Old Rock 'N Roller lyrics - The Charlie Daniels band

He's just an old rock 'n' roller playing music in a backstreet bar.

He sings a little flat and he never learned to play the guitar.

But he keeps on belting out them rhythm and blues,

"Long Tall Sally" and "Blue Suede Shoes".

He never faced the fact that he's never gonna be a star.

He's just an old rock 'n' roller playing music in a backstreet bar.

He had a record in the sixties, it was big enough to go Top Ten.

And though he tried and he tried he never could make it happen again.

He's been living twenty years on bourbon and pride.

Jerry Lee went crazy and Elvis died.

Then his third wife left him but he never really thought it would last.

And now she ain't nothing but another little blast from the past.

But sometimes at night when the music and the crowd is having fun,

He steps up on the mike with a gleam in his eye and once again he's twenty-one.

And then it's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" and "Heartbreak Hotel" and "That'll Be The Day"

Then the "Sweet Bird of Youth" just flies away.

He's an earthbound eagle that never did learn how to fly.

He ain't never gonna make it but he sure did give it a try.

So go dye your hair and turn the music up loud,

And when it's time to go at least you'll go down proud.

You ain't never gonna be nothing but what you are

Just an old rock 'n' roller playing music in a backstreet bar.

Just an old rock 'n' roller playing music in a backstreet bar.

Mister DJ lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

Mr DJ won't you please play me a song

Play it for an old boy who's a long long way from home

With a thousand miles ahead and a thousand miles behind

A dollar in his pocket and a woman on his mind

You can pick out almost anything you choose

Play Sweet Home Alabama or let Waylon sing the blues

I don't care what kind of music just as long as it sounds tough

Don't play any hurting songs cause I feel bad enough

Now don't get the wrong impression I ain't meaning to complain

But it would be Sunday morning and I guess it had to rain

And I was doing pretty good until I heard that durned old train

Going who knows where

And I guess the combination's got me feeling kinda low

And all I've got to cheer me up is this all night radio

Why don't you play us something hot and let this 18 wheeler

Roll my blues away

Well I called her from a phone booth in St Paul

When I asked her if she loved me I got no reply at all

And if that's the way she wants it that's the way it's gonna be

It might hurt a little while but that's alright with me

I've been jamming gears and wondering what went wrong

Then I turned on the radio and I heard a country song

And it kinda keeps me moving helps me rolling down the line

But when you played that hurtin' song I almost started cryin'

Willie drowned in Whiskey River with Hank Jr's rowdy friends

The Oak Ridge Boys sang Elvira Ricky played the mandolin

Then them old boys from Alabama put the pedal to the medal

And let it toll Roll On

And I started feeling bad when George stopped loving her today

Why don't you let old Mickey Gilley get down on them 88's

Come on and play us something hot and let this 18 wheeler roll my blues away

Hey Mr DJ hey Mr DJ hey Mr DJ

"Homesick Heroes" (1988)

• Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band
• Alligator lyrics -The Charlie Daniels Band
• Get Me Back To Dixie lyrics - The Charlie Daniels band
• Cowboy Hat In Dallas lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band
• Big Bad John lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band
• Midnight Train lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band
• Honky Tonk Avenue lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band
• You Can't Pick Cotton lyrics - The Charlie Daniels band
• Ill Wind lyrics - The Charlie Daniels band
• Uneasy Rider '88 lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

Every time I hear a fiddle and it's cookin' just a little

Well it makes me want to jump up and run

And if he's sawing with some soul boogie woogie rock n' roll

Well I know I'm gonna have some fun

And when the resin starts to fly and I'm looking in the eye

Like I'm just about to blow a fuse

Mama call the doctor 'cause your boy has got 

The rocking Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues

I met a man from Tenessee this is what he said to me

He said music is a rhapsody

He picked up his violin stuck it underneath his chin

And started playing me a symphony

I said that ain't the way it's done let me see that fiddle son

And I sawed him off a chorus or two

He said you'd better call the doctor 'cause I think I've got

The rocking Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues

Now if you want to play me some fiddle

I'll tell you right from the start

You'd better play me something lowdown hoedown honking

I don't want to hear no funeral march

It's got to pick me up and roll me over

It's got to make me want to jump up and sing

If it ain't buzzing like a beehive, kick it into overdrive

Or it don't mean a doggone thing

So let me resin up my bow and I think I can show you

The way I like to play this thing

Let's put some boogie rhythm in it kick it on up to the limit

I'm gonna put some fire on these strings

And if you feel your feet start moving to the beat

And you feel like you've got ants in your shoes

Well you'd better call the doctor 'cause you've probably got

The rocking Boogie Woogie Fiddle Country Blues

Alligator lyrics -The Charlie Daniels Band

Well, if you ever go back into Wooley Swamp, well, you better not go at night.

