ off the garage and will be til he’s dead
All these years the people said the fool was actin’ like a kid
And since he didn’t know he couldn’t fly, well of course he did

Chorus

(Intro)

(Verse 1)
Up the street the dogs are barkin’
The day is gettin’ dark
As the night comes a fallin’
The dogs lose their bark
The silent night is shattered
By the sounds inside my mind
I’m one too many mornings
And a thousand miles behind

(Verse 2)
I gaze from my doorstep
My eyes start to fade
Back to the room
Where my love and I have laid
I gaze back to the sidewalk
The lamp post and the sign
I’m one too many mornings
An’ a thousand miles behind

(Verse 3)
It’s just a restless hungry feeling
That just don’t mean no one no good
Every thing I’m feeling
Why I never thought I would
And you’re right from your side
I’ll be right from mine
We’re both one too many mornings
An’ a thousand miles behind

(Verse 4)
Up the street the dogs are barkin’
An’ the day is gettin’ light
I just spent another
Lonely lonely restless night
You’re right from your side
An’ I’m right from mine
Both one too many mornings
An’ a thousand miles behind

You know a mile around the bend on the Ohio
Coming up the river for the Sunday show
There’s a tuba and a banjo and a steam calliope
Way in the back there’s a big paddle wheel

What a thrill it musta been, playing Dixie for the folks
Up and down the river on the first showboat
What a thrill it musta been, playing Dixie for the folks
Up and down the river on the first showboat

Momma took the kids and papa took the lunch
The kids took the bells and the whiskey took the drunks
But the biggest thrill of all, you know it had to be
Was sitting up front playing steam calliope

Well there’s magic in the air, they’re fiddlin the rhymes
It’s slow and easy in the summertime
Yeah, but who’d of ever thought, the day would come to be
Where there’s oil on the waters where the rivers used to be

Yeah a mile around the bend on the Ohio
Coming up the river for the Sunday show

N.C.
If you want to play along with the “Dixieland” theme as on Night After Night, the chords are

[Verse 1]

Well I found her in a pawnshop
Somewhere up in Ohio
Where I guess some rounder came up short
And he had to let her go
Cost me ninety dollars
But she’s worth much more by far
Cause I never had a better friend
Than that old beat up guitar

She didn’t look like too much
Just a Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe
But a lady has never faired as well
Who’d traveled through so much

[Verse 2]

She picked up the name of Angel
In an old New Orleans bar
Where a drunken poet drew one
On the top of that guitar
Old Dave Stovall he marked her
Scratched the song right out of his heart
Seems everyone who used her
Scarred that old beat up guitar

She didn’t look like too much
Just a Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe
But a lady has never faired as well
Who’d traveled through so much

[Verse 3]

She traveled with me always
Through the alleys and bars
Songs I sang and friends I knew
Were part of that guitar
At nights it was my pillow
Sleeping underneath the stars
Day and night I stayed alive
With that old beat up guitar

She didn’t look like too much
Just a Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe
But a lady has never faired as well
Who’d traveled through so much

[Verse 4]

Yeah a ramblin man he has his troubles
Hanging on to all that he owns
After many years of travelin’
That guitar fell by the road
Then one night in New Mexico
I stumbled into this bar
Angel laid there smilin’
On that old beat up guitar

[Verse 5]

Well I took her from the wall
Ran my hands across the scars
Played again the old songs
That were written on that guitar
Friends I’ve loved and lost
Many nights inside of a bar
Came back so clearly singing with
That old beat up guitar

She didn’t look like too much
Just a Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe
But a lady has never faired as well
Who’d traveled through so much

[Verse 6]

Now she travels with me always
Through the alleys and bars
Songs I sing and friends I know
They are a part of that guitar
At nights it is my pillow
Sleeping underneath the stars
Day and night I stayed alive
With that old beat up guitar

She didn’t look like too much
Just a Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe
But a lady has never faired as well
Who’d traveled through so much

Well I was down at the Cotton Club last night
With a couple of my buddies drinking beer
We were lookin’ for something I ain’t never seen
Boys, I’m grinnin’ from ear to ear
When I see her long legs come walking in the door
And her high heels clicking on the floor
I knew right then I’d be headin’ in
To something I ain’t never seen before

That’s right I got lucky last night, that’s right
Yea, I’m telling you true, it could happen to you
I got lucky last night

