Tantamount to Treason, Vol. 1 (1972)

Truckin’ through the traffic in a two-tone van
At the door after four came a lazy lady’s hand
Tell by the sound that she was wearing kid gloves
And I could feel by the rhythm that she’d come to make love

Whoa, mama rocker
You’re a good man’s savior
Pickin’ up the music and passin’ out the favor

She was two inches shorter than me without my boots
Got my attention, but she never made a move
She came and she went, she let me down slow
And I wanted to go with her, but somethin’ told me no

He-he-hey, mama rocker
You’re a good man’s savior
Pickin’ up the music and passin’ out the favor

[break]

Hey, hey, hey, hey
Truckin’ through the traffic in a two-tone van
At the door after four came a lazy lady’s hand
Tell by the sound that she was wearing kid gloves
And I could feel by the rhythm that she’d come to make love

Whoa, mama rocker
You’re a good man’s savior
Pickin’ up the music and passin’ out the favors

[break]
“Down, way down low.”

There were so many things
That I should have said
When I finally said goodbye
But the gist of things to come
Showed me nothing could be done
To save a love that already died

And yet still it breaks my heart
To have to walk away
In the middle of such staggering pain
I would like to press you close
And offer you my coat
As shelter from the gathering rain

But that would just compound the hurt
That comes with such moments
And make it all more difficult to bear

And so I’ll walk away
And leave you alone
To seek comfort from the things you know are real
But don’t let my silence hide
The tenderness inside
That memories of you will make me feel

[break]

And so I’ll walk away
And leave you alone
To seek comfort from the things you know are real
But don’t let my silence hide
The tenderness inside
That memories of you will make me feel

Please, don’t let my silence hide
The tenderness inside
That memories of you will make me feel

You are my one
You are my one
You are my one
You are mine

You are my one
You are my one
You are my one
You are mine

[break]

You are my one
You are mine

Sunlight fading in the afternoon
Shadows crawl across the land
Tired backs bending in the afternoon
Pockets glove the tired hand

Walking slowly to the domicile
Built from mud and board and tears
Dreams unloosening the hidden smile
He’s been saving up for years

Rapture secretly turns to sleep
Tantalizing those who are weak
Offering in low, languid tones
Houses that cannot be homes

Pioneering spirit abounds
In dreams that we keep fastening down
Dreams that to live must be free
To touch each man’s destiny

Turn and dig your heels in the road
Don’t be bound or trapped by the old
Take from the past what you need
To give to the new life you lead

Run from the false golden crust
That hides all the heartbreak and rust
Run to the arms of your youth
Run to the arms of the truth

Sunlight fading in the afternoon
Shadows crawl across the land
Tired backs bending in the afternoon
Pockets glove the tired hand

[Lazy Lady] “But the gist of things to come showed me nothing could be done…”
[You Are My One]
[Mama Rocker]
[Lazy Lady] “But that would just compound the hurt that comes…”
…

Well, I was drivin’ up the highway
Thinkin’ about I don’t know what in particular
What riot I would find when I got to Berkeley, I suppose
When I noticed these strange vibration
Or was I fallin’ in love?
Woo, well

I don’t have a radio in my car
So the noises I was hearin’
Frightened me enough
That I began to wonder about the wisdom
Of wanderin’ along on the road at eighty-five
Hmm, my

Now I should explain that I often drive alone
But this time I was givin’ my friend and his wife a ride
Or was she fallin’ in love?
Now my friend don’t drive
And he’s not used to the strange vibrations in my ’60 Dodge
But then if I had more money
I’d probably be worried about why the plane was wigglin’

[break]

Anyway, it takes a certain amount of blind faith to make ninety-nine in an old car
No matter what your experience or precaution
But I just had a tune-up
Well, anyway, you can’t dodge the one with your number on it, so to speak

Ooh-ooh-hoo, my motor
Why do I always seem to vibrate with my friend’s old lady? (Or was she fallin’ in love?)
It probably has to do with the fact I don’t have one myself
And I don’t want to mess with anyone else’s
So whereas I’d come on to somebody desirable
I’m attracted to a chick who feels that I won’t bite

Which is why when the car ground to a halt near Kingsburg
It was Fred who said that I needed a new transmission

I mean, after all, without a transmission, you can’t go
I mean, you need an engine, but that’s what you get on
And gettin’ it on requires the transmission
Which Fred felt under some tension to provide
Although the one that he had was not negotiable
Uh, necessarily
At all

As you complicate things greatly
Since you came into my life
Old veneers and stately postures
Wax minute within your sigh

And the taxing way of adjusting
To all the thoughts which you reveal
Only incites me to motion
While that’s the crux of your appeal

Just the thought of how it’s always been concealed
Where’s my heart, lo
As only you can heal

And this humble plans just don’t seem
To inspire me to heights
As they did or as seeing you
Or as touching you might

And the card that I shoulda sent days ago
Falls short of reaching you
Memories speak kindly now
But what can I do?

