2. Nashville Bum (1:53) - The narrator of this fast song seeks fame as a country singer. "Ketchup soup, homemade crackers, and KoolAid" is hardly a healthy meal, but something like that is what most bums live on if they can find food at all. In the last verse, he offers someone half the royalties to a song he's just written. Instruments here, and in many songs throughout this collection, include a piano and a harmonica. At the verse containing the phrase "a friend of a friend of mine," the key changes from D to E.
3. Nashville Rebel (1:51) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator tells the girl that he's too busy writing and singing songs to build a romantic relationship with her, so she'd better find another man. The following lyrics could apply to any headstrong person: "Leave that boy alone / Don't you give him advice / Or he'll turn to ice / And you might as well talk to stone."
4. Green River (2:28) - No, this is not the same "Green River" that Creedence Clearwater Revival sang; that one came later. This one is moderately slow. Having chased many dreams that couldn't come true, the narrator has returned to the Green River, where what he was after always awaited him.
5. Love Of The Common People (2:55) - The tempo is moderate. The key starts at F and rises a few times: to G at the second verse, to A at the third verse, and to B at the final singing of the chorus. A few months after the release of this version, the Everly Brothers released theirs, which starts at the key of G.
6. Walk On Out Of My Mind (2:20) - The tempo is moderately fast. The narrator's girlfriend has left him, but memories of her still haunt him and hinder any plans he makes. She can't "walk" out of his mind; he has to PUSH her out by concentrating on other people and things, which is very difficult to do. Some people and things stay in mind long after they're out of sight.
7. Only Daddy That'll Walk The Line (2:19) - The anthology's title song has a fast tempo. The narrator is tired of his girlfriend's fickle behavior, such as first packing his clothes and then, once he walks out, begging him to come back. What's more, all his friends know about her behavior. I definitely would NOT want a girlfriend like that!
8. Just To Satisfy You (2:17) - This song, slightly slower than moderate, is to a girl acting similarly to the one in the previous song. "Someone's gonna get hurt" by her behavior, he warns her--not just the men toward whom she acts the way she does, but herself. He asks her how many men's hearts she aims to break. Waylon later sang a faster version with Willie Nelson.
9. Willie And Laura Mae Jones (2:58) - The tempo is moderately slow. At the last verse, the key changes from D to E. Dusty Springfield also sang a version of this song.
10. Six White Horses (2:38) - This song has a similar tempo to the previous one. The narrator, having taught his son that killing people is wrong, objects strongly to the war in which his son is fighting. The father stares in sorrow at the son's old cradle and childhood toys. He wonders whether a sound he hears is his son coming home and knocking on the door, or the hoofbeats of horses carrying a messenger with a message that the young man has died. Although this song was written and sung during the Vietnam War, horses better fit a Civil War setting.
11. The Taker (2:25) - The tempo is moderate. The subject of this song is a man who will persuade a girl to love him and then leave her when she most needs him. I like the rhyming patterns here: "He's a giver, and he'll give her"; "He's a helper, and he'll help her"; and "He's a taker, he'll take her."
12. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) (3:02) - The tempo is moderately slow. For the first 51 seconds, a guitar is the only instrument; at the second verse, other instruments enter. Like a free eagle, the narrator's girlfriend has deserted her. Therefore he will find it harder to do anything but love her from now on.
13. Good Hearted Woman (3:02) - This moderate-tempoed song is about a woman who loves her man and never complains despite his late-night parties. Waylon's solo, studio version is the one on this anthology, although his live version with Willie is more popular.
14. Black Rose (2:30) - The tempo is moderately fast. I've never seen any species of flower with black petals, so I don't believe that's what the narrator's talking about. Considering the setting, a Virginia sugar-cane farm, he might be talking about a black woman whom he finds attractive yet who ruins his life.