Well I took my hands out of my pants
And walked up and asked her to dance
Oh, we two-stepped, we three-stepped,
‘Fore you even know it, we were tighter than old Jimmy J’s pants
Ain’t nothing to learn, one slide or a turn
With a big move over to the side
Where we don’t have to shout, and we can both figure out
How we’re gonna get away from here light
That’s right lucky last night, that’s right
Yea, I’m telling you true, it could happen to you
I got lucky last night
Oh, that’s right, that’s right
I got lucky last night, that’s right
I’m telling you true, it could happen to you
I got lucky last night
Well this lovely lady with keys to a car
Whispered she didn’t live far
I said who cares, she said how come chum
We don’t skate out of this bar
So we dosi-doed, we grand right and left
And grabbed two six-packs from the bar
While some fool sang Goodnight Irene,
I mean we both gone in the car
Son, that’s right, I got lucky last night, that’s right
I’m telling you true, it could happen to you
But it happened to me, yessiree
That’s right, lucky last night, that’s right
Ain’t no reason or rhyme, it just happens sometime
You got lucky that’s right, oh last night, that’s right
I got lucky last night, that’s right
I’m telling you true, it could happen to you
I got lucky last night

Life on the Road
by Jerry Jeff Walker and John Inmon

Intro: (all over an E)

Last year we went to London and Paris, Texas

We went on a bus tour, the great Texas honky tonk tour

Here are some snapshots about life on the road…..

Let me tell you ‘bout the life I lead

It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be

Of what you been told, ‘bout life on the road

Rolling round in a painted bus, just so y’all can look at us

Life on the road

You pack your clothes and your shaving kit
Some extra socks and those pants that fit
Check ‘em for holes, life on the road
Everything you pack is black, hoist it all upon your back
For life on the road

Climb on board the bus and grab your bunk
One on the bottom is the one you want
Less rock and roll as you roll down the road
Plug John Wayne in the VCR
Let the driver tell you where you are
Life on the road

You get a bed and a TV set, you get an ashtray for your cigarette
You get HBO, well that’s life on the road
Get one down on the bottom floor, hang a do not disturb sign on the door
Life on the road

You get clean sheets and a wake-up call
Only go up north in the spring and fall
But not when it’s cold, that’s no life on the road
Coffee black with pie a la mode
That’s what you want before the show
Life on the road

Tonight we’re playing that high school gym
They’re all drunk before I even begin
They’re hollering “psin’ in the Wind”
Life on the road

The local band opens up for us
Now the PA’s got a real big buzz
Life on the road

The good news is I get to sing my songs
The bad news is they all sing along
And they’re singing wrong notes
Ahh, life on the road

But if I stop, it won’t be long
Before they’re singing someone else’s song
Life on the road

Yeah, down in Texas we got our own style
We say “we’re fixin’ to” and “country mile”
Ten gallon hats and store-bought cowboy boots
We say “Howdy y’all”, they go “Howdy doo”
We’re laid back crazy ‘cause it’s understood
When you live down in Texas, life is good, life is good, yeah, life is good

Yeah, down in Texas, we know wrong from right
Work hard all day and party all night
We say “Yes sir” and “Thank you ma’am”
If you don’t like that we don’t give a damn
We do things the way we think we should
‘Cause we live down in Texas where life is good, this life is good, yeah, life is good

Bridge:
And every man in the whole wide world
He falls in love with pretty Texas girls
I found everything is good
Women round the world love their cowboys too
Hey down in Texas we say don’t complaint
Just thank the Lord for the pouring rain
Cloudy skies and bright old sunny days
We say we like it here either way
We wouldn’t change things even if we could
Cause every day in Texas, life is good, this life is good, hey, life is good

Yeah, life is good, Yeah life is good
Life is good, life is good, life is good

Most of the best music I’ll ever play, comes out of being late at night
When I’m singing the children to sleep on my plane, trying to get myself right
The music that I do in my little Django’s room, music that just rolls off the heart
Where it’s free and it’s easy, made up to soothe him and always feels like a love song

And the music that I play makes him feel warm and safe
So watch him drift off on his way
Now I hope the music that I play while he’s dreaming
Stays with him, all the rest of his days

Cause you got to have [C/B]something, that makes us [Am/G]believe that the world that we live in is right
Watching the [C/B]future asleep with the [Am/G]baby, could brighten my outlook,
And make me play all through the night

Say a man in his time, affects all mankind, if he does what he sees must be done
Though I humbly ask for all your age little man, make a world that is safe for my son
Cause we’ve got to have something, that makes us believe that the world that we live in is right
Watching the future asleep with the children, brightens your outlook,
And makes you play all through the night
Chorus