Shawn Kimbro lyrics

Lyrics

*Includes new and unrecorded songs!
Index
Trotline
Train To Boulder
Sunday Morning Rain
Clinch River Valley
Bethlehem Coal
Hot Springs
Holston River Blues
Short Mountain Woman
Drifting Away
Driver Number Three
*Krispy Kreme
*Firefly
*Lord For All Seasons
*The Beleagured Mountaineer
*Dancyville
*Say The Sweetest Things
*Not My Girlfriend
*Walk Away From Me
*The River of Life
Corn Mash Whiskey Blues
Follow Me To Tennessee

Follow Me To Tennessee
Shawn Kimbro

Story: A few years back there was a popular Tennessee tourism campaign which included the slogan "Follow Me To Tennessee." I started thinking about some tourist destinations in our state and how we sometimes entice folks to visit them by promoting our stereotypes. I guess everyone exaggerates a little in their ads, but in Tennessee, we sometimes goes the extra mile in our quest for the tourist buck. Well, hell, as a band who sometimes puts up a sign, "Requests $1.00 - Rocky Top $20.00" I guess we're in on the act!

They called me from the Chamber of Commerce
And asked if I would care to make
Up a song to sing in New York City
Encourage folks to visit our fair state

So I sat down one night with my ol' Martin
And thought about the things we hold so dear
But I don't think it's quite the song they wanted
About our state they call the Volunteer

I said, you can't see seven states from ol' Rock City
There ain't no one named Ruby at the falls
We're not really sure which mountain's Rocky Top
But we'll still kick your asses at football

Elvis don't hang out no more at Graceland
The Blues are fading fast down on Beale Street
Their ain't much Country Music left in Nashville
Hell, there's a mall beside the Opry

Chorus
Welcome to the Great Smoky Mountains
We got things to do and sites to see
They might not be exactly what you heard they were
But c'mon follow me to Tennessee
C'mon follow me to Tennessee

They called me back and said that they weren't happy
About some of the things I had to say
They thought that I should be more complimentary
In asking folks to come down to our state

So I said, we don't really drink all that much moonshine
Most of us wear shoes on our feet
We don't skip on church unless we're fishin'
Or watchin' NASCAR races on TV

Don't try to buy Jack Daniels down in Lynchburg
There ain't no Bigfoot out at Reelfoot Lake
There ain't much of nuthin' in the Sunsphere
But we're still mighty glad that you came

Chorus

Dolly don't show up to much at DollyWood
There's much more cars than bears in Gatlinburg
But we can pick some bluegrass here in Knoxville
So go on home and tell 'em what you heard!

Copyright© 2005 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

TROTLINE
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Trotline")

I grew up proud beside a stream dammed up by TVA
Three hundred acres of bottom land they flooded it away
The ground beneath this water daddy worked hard all his life
But I must make my living taking fish off this trotline
Trotline

The federal man drove up one day in a big black shiny car
They said "this land is planned for progress everyone must do his part"
So we packed the truck and moved to town when the water started rising
Daddy took a job in Knoxville come next spring he up and died
Up and died

A factory job ain't much compared to livin' off the land
All I ever knew was outside work gettin' by with just my hands
So I built this old flat-bottom boat in the spring of '49
And I learned to make my living taking fish off this trotline
Trotline

You tie your hooks and count your loops and measure out your line
Stretch it out anchor it down and pull your floats up tight
Throw your net and cut your bait "Lord, I hope them catfish bite"
That's how I make my living taking fish of this trotline
Trotline

In winter time the lakes go down and I see daddy's farm
But all that's left are cornerstones and the silo
What once was my inheritance is now just mud and slime
So I must make my living taking fish off this trotline
Trotline

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Train To Boulder
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Trotline")

Union Pacific Railroad
Tracks stretch forever underneath the stars
Lights of a town up ahead maybe ten or fifteen miles
I'll always be there by your side
I'll always be there by your side

There's a chill in the air tonight
The first real hint of fall
A crescent moon lights the western sky
I pull your sweater close against my skin
And stare away into the night
And stare away into the night

Chorus:
Are you still carrying the world on your shoulders
Is the fire that once burned you growing colder
I hum the songs we were singing over and over
On this midnight train to Boulder
On this midnight train to Boulder

Up through the canyons across the Great Divide
I read your letter one more time
Your voice echoes now for ten long years
I'll always be there by your side
I'll always be there by your side