15. Lonesome, On'ry And Mean (3:38) - This song, somewhat slower than moderate, illustrates the downside of being free and roaming across Louisiana; one living such a lifestyle often feels the emotions named in the title. The narrator is tired of feeling those emotions and wants to settle down, apparently with the raven-haired woman he meets in the second verse.
16. Honky Tonk Heroes (3:29) - Initially, the tempo is moderately slow, but at 1:21 it turns fast. The lyrics show what life is like for someone who frequents bars: constantly getting into fights, spending his entire paycheck on drinks and gambling, and dancing until holes appear in his shoes.
17. You Asked Me To (2:32) - The tempo is somewhat slower than moderate. Everything the narrator has done for the girl, he did because she asked him to. If she asked him to leave her, he'd even do that, although he hopes she never asks that.
18. It's Not Supposed To Be That Way (3:27) - The narrator of this slow song apparently is the father of the girl to whom he's singing. He advises her to be careful what she dreams about and to know that he loves her unconditionally. He does realize though, that he won't be available to console the girl when she's down, for she now has a lover; her loyalty now is to the younger man. Willie also sang this song; in fact, he wrote it for his daughter.
19. This Time (2:25) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator tells his girlfriend that she must choose whether she wants him back. But if he does come back, she must stop running around on him. "Each tomorrow will depend on the love you give today," he tells her. This is one of two Waylon songs that Marianne Faithfull later covered.
20. I'm A Ramblin' Man (2:46) - The narrator of this moderate-tempoed song warns girls not to fall in love with him or any other ramblin' man, for men like him love girls then leave them. I like how the lead guitar plays here.
2. Rainy Day Woman (2:31) - The tempo is fast. Waylon excels at sounding as sad as his character whose girlfriend has left him. He calls her "rainy day woman" because she made his literally sunny day emotionally rainy when she left him. She derives satisfaction from finding faults and scapegoats.
3. Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way (2:55) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator, an aspiring country singer, is tired of the way the business has been run for years. He doesn't believe Hank Williams handled show biz the way it's currently handled.
4. Dreaming My Dreams With You (2:26) - Now that the narrator's girlfriend has left him, he resolves that someday he'll live down his misery, although he will still miss sleeping beside her every night. He won't allow his loss of her to prevent him from giving love freely to others. This moderate, 3/4 song is the other Waylon song of which Marianne Faithfull also sang a version.
5. Waymore's Blues (2:41) - The tempo is somewhat faster than moderate. "Waymore" was Waylon's nickname. In the second verse he spells out the words die, tie, log, and dog. In the third verse he wonders why he falls in love with every woman he sees when he's on the road. The last verse implies that fame and fortune don't bring happiness; in fact, they may even bring misery.
6. T For Texas (3:58) - This and the next song were the first two Waylon sang at a concert in 1974. This fast song was written and originally sung by Jimmie Rodgers in the 1930s. I also have a version of this song by the Everly Brothers and one by Tompall Glaser. Although my stereo counts the time as 4:04, I use 3:58 because those last 6 seconds are just applause.
7. Bob Wills Is Still The King (3:29) - The stereo times this song at 3:25, but I use 3:29 because Waylon starts playing during the 7-second stereo countdown, and because 3 seconds of silence elapse between the fadeout of this song and the countdown to the next. This moderately fast song, which Waylon wrote "on a plane between Dallas and Austin," warns that even though Bob Wills is deceased, in Texas he's still the King (of country music).
8. Are You Ready For The Country (3:11) - This song has a moderate swing tempo. Instruments include horns. The narrator asks the girl if she's ready for a drive with him in the boonies.
9. Jack-A-Diamonds (3:24) - The tempo is moderately slow. In this case, the Jack of Diamonds is probably another name for the Devil, since the narrator tells him he can take anything but his soul. I like the false endings after which a low guitar string is plucked.
