Levelland
Written by: James McMurtry
CD: Robert Earl Keen - Picnic
From: Andrew@lyonap.force9.co.uk
Intro: E A E C#m A
E
Flatter than a tabletop
A
Makes you wonder why they stopped here
E C#m A
Wagon must have lost a wheel or they lacked ambition one
E
On the great migration west
A
Separated from the rest
E C#m
Though they might have tried their best
A
They never caught the sun
B
So they sunk some roots down in the dirt
A
To keep from blowin' off the earth
B
Built a town around here
A B
And when the dust had all but cleared
E A B
They called it Levelland, the pride of man
E A B
In Levelland
E
Granddad grew the dryland wheat
A
Stood on his own two feet
E C#m A
His mind got incomplete and they put in the home
E
Daddy's cotton grows so high
A
Sucks the water table dry
E C#m
Rolling sprinklers circle round
A
Bleedin' it to the bone
B
And I won't be here when it comes a day
A
It all dries up and blows away
B
I'd hang around just to see
A B E
But they never had much use for me in Levelland
A B E A B
They don't understand me out in Levelland
A C#m B E
And I watch those jet trails carving up that big blue sky
A C#m B
Coast to coasters watch 'em go
A C#m
And I never would blame 'em one damn bit
B E
If they never looked down on this
A C#m B
Not much here they'd wanna know
E
Just Levelland
A B
Far as you can point your hand
E A B
Nothin' but Levelland
(Solo) A C#m B E A C#m B A C#m B E A C#m B
E
Mama used to roll her hair
A
Back before the central air
E C#m A
We'd sit outside and watch the stars at night
E
She'd tell me to make a wish
A
I'd wish we both could fly
E C#m
Don't think she's seen the sky
A
Since we got the satellite dish and
E
I can hear the marching band
A
Doin' the best they can
E C#m A
They're playing "Smoke on the Water", "Joy to the World"
E
I've paid off all my debts
A
Got some change left over yet and I'm
E C#m
Gettin' on a whisper jet
A B
I'm gonna fly as far as I can get from
E A B
Levelland, doin' the best I can
E A B
Out in Levelland - imagine that
{E A B}x4
C#m A B E
