Townes Van Zandt : Our Mother The Mountain

C

G

C

Your eyes seek conclusion in all this confusion of mine

G

C

But you and I both know it's only the warm glow of wine

F

That's got you to feelin' this way

C

But I don't care I want you to stay

G

F

C

Hold me and tell me you'll be here to love me today The children are dancin' the gamblers are chancin' their all The window's accusin' the door of abusin' the wall But who cares what the night watchmen say The stage has been set for the play So hold me and tell me you'll be here to love me today The moon's come and gone but a few stars hang on to the sky Where the wind's runnin' free but it ain't up to me to ask why But the poets are demandin' their pay They've left me with nothin' to say 'Cept hold me and tell me you'll be here to love me today

Capo:

IV

Am

Dm

It's plain to see the sun won't shine today

Am

Dm

But I ain't in the mood for sunshine anyway

Em

Dm

F

C

Am

Maybe I'll go insane, I've got to stop the pain

Dm

F

C

Am

Maybe I'll go down and see Kathleen The swallow comes to tell me of her dreams She says she'd like to know just what they mean I feel like I could die as I watch her flyin' by Ride the North wind down to see Kathleen The stars hang high above the oceans roar The moon has come to lead me to her door There's crystal cross the sand, the waves they take my hand Soon I'm gonna see my sweet Kathleen

Capo:

IV

C

F

C

G

C

F

C

G

She came and she touched me with hands made of heaven

Em

F

C

Reflections sent spinnin' through a face laced in mist

F

C

G

C

F

C

G

Now I stand where she left me buried deep 'neath her shadow

Em

F

C

And mirror pleads sadly has it all come to this?

G

F

G

G7

And I wonder, will she call my name? Where the wind careens madly through wide windows paneless Fragrances mingle in a room full of shade The peons pick partners and waltz 'cross the ceiling But the violins whisper, "have I been betrayed?" Tryin' not to look ashamed Where the drunkards drink deeply from cups full of nothin' It's ghost-lover's laugh at the games that they play While the moments do somersaults into eternity Cling to their coat-tails and beg them to stay Sayin', "I got nothin' to hide" Where illusions projected on walls made of tiffany Mad minuets to a sad satin song The harlequin mandolins harmonise helplessly Hoping that endlessly won't last for long Prayin' that their god ain't died Then I turn and I see her in a dress made of moonlight Teardrops like diamonds slide slow down her face And her arms they surround me like chains made of velvet And the demons fall faithfully into their place And the rivers run with jewels Now the morning lies open, the night went quite quickly Memory harmlessly fractures and fades All the poets do push-ups on carpets of rubber foam Loudly they laugh at some joke that's been made And the wise men speak like fools

Dm

My lover comes to me with a rose on her bosom

F

C/e

Am

Dm

The moon's dancin' purple all through her black hair

Dm

And a lady's in waiting she'll stand 'neath my window

F

C/e

Am

Dm

And the sun will rise soon on the false and the fair

C

Am

Dm

Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o She tells me she comes from my mother the mountain Her skin fits her tightly and her lips do not lie She silently slips from her throat a medallion Slowly she twirls it in front of my eyes Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o I watch her, I love her, I long for to touch her The satin she's wearin' is shimmering blue Outside my window her ladies are sleeping My dog's a-gone hunting, the howling is through Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o So I reach for her hand and her eyes turn to poison And her hair turns to splinters and her flesh turns to brine She leaps 'cross the room, she stands in the window And screams that my first-born will surely be blind Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o Then she throws herself out to the black of the nightfall She's parted her lips, but she makes not a sound I fly down the stairway and I run to the garden No trace of my true love is there to be found Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o So walk these hills lightly and watch who you're lovin' By mother the mountain, I swear that it's true And love not a woman with hair black as midnight And a dress made of satin all shimmering blue Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o Oh my lover comes to me with a rose on her bosom The moon's dancing purple all through her black hair And a lady's in waiting, she'll stand 'neath my window And the sun will rise soon on the false and the fair

C

F

C

The name she gave was Caroline

F

C

The daughter of a miner

F

And her ways were free

C

G/b

Am

And it seemed to me

G

F

C

That sunshine walked beside her She come from Spencer, across the hill She said her pa had sent her Cause the coal was low And soon the snow Would turn the skies to winter She said she'd come to look for work She was not seekin' favors And for a dime a day And a place to stay She'd turn those hands to labor The times were hard Lord, and the jobs were few All through Tecumseh Valley But she asked around And a job she found Tending bar at Gypsy Sally's She saved enough to get back home When spring replaced the winter But her dreams were denied Her pa had died The word come down from Spencer So she turned to whorin' out on the streets With all the lust inside her And it was many a man Who returned again To lay himself beside her They found her down beneath the stairs That led to Gypsy Sally's And in her hand when she died Was a note that cried Fare-thee-well, Tecumseh Valley The name she gave was Caroline The daughter of a miner And her ways were free And it seemed to me That sunshine walked beside her

|

Em

|

Am

|

Am

Em

|

Em

Am

Mr Ten Dollar man, let me tell where you're bound

Em

Drink your green liquor, Lord, you'll roll to the ground

Em

Am

But you come around here, with your money in your hand

Am7

Dm

Em

Am

Em

Taste of my woman, you die where you stand

Am

Em

Snake Mountain blues, they got me down low

Am

Em

I could die in the morning but no one would know

Em

Am

My woman come round, my body she'd find

Dm

Am

Go down to Dundee, have her a time Snake Mountain's gonna crumble, Lord, and fall from the sky Before that woman of mine stops tellin' her lies If I'd die Lord she'd weep, she'd weep and she'd mourn Soon as I's buried, forget I'd been born Well a black-skinned woman, she won't do you no wrong Slow to start moanin', she don't moan for long Oh, a yellow-headed woman brings you nothin' but pain Take all you give her, she leaves only shame My Daddy, Lord he rides on a long holy train First winds of winter I'll see him again It's farewell to this yellow-headed misery I've known Snake Mountain's calling, calling me home Snake Mountain blues, they got me down low I could die in the morning but no one would know My woman come round, my body she'd find Go down to Dundee, have her a time

Townes Van Zandt : Our Mother The Mountain
1969

Be Here To Love Me

Kathleen

She Came And She Touched Me

Our Mother The Mountain

Tecumseh Valley

Snake Mountain Blues

Townes Van Zandt : Our Mother The Mountain 1969