10. Luckenbach, Texas (with Willie) (3:18) - Initially the tempo is slow, with slow strums of one guitar. After the first verse, the tempo accelerates to moderate, and additional guitars and drums enter. The narrator realizes that he and his woman have been so materialistic that they quarrel constantly. He suggests they get "back to the basics of love" and exchange a few of their riches for some Western attire. Interestingly, the guys sing about themselves: "Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas / Waylon and Willie and the boys." I assumed that "Luckenbach" was slang for Lubbock until I read in Waylon's autobiography that Luckenbach is a different place, a tiny town near Austin.
11. Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand (2:58) - This fast song fades in over the first 7 seconds. Just because the narrator and his pals have been called outlaws in a magazine, the police hunt them down, interrupt a recording session, and arrest them. What's initially a joke, the police take too seriously; thus the matter gets out of hand.
12. The Conversation (with Hank Williams, Jr.) (3:51) - This song has a similar tempo to "Jack-A-Diamonds." Waylon and Hank's conversation is about the late Hank Williams, Sr. Avoiding tabloid trash, they confine the talk to "just the music and the man." The elder Hank had been considered crazy in life but in death is canonized. Yet, even in death, "he's still the most wanted outlaw in the land."
13. I Ain't Living Long Like This (4:49) - If you look for trouble, you're sure to find it. Well, the narrator of this moderately fast song did find it. He doesn't say what specific crime he committed, just that te police arrested him. When he was still a young boy, his father had died in an accident after driving drunk. Now he isn't living very long himself in prison.
14. Clyde (2:42) - This moderate, swing-tempoed song is about an electric bass guitar player. He doesn't wear shoes, but he does wear a tambourine around his waist. I'd warn a guy without shoes to at least wear thick socks and watch where he steps. One puncture by a nail or sharp rock, and he'll REALLY be singin' the blues!
15. Good Ol' Boys (Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard) (2:07) - The boys in this song never intended to harm anyone yet have been in trouble with the law all their lives. The only way they know how to make their living is illegally.
16. Storms Never Last (2:53) - Jessi wrote this soft, moderate-tempoed ballad. Any married or cohabiting couple are bound to have conflicts every now and then, but sooner or later, all problems are solved somehow. (Note: the link in the title is to a version they sang together; the version on this anthology is a Waylon solo.)
17. Shine (2:51) - Bass drums are used heavily in this fast song. The narrator's friends think he's a fool, but he vows to prove them otherwise; that is, make them see him shine. He believes his easy and free lifestyle "brings out the best in [him]."
18. Lucille (You Don't Do Your Daddy's Will) (3:25) - This countrified version of a Little Richard hit has a moderately slow tempo. The parenthetical part of the title distinguishes this song from another "Lucille" (with the line "You picked a fine time to leave me, L.") that Waylon had sung before this one.
19. Never Could Toe The Mark (2:58) - The measures elapse at a fast tempo, with the bass drum pounding on every first and third beat. The narrator finds women hard to please; once they fall in love with him, they want to change him. Only his mind changes, so a woman must accept him the way he is; SHE is the one who should "toe the mark," if he is to "walk the line."
20. Looking For Suzanne (3:38) - The tempo is moderate, but the mood is sad. Suzanne has left the narrator without telling him why. Now he resolves to find her even if it takes him the rest of his life. From 2:14 to 3:05, Waylon sings the title several times, each time followed by background singers repeating the girl's name. Although the name is spelled "-ne", Waylon and his backup singers pronounce it "-na."
I Recall A Gypsy Woman (2:56) - The tempo is fast. Instruments, including chimes, a tambourine, and a harmonica, play softly. The narrator reminisces about the gypsy woman with whom he had slept one night as an adolescent. Now he is married with children; I hope that only in his dreams, not in real life, is he seeing the gypsy again.
High Time You Quit Your Lowdown Ways (2:42) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator, tired of his girlfriend's being the belle of every ball, orders her to stop running around on him. He even analogizes her behavior to that of a hen owned years before by his father, who had to clip the hen's wings.