There's things out there in the middle of them woods that make a strong man

die from fright. Things that crawl and things that fly and things that creep 

around on the ground. And they say the ghost of Lucius Clay gets up and he walks around. 

But I couldn't believe it. I just had to find out for myself. And I couldn't conceive

it 'cause I never would have listened to nobody else. And I couldn't believe it. 

I just had to find out for myself there's some things in this world you just can't explain.

[Spoken:]

The old man lived in the Wooley Swamp way back in Booger Woods. He never

did do a lot of harm in the world, but he never did do no good. People didn't 

think too much of him. They all thought he acted funny. The old man didn't 

care about people anyway. All he cared about was his money. He'd stuff it all

down in mason jars and he'd bury it all around. And on certain nights if the 

moon was right he'd dig it up out of the ground. He'd pour it all out on the floor

of his shack and run his fingers through it. Yeah, Lucius Clay was a greedy old

man and that's all that there was to it.

But I couldn't believe it. I just had to find out for myself. And I couldn't conceive

it 'cause I never would have listened to nobody else. And I couldn't believe it. 

I just had to find out for myself there's some things in this world you just can't explain.

[Spoken:]

Cable boys was white trash. They lived over on Carver's Creek. They were 

mean as a snake and sneaky as a cat and belligerent when they'd speak. One

night the oldest brother said, "Y'all meet me at the Wooley Swamp later. We'll 

take old Lucius's money and we'll feed him to the alligators." They found the 

old man out in the back with a shovel in his hand, thirteen rusty mason jars was

just dug up out of the sand. And they all went crazy and they beat the old man, 

and they picked him up off of the ground. Threw him in the swamp and stood there

and laughed as the black water sucked him down. Then they turned around and 

went back to the shack and picked up the money and ran. They hadn't gone 

no where when they realized they were running in quicksand. And they struggled

and they screamed but they couldn't get away and just before they went under 

they could hear that old man laughing in a voice as loud as thunder.

And that's been fifty years ago and you can go by there yet. There's a spot in 

the yard in the back of that shack where the ground is always wet. And on 

summer nights, if the moon is right down by the that dark footpath, you can

hear three young men screaming. You can hear one old man laugh.

Well, if you ever go back into Wooley Swamp, well, you better not go at night.

There's things out there in the middle of them woods that make a strong man

die from fright. Things that crawl and things that fly and things that creep 

around on the ground. And they say the ghost of Lucius Clay gets up and he walks around. 

But I couldn't believe it. I just had to find out for myself. And I couldn't conceive

it 'cause I never would have listened to nobody else. And I couldn't believe it. 

I just had to find out for myself there's some things in this world you just can't explain.

There's some things in this world you just can't explain

Get Me Back To Dixie lyrics - The Charlie Daniels band

You can put me in the ocean

Stranded in a boat

Put me on an island

No bottle or a note

Put me on a Greyhound bus

With a dog behind the wheel

Tie me up, you'll still get stuck

With a hearing how I feel

Drop me in Alaska

In thirty feet of snow

Drop me at the cold north pole

Where the eskimos won't go

Drop me in the desert

With the heat of the burning sand

Ring my bell, but I'll still tell you

How I really stand

Get me back to Dixie

I love my Tennessee

In the Smokey Mountains

That's where I want to be

From the muddy Mississippi

To the land of the Cherokee

Get me back to Dixie

I love my Tennessee...

Love my Tennessee

(Fire on the mountain, run boys run!)

You can run me up a mountain

Where only eagles fly

Throw me down a cold dark well

Where I can't see the sky

Tie me to the railroad tracks

And read me my last rites

Long as that train don't stop

Until Tennessee is in sight

Get me back to Dixie

I love my Tennessee

In the Smokey Mountains

That's where I want to be

From the muddy Mississippi

To the land of the Cherokee

Get me back to Dixie

I love my Tennessee

Get me back to Dixie

I love my Tennessee...

Love my Tennessee...

Cowboy Hat In Dallas lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

[INTRO:]

Well there ain't no grapes in California, and there ain't no spuds in Idaho

Ain't no snow in Minnesota, they don't get hot in El Paso

And there ain't no baked beans up in Boston, and no river in St. Lou

Ain't no grizzlies in Alaska and the Astrodome is blue

And there ain't a cowboy hat in Dallas if I ain't in love with you

Well there ain't no M in Massechusetts, and there ain't no K in Kankakee

And there ain't T in Tallahassee, there ain't no B.S. in D.C.