Refrain:
On this midnight train to Boulder
On this midnight train to Boulder
Train to Boulder
Train to Boulder

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Sunday Morning Rain
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Trotline")

You left on Saturday afternoon
Like any other day
I didn't think that things could change
So soon
Last night as I walked by the river
I watched the reflections
Of a hundred falling stars
Spell out your name

But I'm up at dawn today
And the skies are all so gray
It's as if even the clouds
Know a part of my heart has been
Taken away in the rain
In the Sunday morning rain

In the Sunday morning rain
Knowing that things will never again
Be the same
Hiding my eyes from all the pain
And the stars last night
That burned like tears
In the Sunday morning rain

We'll get along We'll be fine
I know that's how you wanted it
And the sun again will shine
But today
While it's gray
I feel so afraid
And the tears from my eyes just keep on falling
Like the Sunday morning rain

In the Sunday morning rain
Knowing things will never again Be the same
Hiding my eyes from all the pain
And the stars that night
That burned like tears
In the Sunday morning rain

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Clinch River Valley
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Clinch River Valley")

I am drifting tonight on a river
That flows through a valley so fair
The beautiful Clinch River Valley
So free from all burdens and cares

This valley was home in my childhood
I danced through these fields as a girl
But age brought me distance and trial
And the cares of a wearisome world

Chorus:
How I long for the Clinch River Valley
Just across on the old Virginia shore
I have friends in the Clinch River Valley
Where I'll peacefully rest evermore
Where I'll peacefully rest evermore

Now age has taken my body
I struggle to draw every breath
From a city where nobody knows me
I drift to my valley of rest

I am drifting tonight on a river
That flows through a valley so fair
The beautiful Clinch River Valley
So free from all burdens and cares

Chorus

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Bethlehem Coal
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Clinch River Valley")

There's a hole in the mountain
I'll go in today
I'll be there tomorrow
I was there yesterday
'Cause someone before me
Has purchased my soul
To spend all my days
Digging East Kentucky coal

But the light never shines
In the Bethlehem mine
And a chill cuts through to your soul
I was born here beside
Shaft number five
All my life I'll dig East Kentucky coal

My daddy still lies
In the mine where he died
When the walls came tumbling down
He had faith in a love
A shining light from above
Now he sleeps in the cold dark ground

Still I pray every night
To the father of lights
For the darkness deep in my soul
And for the baby inside
My softly sleeping bride
Take him far from this East Kentucky coal

But the light never shines
In the Bethlehem mine
And a chill cuts through to your soul
He'll be born here beside
Shaft number five
Take him far from this Bethlehem coal

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Hot Springs
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Clinch River Valley")

Chorus:
Where the French Broad River rolls and tumbles through the gorge
And healing waters flow from mountain springs so pure and warm
When summer turns the winter woods from brown to emerald green
I will meet you in Hot Springs I will meet you in Hot Springs

Her home was down in Morristown in the days before the war
She'd lived a life of luxury but needed something more
When the fight began with Germany she volunteered to serve
In the camps along the river by the springs

She took the train from Newport in May of Seventeen
To clothe and feed the prisoners in the town they called Hot Springs
A secret glance, a stolen kiss had not been in her plans
Forbidden love no one would understand

Chorus

Promises in languages that neither understood
Secret plans to meet again in summer if they could
But the river keeps on flowing and the ocean is so wide
Silent years slipped slowly by

Chorus

I found a stack of letters in a little rosewood stand
Carefully translated in my great grandmother's hand
Addressed but never mailed to someone far across the sea
I will meet you in Hot Springs I will meet you in Hot Springs
I will meet you in Hot Springs I will meet you in Hot Springs

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Holston River Blues
Shawn Kimbro & Curt Seals (Recorded on the CD "Clinch River Valley)

I had a home in Tennessee
On the banks above a winding stream
The muddy Holston River took my home
I lived there with my family
Until the flood of '23
The muddy Holston River took my home

Chorus
Gone, all gone
The muddy Holston River took my home
Gone, all gone
The muddy Holston River took my home

I should have heard the church bell's warning
On that dreadful Sunday morning
The muddy Holston river took my home
I only heard the awful roar
Brown water rushed through our front door
The muddy Holston River took my home

Chorus

My loving wife screamed in alarm
And took our baby in her arms
The muddy Holston River took my home
I didn't have the time to pray
The water took them both away
The muddy Holston River took my home