I've Been A Long Time Leavin' (But I'll Be A Long Time Gone) (2:40) - The narrator of this fast, 3/4 song realizes how foolish he has been to forgive his girlfriend's repeated wrongdoing. Now that he has no love left for her, he walks out and hitchhikes far away from her.
Let's All Help The Cowboys Sing The Blues (3:14) - This moderately fast song features drums that are easier heard than described but remotely resemble cymbals. Cowboys' strengths are in singing, playing the guitar, and reciting Shakespeare verses; their weakness is in relating to women. The narrator asks that everyone help all cowboys sing about their lady woes.
The Door Is Always Open (2:38) - The narrator of this fast song congratulates the woman on her recent marriage to a man with money. Not completely over her, though, he warns her that her new husband can't give her what she needs more than anything else--love. So he tells her that if she ever tires of the rich man, she can come back to the narrator.
Let's Turn Back The Years (2:27) - This song has a similar tempo to the previous one. The narrator, sorry for having left his woman, begs her to let them resume their relationship as if he had never left.
She's Looking Good (2:30) - This song has a 3/4 tempo somewhat slower than moderate. The narrator's girlfriend looks lovely, all right, but he fears that she's looking for trouble, and anyone who looks for trouble is sure to find it. She has a split personality--loving him one day, running around the next.
All Around Cowboy (2:55) - This and the next song were not on the original album; they are CD bonus tracks. This moderately paced tune depicts a former rodeo champ looking back on his glory days, which are long over. Years after Waylon recorded this song, so did Chris LeDoux.
Ride Me Down Easy (2:41) - This song has a moderate waltz tempo. Waylon had made another recording of this song for an earlier album, Honky Tonk Heroes. His character walks along a desert highway where "the rides are as scarce as the rain." He describes himself as "easy come, easy go, easy to love when I stay."
Lyrics to all songs on this album are available here.
Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys (with Willie) (2:32) - This fast, 3/4 song is melodically similar to "Good Hearted Woman" and opens with a low-pitched guitar. Waylon sings the first half of the first verse, Willie the second half. Of the second verse, Willie sings line 1, Waylon sings line 2, and they sing the rest in unison. Cowboys like to roam the countryside and hang out at poolrooms rather than stay home. So mothers should take care to raise their boys not to be cowboys, but to be "doctors and lawyers and such."
The Year 2003 Minus 25 (with Willie) (3:02) - This moderately paced song was written and originally sung by Kris Kristofferson in 1975 as "The Year 2000 Minus 25"; Waylon and Willie changed the song's title and first line to fit the year of the album's release, 1978. Willie sings the first verse, noting that "power is as power does" and is easily abused. Waylon sings the second verse, which refers to the Vietnam War. "Might just ain't as righteous as it used to be before, when your army's out of gas"--hey, I find a nice rhyme here: "might just" and "righteous"! Oh well, "time slips away till you die."
Pick Up The Tempo (with Willie) (2:32) - This song, like "Mamas," has a fast, 3/4 tempo. Of the first verse, Waylon sings the first half, Waylon the second half; for the second verse it's vice versa. Some people tell the narrator he lives too fast, and if he continues to live the way he does, he may die in a few years. I like the paradox in the second verse such as "I'm good and I'm bad, I'm happy and I'm sad..." In the chorus, the singer and drummer are sluggish, so an increase in tempo might spur them back into alertness.
Lookin' For A Feeling (2:37) - The tempo is moderate. A bass drum plays during the verse. Now that the narrator has lost the love of the woman he sings to, he searches for the same feeling they used to share, going from woman to woman, but he can't find it. Waylon stops singing just before the 2-minute mark.
I Can Get Off On You (with Willie) (2:22) - The measures count at a moderately fast pace. Like in "2003" (and in the tune that follows this one) Willie sings the first verse, Waylon the second. Before the narrator met his lady, he used to quell his loneliness via drugs and alcohol. Now he asks her to throw 'em out, for love like hers was what he wanted all along.