Ain't no beer in Bogalusa, ain't no beach in Malibu

Ain't no cars in Carson City, ain't no water in Waterloo

And there ain't a guitar pick in Nashville if I ain't in love with you

[BRIDGE:]

How am I gonna make you see that all I wanna do is make you mine

You won't believe a word I say so I'm just gonna try it one more time

One more time

And there ain't no tide in Tuscaloosa, no jambalaya in Lafayette

And there ain't no oil in Oklahoma, and Arizona's soakin' wet

And I ain't ever givin' up in spite of all you put me thru

I'm gonna tell ya one more time, baby you know it's true

Ain't a Chevrolet in Detroit if I ain't in love with you

[SOLO]

You won't believe a word I say so I'll just have to try it one more time

One more time

Well there ain't no mountains in Montana, ain't no pines in Caroline

And there ain't rivers in Mississippi, ain't no Mason-Dixon Lines, and ya know that's fine

Ain't no longhorn cows in Texas, ain't no streets in Kalamazoo

Ain't no losers in Las Vegas, ain't no creeks in Caribou

Ain't a cowboy hat in Dallas if I ain't in love with you

Ain't a cowboy hat in Dallas if I ain't in love with you

Big Bad John lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

[Spoken]

Ev'ry mornin' at the mine you could see him arrive

He stood six foot six and weighed two forty five

Kinda broad at the shoulder and narrow at the hip

And everybody knew ya didn't give no lip to Big John.

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)

Nobody seemed to know where John called home

He just drifted into town and stayed all alone

He didn't say much, kinda quiet and shy

And if you spoke at all, you just said "Hi" to Big John.

Somebody said he came from New Orleans

Where he got in a fight over a Cajun Queen

And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand

Sent a Loosiana fellow to the Promised Land, Big John

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)

Then came the day at the bottom of the mine

When a timber cracked and men started cryin'

Miners were prayin' and hearts beat fast

And everybody thought that they'd

Breathed their last-'cept John

Through the dust and the smoke of this man-made hell

Walked a giant of a man that the miners knew well

Grabbed a saggin' timber, gave out with a groan

And like a giant oak tree he just stood there alone, Big John

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)

And with all of his strength he gave a mighty shove

Then a miner yelled out "There's a light up above!"

And twenty men scrambled from a would-be grave

Now there's only one left down there to save, Big John

With jacks and timbers they started back down

Then came that rumble way down in the ground

And then smoke and gas belched out of that mine

Everybody knew it was the end of the line for Big John

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)

Now, they never reopened that worthless pit

They just placed a marble stand in front of it

These few words are written on that stand

"At the bottom of this mine lies one hell of a man, Big John"

Big John, Big John, Big Bad John (Big John)

(Big John, Big John, Big John)...

Midnight Train lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

Midnight train, roll on

Midnight train, roll on

Clear them tracks and keep that whistle blowin

Take this stranger on to Santa Fe

It seems like romance and danger

Follow this here tall dark stranger all along the way

Well the train was rumblin through the night heading south to Santa Fe

And in a fancy car, with a private bar, and a personal valet

There was a bunch of cold eyed men a sittin at a poker table

Bettin hot stakes all around

Ole Louisiana Lou had a knife in his shoe, was dealin' a hand of cards

And ole Stagger Lee Crocket had a gun in his pocket, was sweatin bettin hard

And over in the corner this Mexican guy with two gold teeth and a patch on his eye

Took a long hard look around

And then the door flew open, the stranger walked in and said don't ya'll get excited

I know this here's a private game, and I know I wasn't invited

But I got a roll that'd choke a mule

I'm just about a big enough fool to lay it all right down

And everybody nodded as the stranger took his seat

He knew this bunch of cutthroat's would be mighty hard to beat

As the stranger knew then the toughest two by far were where he sat

Was a pot belly fellow from south Alabama, and a dude in a black felt hat

Midnight Train, roll on

Midnight Train, roll on

Well clear them tracks and keep that whistle blowin

Take this stranger on to Santa Fe

It seems like romance and danger

Follow this here tall dark stranger all along the way

Well the stranger sat down he looked around at all them evil faces

And the pot-belly fellow drew a pair of queens, but the stranger he drew aces

And he kept on raising and pushin his luck, kept on winning like a run away truck