Chorus

Now all I have are memories
Of my home in Tennessee
The muddy Holston River took my home
So lonely on this bridge I stand
I'll meet them in the promised land
The muddy Holston River took my home

Chorus

Gone, long gone
The muddy Holston River took my home

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Short Mountain Woman
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Clinch River Valley")

I'm gonna climb the highest mountain gonna sleep in the woods tonight
Climb the highest mountain gonna sleep in the woods tonight
Cause that Short Mountain woman
She don't treat me right

I've been livin' like a possum in a big ol' hollow tree
Livin' like a possum in a big ol' hollow tree
Cause that Short Mountain woman
She made a varmint out of me

I'd been a watchin' her persimmons and I couldn't wait to climb her tree
Watchin' her persimmons and I couldn't wait to climb her tree
Cause when it come time for pickin'
I had the perfect receipe

Oh but honey you were bitter and I had to spit you out
Honey you were bitter and I had to spit you out
Now that Short Mountain woman
Turns up in every pie in town

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Drifting Away
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded on the CD "Clinch River Valley")

Oh the water is wide
On the river of Jordan
I'm drifting away
I'm drifting away

Bright stars fill the sky
O'r the river of Jordan
I'm drifting away
I'm drifting away
My mother has sailed
Cross the river of Jordan
I'm drifting away

I'm drifting away
My father has crossed
O'r the river of Jordan
I'm drifting away
I'm drifting away

Oh Lord bear me safe
O'r the river of Jordan
I'm drifting away
I'm drifting away

To heaven's bright shore
Cross the river of Jordan
I'm drifting away
I'm drifting away

Copyright© 2001 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

DRIVER NUMBER THREE - A Tribute to Dale Earnhardt
Shawn Kimbro (Recorded as a CD Single)

Can you see the green flag waving
Don't you hear the engines roar
See him racing down the backstretch
With the pedal to the floor
There's a highway up in heaven
And a fair wind blowing free
There's a race that runs forever
Welcome driver Number Three

From a small town in Carolina
Living every farm boy's dream
He became a man of legend
When he made that engine scream
Winning seven Winston titles
Every point he got was earned
Living life at open throttle
Risking all at every turn

From the banks of Talladega
To Daytona's burning sands
He was called "intimidator"
More a legend than a man
Just a glimpse back in the mirror
Made opponents blood run cold
But his kids all called him daddy
And his heart was made of gold

Now on every race-day Sunday
When the checkered flag waves
We'll forever in our memory
See a flat-black Chevrolet
And to Fireball, Adam, Kenny
Davey, Cliff, Neil, and JD
To the victory lane in heaven
Welcome driver number three

Can you see the green flag waving
Don't you hear the engines roar
Racing down the backstretch
With the pedal to the floor
There's a highway up in heaven
Paved with gold and running free
There's a race that runs forever
Welcome driver Number Three

Copyright© 2002 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Krispy Kreme
S. Kimbro (Unrecorded)

I went to the doctor to tell him about my dreams
I went to the doctor had to tell 'em about my dreams
I been seein' a sweet little thing
They call her Krispy Kreme

She lives downtown right by the side of the street
She lives right on downtown by the side of the street
She so round and soft and Mmm mmm, sticky sweet

Chorus:
She's my sugar coated baby
They call her Krispy Kreme
She's my sugar coated baby
I call her Krispy Kreme
So round so soft the confection of my dreams

Well I always know just when my baby's at home
Yeah, I always know just when that little girl's home
She keeps her shades pulled back and she turns her hot
light on

Chorus:

Bridge:
You can get it chocolate filled
Or you can get it honey glazed
Add a cigarette and coffee
That's the way to start your day

With your sugar coated baby
Mmm, mmm, Krispy Kreme
So warm so soft the confection of my dreams

So if late one night you see me walkin' in my sleep
Yeah if late one night you see me walkin' in my sleep
Don't wake me up 'cause I'm goin' to see Krispy Kreme

Copyright © 2002, Shawn Kimbro, BMI. All rights reserved

Firefly
S. Kimbro (Unrecorded)

Firefly
Excuses and lies
Short life of trouble
Prayers to the father

Firefly
Whiskey & rye
Dealin' me double
She's the devil's daughter

Polly put the kettle on
Suki take it off again
Polly put the kettle on
We'll all take tea

