Guy Clark

[Bevo Incognito]

Wow, just sitting here listening to his song "Randall Knife" and I have to say that it just kills me every time I hear it.



My father had a Randall knife
My mother gave it to him
When he went off to WWII
To save us all from ruin
If you've ever held a Randall knife
Then you know my father well
If a better blade was ever made
It was probably forged in hell

My father was a good man
A lawyer by his trade
And only once did I ever see
Him misuse the blade
It almost cut his thumb off
When he took it for a tool
The knife was made for darker things
And you could not bend the rules

He let me take it camping once
On a Boy Scout jamboree
And I broke a half an inch off
Trying to stick it in a tree
I hid it from him for a while
But the knife and he were one
He put it in his bottom drawer
Without a hard word one

There it slept and there it stayed
For twenty some odd years
Sort of like Excalibur
Except waiting for a tear

My father died when I was forty
And I couldn't find a way to cry
Not because I didn't love him
Not because he didn't try
I'd cried for every lesser thing
Whiskey, pain and beauty
But he deserved a better tear
And I was not quite ready

So we took his ashed out to sea
And poured `em off the stern
And threw the roses in the wake
Of everything we'd learned
When we got back to the house
They asked me what I wanted
Not the lawbooks not the watch
I need the things he's haunted

My hand burned for the Randall knife
There in the bottom drawer
And I found a tear for my father's life
And all that it stood for



Anybody else a Guy Clark fan?

 

[Art Vandelay]

Great, great songwriter. Love his lyrics. This is one of my favorites of his....

"Let Him Roll"

Well, he was wino, tried and true.
Done about everything there is to do.
He worked on freighters, an' he'd worked in bars.
He worked on farms, an' he'd worked on cars.
It was white port that put that look in his eye,
Grown men get when they need to cry.
We sat down on the curb to rest,
And his head just fell down on his chest.

He says: "Every single day it gets,
"Just a little bit harder to handle and yet. . ."
Then he lost the thread and his mind got cluttered,
And the words just rolled off down the gutter.

Well, he was elevator man in a cheap hotel,
In exchange for the rent on a one room cell.
An' he's old: years beyond his time,
No thanks to the world, and the white port wine.

So he said: "Son." He always called me son.
Said: "Life for you has just begun."
An' then he told me the story I'd heard before
How he fell in love with a Dallas *****.

Now, he could cut through the years to the very night,
When it ended in a ***** house fight.
And she turned his last proposal down,
In favor of being a girl about town.

Now it's been seventeen years, right in line,
He ain't been straight in none of the time.
It's too many days of fightin' the weather,
An' too many nights of not being together.
So he died.

An' when they went through his personal effects,
In among the stubs from the welfare checks,
Was a crumblin' picture of a girl in a door,
An' an address in Dallas, and nothin' more.

An' the welfare people provided the priest,
A couple from the mission down the street,
Sang "Amazing Grace", and no one cried,
'Cept some lady in black, way off to the side.

We all left and she's standing there,
A black veil covering her silver hair.
Ol' One-Eyed John said her name was Alice,
An' she used to be a ***** in Dallas.

So let him roar, Lord, let him roll.
I bet he's gone to Dallas, rest his soul.
Just you let him roll, Lord, let him roar
He always said that heaven
Was just a Dallas *****.

Just you let him roar, Lord, let him roll.
I bet he's gone to Dallas, rest his soul.

 

[TaylorTRoom]

I saw him once, a couple of years ago, at a Bass Hall event, where He, Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, and John Hiatt sat on stools, bantered, and took turns playing songs (occasionally one would strum along with another). It was a nice night.

I guess if you ranked them by popular sales, it would be Hiatt, Lovett, Ely, and Clark, but that wasn't how they reacted to each other. From their talk and jokes, it sure seemed like Guy Clark was the alpha male of that group, and the others deferred to him. Maybe "defer" isn't right; they all seemed to really respect him.

 

[jimmyjazz]

TaylorTRoom, that's odd, because last week those 4 brought their tour to the Paramount Theater, and several reports claimed it was the first time they had been to Austin as a group.

Regardless, Clark is definitely a "mentor" for those guys, particularly Lovett.

 

[TaylorTRoom]

Per this website (although, strangely, the FW gig isn't mentioned), it looks like they've done that kind of show a lot.

www.ely.com/ElyBandGigs2000-2007.htm

 

[LITNIN HORN]

This was the first time they had performed together in Austin. I was always curious why. Though I have seen them all on many occasions, as individuals, I would really like to see their songwriter's showcase. Schedule wouldn't allow this time...oh well.