He was giving them a beating

And the stakes got higher than a Chinese kite, the stranger kept getting hot

Till every cent everybody had was lying out in that pot

Then the stranger threw down a royal flush, 

Somebody said "Hey Man, that's enough friend I think you've been cheatin"

And then the stranger picked the money up and said "Boys I better run"

And then the bot-bellyed fella pulled a razor out and somebody pulled a gun

They said "You may think you're a sly old fox, 

you're gonna leave here in a long pine box

if you don't leave that money alone"

Just about then the lights went out, and they all started fussin

And the lights came on, the stranger was gone, they all started cussin

And they searched that train from front to rear

The stranger he done disappeared, and all their money was gone

When the train pulled in the station, with the whistle blowin loud

A telegram was waitin, from the stranger for the crowd

Said "Thank you for the money boys, but don't feel too outdone

Cause It takes a dog to know a dog

I'm a howlin son of a gun."

Midnight Train, roll on

Midnight Train, roll on

Well clear them tracks and keep that whistle blowin

Take this stranger on to Santa Fe

It seems like romance and danger

Follow this here tall dark stranger all along the way

Honky Tonk Avenue lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

Oh I know wanna sound weak is lookin' old and time to seek

While the hooker in the doorway

Leaves to turn another cheek

And the jukebox in the camberlay

Is blearin' out the blues

But the blues is just a way of life

On honky-tonk Avenue

Where the swingers and the hustlers

And the evening people dwell

Where the neon shines toward heaven

While it lights the way to hell

Time to survive and time to stay alive 

S'about all a man can do

You can make it anywhere

If you can make it out there

On Honky-tonk Avenue

Where all birds of a feather

Were out here on the street in all kinds of weather

Were all in this thing together

Were just trying to make a living

Just trying to get by

It's a one-way street to nowhere

Where nothing's as it seems

It's a multi-car junkyard

Full of a thousand broken dreams

And it's the end of the line

Where the sun don't shine

And there's nothing left to lose

Well it sure ain't a lot but it's all that we've got

On Honky-tonk Avenue

Where all birds of a feather

Were out here on the street in all kinds of weather

Were all in this thing together

Were just trying to make a living

Just trying to get by

Were just trying to make a living

Just trying to get by

Oh I know wanna sound weak is lookin' old and time to seek

You Can't Pick Cotton lyrics - The Charlie Daniels band

I will never forget the day the law come take my grandpa away

The family lived on sugar hill making, making liquor in a moonshine still

Uncle Bill said, Grandpa you better run, High Sheriff is coming with a posse and a gun

Grandpa didn’t want to go to jail; he took off a running down the Cumberland Trail

They said, Hey Hey, I better get my britches on the high sheriffs come and to take me to town

Hey Hey, I better get a move on, I better get a move on down

[CHORUS:]

You can’t pick cotton if the fields ain’t white

You can’t stay sober on a Saturday night

You can’t go courting if you get too old

You can’t go driving if the wheels won’t roll

Greenback money make the wheels go round

I’m gonna play my fiddle’til the sun goes down

Two weeks later he was back in town in a Cadillac car with the top rolled down

Girls in the front, girls in the back, whiskey in the jug, and money in the sack

Sitting in the backseat, jumping like a frog, crazy like a possum putting on a dog

New suit new hat twinkle in his eye, playing on his fiddle for the people passing by

He said, Hey Hey, give me a drink of water the sun is getting hotter and I think I’m getting dry

Hey Hey, doing what I ought-ta now, telling you the reason why…

[CHORUS]

Do you remember a long time ago? 

Devil worked a man named Cotton-Eyed Joe

Devil worked a man named Cotton-Eyed Joe

Down in the __ fields down below

Everybody talking about Cotton-Eyed Joe

Everybody talking about Cotton-Eyed Joe

[CHORUS]