Firefly
Dance and sing
Fly away lady
Your time is today

Firefly
Time's on the wing
Beauty's a flower
Despised in decay

Polly put the kettle on
Suki take it off again
Polly put the kettle on
We'll all take tea

Firefly
Darkening sky
Last cold dollar
On burglar's wine

Firefly
Mountain so high
There's a hole in the meadow
Where my true love lies

Copyright © 2002, Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights
Reserved

Lord For All Seasons
S. Kimbro (unrecorded)

Chorus:
Oh Lord, my Lord when I hear you call
From the forests deep and the mountains tall
In the bright sunshine or when raindrops fall
I'll answer you in the winter time, spring, summer, or
fall

In winter time when the cold wind blows
And my footprints fade on the drifting snow
I know I'll never walk alone
Safe within your arms I'm traveling on

When spring time nears and the dogwoods bloom
Little birds sing sweet all the afternoon
Still Lord I'll always know you're near
Through the robin's song your voice I hear

When summer comes and the woods turn green
On spider's webs little dew drops cling
I walk the trails in the misty morn
And take the time to thank you Lord

When colors fade, leaves start to fall
And the harvest moon shines down on all
By the campfire's glow, In the embers hue
I see you Lord In all I do

Chorus

Copyright © 1996, Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Say The Sweetest Things
S. Kimbro (Unrecorded)

Minutes pass like hours
When I'm waitin' for your call
And I'm wonderin' when you'll come back
If you come back home at all

And I think I hear your laughter
In the notes of every song
But the words don't come out easy
And the nights grow cold and long

All the tortured Sunday mornings
All the bridges brightly burning
All the winter weather warnings
Fade away without regret

When you say
Darlin' you say
The sweetest things
You say the sweetest things

It ain't hard to miss the lying
It ain't hard to play this game
It ain't hard to keep on tryin'
To believe our love's the same

When you speak to me of passion
And the poets that you’ve known
God your words still make me crazy
And your voice completes my song

There are times I hear you talking
In the corners of my mind
I imagine that the phone rings
And it's you there on the line

And you say
Darlin' you say
The sweetest things
You say the sweetest things

Last night I saw you walking
Down the street toward Market Square
I pretended not to notice
Made believe I didn't care

It don't matter 'bout the whiskey
Or the crumpled cigarettes
It don't the matter 'bout the whispers
Or the wrinkles in your dress

When you say
Darlin' you say
The sweetest things

Won't you say
Please say
The sweetest things

Copyright © 2003, Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Dancyville
S. Kimbro (Unrecorded)

In Dancyville
Listen to the guitars play
In Dancyville
Watch while the lovers sway
In Dancyville
I never had the nerve to stay
In Dancyville

Met a Kentucky girl
Said she was John Prine's cousin
Had a smile that changed my world
I was Memphis bound
For that Delta Sound
When she asked to make the trip
But my truck broke down just south of Dancyville

Broke and out of gas
I pulled my Martin from the back
And we headed up the railroad track
We walked side by side
Toward a neon sign
That read Kelly's Bar and Grill
Where we sang for our supper in the town of Dancyville

Chorus

She sang Paradise
With a voice like diamonds and eyes that danced like fire
Now I spend my nights
Beneath Beale Street lights
Thinking of the girl who's still
Singing John Prine songs in the town of Dancyville

Chorus

Copyright © 2000, Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

The Beleagured Mountaineer
Shawn Kimbro (Unrecorded)

In a deep East Tennessee hollow
There's a homeplace that's held very dear
To an old man who stares
From an old cane bottom chair
And they call him the beleagured mountaineer

His hands are all withered and calloused
As he frails an old fretless banjo
Though his memories are nearly gone
He sings songs of his home
Tales of a time he used to know

Chorus:
And the spruce pines are dying on the mountain
And the rivers no longer run clear
And the rolling mills are burning down down down to the ground
And the fruit trees bear less and less each year
That's the song of the beleagured mountaineer

He sings to the loved ones beside him
But to most he'd appear all alone
Though his eyes have grown dim
He still welcomes his friends
Who have long since passed over home

Chorus

His songs are of promises broken
They're stories that never will be told
Till he sings them again
On that glittering strand
In a land where he'll never grow old

Chorus
Copyright © 2002, Shawn Kimbro, BMI, All Rights Reserved

Not My Girlfriend
Shawn Kimbro (Unrecorded)