 

[TaylorTRoom]

Oh, I should clarify. I saw them in the Bass Hall in FW, not the one in Austin.

 

[badexcuse]

I collect Randall knives and TOTALLY get that song. I heard when he sang it at The Paramount last week he had to step offstage because he got so emotional.

 

[hullabelew]

Clark says The Randall Knife is the best song he has ever written. I have copies of two Ely, Hiatt, Clark, Lovett shows. If you want one or both, let me know through PM.

 

[PFD]

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[jimmyjazz]

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[MirrOlure]

On a lighter note..........."Thank God and Greyhound You're Gone" is one of my all time favorite songs.

 

[Hornius Emeritus]

Well I wished I was in Austin
In the Chili Parlor Bar,
Drinkin' Mad Dog Margaritas
And not carin' where you are.

But here I sit in Dublin,
Just rollin' cigarettes,
Holdin' back and chokin' back
The shakes with every breath.

CHORUS
Forgive me all my anger,
Forgive me all my faults.
There's no need to forgive me
For thinkin' what I thought.
I loved you from the git go,
I'll love you till I die.
I loved you on the Spanish steps,
The day you said goodbye.

I am just a poor boy,
Work's my middle name.
If money was a reason,
I would not be the same.

I'll stand up and be counted,
I'll face up to the truth,
I'll walk away from trouble,
But I can't walk away from you.

I have been to Fort Worth,
I have been to Spain,
I have been too proud,
To come in out of the rain.

I have seen the David,
I've seen the Mona Lisa, too,
I have heard Doc Watson,
Play Columbus Stockade Blues.

(REPREAT CHORUS)

 

[GhostOfTomJoad]

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[elface]

In Santa Rosa, CA opening up for Jerry Jeff, he played Randall Knife and the audience was stunned to silence, until some old codger quietly stated "that's a damn good song".

Clark easily had the best line in the TVZ movie.

"I booked this gig thirty sumthin' years ago".

He was a big influence on Michelle Shocked as well. I saw him play at the Harvest Moon Festival in Ft. Davis in 1993. His son played with him and the Dixie Chicks and Asleep at the Wheel played as well, but what I remember best is the stories he told about him Susannah and Townes...that Townes would wake up from a dream with a new song and then play it straight out. I think the song was called Black Haired Boy.

 

[hullabelew]

This is a pic of Guy Clark from a year ago. I think the guitar he is holding is one he built. I think this one is one he gave Lyle Lovett. The article was about his love for woodworking and his recovery from cancer.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Stayin' up all night
In the Driskill Hotel
Ramblin' Jack and Mahan
Was cowboyed all to hell
The room smelled like bulls
The words sound like songs
Now there's a pair to draw to boys
I would not steer you wrong


GREATNESS!!!

 

[Art Vandelay]

Another great one... Instant Coffee Blues

He washed all the road dirt from his face and from his neck
And sat down at her table and she picked up his check.
And she took him home for reasons that she did not understand.
And him, he had the answers but did not play his hand.
For him he knew the taste of this wine very well.
It all goes down so easily but the next day is hell.

Morning - "Man was I drunk," she whispered in the shower.
While he lay there and smoked his way there through the final hour.
And she felt wholly empty like she'd felt it every time.
And he was feelin' just the same, 'cept he was tryin' to make it rhyme.

Time was of the essence so they both did their best,
to meet up in the kitchen feelin fully dressed.
She just had to go to work, and he just had to go.
And she knew where and he knew how to blow it off and so.
They shot the breeze quite cavalier to the boilin' of the pot.
And sang the Instant Coffee Blues and never fired a shot.

And him he hit the driveway with his feelin's in a case.
And her she hit the stoplight and touched up her face.
So you tell them the difference between caring and not.
And that it's all done with mirrors, lest they forgot.

I said it's all done with mirrors, of which they have none.
To blend the instant coffee blues into the morning sun

 

[TaylorTRoom]

The Cancer recovery comment reminded me of a recent story about John prine's fight with throat cancer. The doctor said that since prine is a professional singer, during surgery he would be very careful not to damage his vocal chords. prine said, "Hell, Doc, you ever hear me sing? Don't worry about the voice, get the cancer out!"