Ill Wind lyrics - The Charlie Daniels band

Well he found her in two bit joint down in Dallas

[?] for the juke box serving up beer

Fooled around, messed around, fell in love

He put a ring on her finger and he brought her back here

Atlanta couldn't hold her but he brought her back here

He bought a big house on Peach Tree Avenue

Tried his best to give her her heart's desire

Thought he had her wrapped around his little finger

She left town on the Midnight Flyer

Ain't enough whiskey left to put out the fire

She got your number, big man

She's got you crying in your bourbon drinking when you're all alone

She's got your number big man

She took your love, and your heart, and your credit cards

And now she's gone

Did you ever see a big man crying like a baby

Thought he had it figured out 'til yesterday

When a ill wind come a blowin 'cross Georgia

She's spreading her wings and they blew her away

To who knows where

And I wish I didn't care

He was doing pretty good and the scars were healing

Then she called him one night on the telephone

Said she wanted them to start all over

She was feeling bad, she was feeling all alone

He sent her a ticket she was coming back home

He met her at the airport, took her home and loved her

She told him all about how lonely she'd been

A rolling stone'll crush a loser in a minute

Stone keeps a rollin, the loser can't win

Two weeks later, she was gone again

She got your number, big man

She's got you crying in your bourbon drinking when you're all alone

She's got your number big man

She took your love, and your heart, and your credit cards

And now she's gone

Did you ever see a big man crying like a baby

Thought he had it figured out 'til yesterday

When a ill wind come a blowin 'cross Georgia

She's spreading her wings and they blew her away

To who knows where

And I wish I didn't care

Did you ever see a big man crying like a baby

Thought he had it figured out 'til yesterday

When a ill wind come a blowin 'cross Georgia

She's spread her wings and they blew her away

To who knows where

And I wish I didn't care

Uneasy Rider '88 lyrics - The Charlie Daniels Band

Me and my buddy got us a wild hair

And figured we wanted to go somewhere

So we loaded up in my ragtop Chevrolet

We had a little bit of money

And a whole lot of show

And with Hank Jr. blaring on the radio

We got us a tank full of gas

And we was on our way

We figured we'd go down to New Orleans

We were barrelling down old 17

When a man with a blinking red light

Was on our tail

He said you were doing 60 in a 45

But I'm gonna let you go this time

But if I catch you again

I'm gonna slap you in the county jail

We said thank you sir you sure been nice

And you ain't gonna have to tell us twice

And we were Southbound and down with the wind

Blowing in our faces

We kept on rolling and pretty soon

The radio was cooking out a Haggard tune

And we were pulling into Houston

Checking out all them places

I was feeling dry and I said I think

We ought to stop and get ourselves a drink

And old Jim said yeah 'cause we got time to kill

We kept on rolling and I seen this spot

And we pulled into the parking lot

Of this place called the Cloud Nine Bar and Grill

We walked through the door

And the place was jammed

The lights were low they had a punk rock band

And some orange haired feller singing about suicide

I said Jim this ain't our kind of place

He said well let's just have one round anyway

So against my better judgement we walked on inside

Went up to the bar and we sat down

This feller walked up and said I'll buy this round

And he sat down on the barstool next to Jim

He looked like a girl but he talked like a guy

He had lipstick on and mascara in his eyes

And everybody in that place looked just about like him

I said Jim this ain't our kind of bar

Let's just go on out and get back in the car

'Cause there's gonna be trouble

Ain't no sense in taking a chance

We was getting up getting ready to leave

When somebody grabbed old Jim by the sleeve

And this good looking girl was asking my buddy to dance

I said Jim don't do it there's something missing

There's fellers dancing and fellers kissing

There's a feller in high heeled shoes wearing panty hose

He said partner I just can't turn this down

You just go over there and have one more round

And I'll dance with the lady

And we'll get on down the road

So he walked away and left me alone

But this funny looking feller kept coming on

And he was making me mad with some of the things he said

Then he put his hand on my knee

I said if you don't get your paw off me

I'm gonna locate your nose around

The other side of your head

He said I love it when you get that fire in your eye

I said well partner try this on for size

And I unloaded on him and he went out like a light

Everybody in that place must have been his friend

They all headed for me I said this is the end

But where I come from we don't give up

Without a fight

They were screaming and yelling and scratching and clawing

I was punching and hitting and kicking and pawing

I was holding my own 'cause I've been in a scrap or two

Old Jim come running up out of the blue

And that gal he was with come running up too

And proceeded to beat on me with a high heel shoe

I grabbed her by the hair it came off in my hand

And that beautiful girl was just a beautiful man

And old Jim just got sick right there on the floor

He dropped that dude like a shot from a gun

Smeared his lipstick made his makeup run

And me and old Jim started fighting our way to the door

We lit out of there in that Chevrolet

I put in on the floor and it stayed that way

We were going down the highway

Doing about a hundred and ten

We were headed for home and we was getting nearer

Then a red light came on the rear view mirror

And that same blame cop was pulling us over again

Now I'm sitting here in this county jail

I had to call my daddy to go our bail

But I learned me a lesson

That I never will forget again

I've done give up drinking I've give up bars

And running around the country in souped up cars

I'm going back where the women are women

And the men are men