Just be thankful for an insight granted to few
And don’t linger
On what it might have meant to you

[break]

The distance which I keep
Has entered into play
Miles which make me say
I won’t be seeing you

I met the girl I love
In a town way down in Dixie
’Neath the stars above
She was the sweetest girl I ever did see

Then I held her in my arms
And told her of her many charms
And I kissed her while the fiddles played
“Bonaparte’s Retreat”

It was on that night
That I held her oh so tight
And I heard her say
Please don’t ever go away

So I held her in my arms
And told her of her many charms
And I kissed her while the fiddles played
“Bonaparte’s Retreat”

[break]

So I held her in my arms
And told her of her many charms
And I kissed her while the fiddles played
“Bonaparte’s Retreat”

I have told you many times
That love is not a game
And in your shame you promised
You would change your ways

That was many years ago
And I was just a boy
A toy that you could take up
When you felt the urge

Tell me as you stand there
Looking down at me
I want to know
Just exactly what you see
As the sun goes down and the midnight shadows fall
I will think of you
Will you remember me at all?

Tell me, do I see a tear
That fell from solid stone?
I thought I was alone
Just talking to the wall

[break]

Tell me as you stand there
Looking down at me
I want to know
Just exactly what you see
As the sun goes down and the midnight shadows fall
I will think of you
Will you remember me at all?

Tell me, do I see a tear
That fell from solid stone?
I thought I was alone
Just talking to the wall

Ooh-hoo
Ooh

Just because I asked a friend about her
Just because I spoke her name somewhere
Just because I rang her number by mistake today
She thinks I still care

Just because I haunt the same old places
Where the memory of her lingers everywhere
Just because I saw her, then I fell to pieces
She thinks I still care

But if she’s happy thinkin’ I still need her
Then let that silly notion bring her cheer
Oh, how could she ever be so foolish?
And where could she get such an idea?

Just because I asked a friend about her
Just because I spoke her name somewhere
Just because I’m not the happy guy I used to be
She thinks I still care
Oh, my [???]

[break]

Just because I asked a friend about her
Just because I spoke her name somewhere
Just because I’m not the happy guy I used to be
She thinks I still care
She thinks I still care

[instrumental]

Now, I’m a fella with a heart of gold
And the ways of a gentleman, I’ve been told
I’m the kind of a guy that wouldn’t even harm a flea
But if me and a certain character met
The guy that invented the cigarette
I’d murder that son of a gun in the first degree

Oh, it’s not because I don’t smoke myself
Although I’m pretty sure that they’ll harm your health
But I’ve smoked all my life, and I ain’t dead yet
It’s just that smokin’ slaves are all the same
At a bettin’ party or a poker game
And everything’s gotta stop while they have a cigarette

Well, smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette
Yeah, puff, puff, puff, and if you smoke yourself to death
Tell Saint Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette

Well, in a game of chance just the other night
Old dame fortune was a-treatin’ me right
’Cause the kings and the queens just a-kept on comin’ ’round
So I played ’em hard, and I bet ’em high
But my bluff didn’t work on a certain guy
He kept on raisin’ and layin’ his money down

Yeah, he raised me, and then I’d raise him
Oh, I sweated blood, I had to sink or swim
And he finally called and didn’t raise the bet
I said, “Ace’s Full, pal, how ’bout you?”
And he said, “Well, I’ll tell ya in a minute or two
But just right now, I think I’ll have a cigarette”

Well, smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette
Yeah, puff, puff, puff, and if you smoke yourself to death
Tell Saint Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette

Yeah, smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette
Yeah, puff, puff, puff, and if you smoke yourself to death
Tell Saint Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette
Yes, you just gotta have another cigarette
Give me a hit, son

[instrumental]