Don't Cuss The Fiddle (with Willie) (3:02) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, was based by Kris Kristofferson on Waylon and Willie's hit "Good Hearted Woman." (W&W do, in fact, close this recording by singing the chorus of GHW.) The basic theme is that instead of hurling insults at each other, singers should just "settle down and steal each other's songs."
Gold Dust Woman (3:59) - The measures count at a moderately fast pace. This song was written by, and also a hit for, Stevie Nicks. To the title character, the narrator lectures about the sad facts of love. The woman's "illusions of love" have been shattered by a man who has dumped her; the narrator advises her to "pick up the pieces and go home." At 2:19, Waylon stops singing; most of the track's second half is instrumental.
The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want To Get Over You) (2:08) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator keeps the memory of his ex-girlfriend alive by going alone to places they used to frequent together. He sits at a small table with an empty seat facing him. Having brought a bunch of quarters with him, he plays so many songs on the jukebox that to his knowledge, he uses the jukebox more than anyone else does. For this reason, he wishes he could receive a "Wurlitzer Prize," a parody of the journalistic award the Pulitzer Prize.
We Had It All (2:45) - This song is somewhat slow. The key starts at C, then rises to D just before the last verse. The narrator looks back on the good romance he used to have with the girl he sings to. Though it's over now, it was good while it lasted. He recalls the times he touched her hair, she answered his every call, and the Georgia wind blew. She was the best part of his life.
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (2:49) - This song has a moderate, 3/4 tempo. As a boy, the narrator idolized cowboys and wanted to be one himself. Now that he is grown, he knows what a cowboy does: he roams from city to city, wearing out many a saddle, loving women and then leaving them. One downside to the solitary life is that he could die of hypothermia with no one to comfort him.
Good Hearted Woman (live version with Willie) (2:58) - This version plays at a similar pace to the original version. Of the first verse, Waylon sings the first half, Willie the second half. Of the second verse, Waylon sings the first and third lines, Willie the second and fourth. Just like in the original version, the key starts at D, then after the second verse rises to E.
Heaven Or Hell (with Willie) (1:38) - The measures count at a fast, 3/4 pace. Willie sings the final occurrence of the lines "Sometimes it's heaven, sometimes it's hell / Sometimes I don't even know," but Waylon sings the rest. To the narrator, heaven is being in the arms of his sweetheart, not a gold-paved street far above. Hell is the absence of his girlfriend, not an eternal bonfire far below. After the middle instrumental, the key rises from C to D.
I've Always Been Crazy (4:11) - The tempo is moderate. The narrator has been accused of many wrongs, some rightly, others wrongly. My favorite lines in this song are "I can't say I'm proud of all of the things that I've done / But I can say I've never intentionally hurt anyone." I also like the use of paradox: "I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from goin' insane." After the second verse, the narrator warns the lady to be careful about loving free-living men like himself.
He Went To Paris (3:19) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, is about a man who spends several years of his youth in Paris, indulging in that city's wines and cheeses. He then goes to England, finds a wife, and fathers a son. Unfortunately, a war breaks out and claims the lives of his wife and son; he is severely wounded and loses one eye. So he leaves England to live somewhere else.
Folsom Prison Blues (3:12) - This fast song features a harmonica. It was originally a hit for Johnny Cash in 1957; Waylon released his version in 1981. Despite being told as a boy by his mother not to mess with guns, the narrator kills a man for thrill in Reno, Nevada, a crime for which he spends the rest of his life in the prison of Folsom, California. Just before the last verse, the key rises from F to G.
The Year That Clayton Delaney Died (with Willie) (3:02) - The tempo is somewhat faster than moderate. The guys alternate verses, with Willie singing the first. This song was written and originally sung by Tom T. Hall. Clayton Delaney was a real person whom Tom grew up idolizing. Clayton advised Tom against pursuing a musical career, but Tom eventually became a star anyway, so he sang of Clayton, "I'd give $100 if he could only see me now." Clayton's death devastated Tom so much that Tom went to the forest to weep.