She's not my girlfriend
She's just a girl I know
I call her up sometimes
When the nights are slow

She's not my girlfriend
We just go out once in a while
'Cause I like to see her by my side
But a girlfriend that's just not my style

I don't need a girlfriend
You know I kind of like this town
I like to have my friends around
I don't want to settle down

Chorus:
But so long
The nights get so long when she's not around
And the lights go down
And the ghosts start dancin' round
So long
The nights get so long when I'm all alone
And I sing these songs
About the space between right and wrong

She's not my girlfriend
Oh but god she's makes me feel so right
All I want to do is hold her tight
How her eyes shine in the morning light

She's not my girlfriend
Just because she's with me now
Just because she's got a pretty smile
Just because she makes it all worthwhile

She's not my girlfriend
She's just a girl I know
I call her up sometimes
When the nights are slow

Copyright © 2003, Shawn Kimbro BMI, All Rights Reserved

Walk Away From Me
Lyrics by Dianne Miller (Unrecorded)

Here's to you, my dear departed friend
I swore I'd never feel this way again
I'd turn and run, put walls around my heart
Close it down so the pain would never start.
When you left, I took a body blow
An open wound, steady blood flow
I couldn't walk, I could barely breathe
Had to close my eyes so I just wouldn't see
You walk away - walk away from me.

From the wreckage, mending what you tore apart
Time took that wound and healed it to a scar
I caught my breath, learned to stand alone
To live by myself and feel all right at home.
Yet every time I'd meet somebody new
I'd touch my scars and think of you
I might forget for a minute, two, or three
But when I closed my eyes I'd still see
You walk away - walk away from me.

I held that image far too long
After it was over, after you were gone
I'd relive the pain, slowly come undone
Feeling bad felt better than feeling numb
'Til I realized I wasn't in your hold
The scars were only memories, I could let them go.
So one by one by one, I set them free
And with eyes wide open I can barely see
You walk away - walk away from me.

So here's to you, my dear departed friend
A backward glance for old time's sake and then
I raise my glass in silent toast
One last time to your fading ghost.
I've closed your chapter in my life
Come tomorrow morning, I'll be dressed in white,
Nothing old, nothing blue behind my smile
My true love's waiting down the aisle
Looking to that ever after, happily
Ahead through eyes that won't ever see
You walk away - walk away from me.

Copyright © 2003, Dianne Miller & Shawn Kimbro BMI, All Rights Reserved

The River of Life
Shawn Kimbro (Unrecorded)

There's a long and narrow trail leading
To the valley beyond the Great Divide
Where a crystal clear river is flowing
Someday I will rest by its side

I'll cast my line out on the water
When I wake to glad mornings on high
And I know if there's God in that heaven
There'll be fish in the River of Life

Chorus:

   Let me fish in the River of Life
   Let me dance with the angels in white
   When I rest by the crystal white fountain
   Let me fish in the River of Life

When the light shines down from the Father
And reflects in ten thousand hues
I'll make my camp beside the water
Of the river above the bright blue

My friends who have gone on before me
Will gather together once more
We'll tell all the tales of life's journey
As we sit there on Jordan's fair shore

Oh Lord bear me safe through life's valleys
Lay death's dark shadows aside
When I rest by the crystal white fountain
Let me fish in the river of life

Copyright © 2003 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, all rights
reserved

Corn Mash Whiskey Blues
Shawn Kimbro

Refrain:
Listen to me Mama got the corn mash whiskey blues
Listen to me Mama got the corn mash whiskey blues
When I'm siningin' Drunkard's Hiccups
I ain't got nothin' left to lose

If the river was corn whiskey and I was a diving duck
I'd dive down to the bottom and drink my way back up

My baby bought me whiskey, and sometimes she bought me beer
Now she don't bring me nutin' cause she got on out of here

There's a little girl in Knoxville wants me to call her Lize (Liza Jane)
When she's cookin' for her daddy she puts corn whiskey in her pies

The boys are drinkin' moonshine, the girls all sippin' rum
I don't care which one they drinkin', long as they give me some

My mattress springs are rusty cause my sweet baby won't come home
I'm gonna sing these Drunkard's Hiccups damn near all night long

Copyright © 2005 Shawn Kimbro, BMI, all rights
reserved

Back to Index

More to come.......

Listen to Mountain Soul songs here......