He was not my father's brother but he wished that he could be Told us kids to call him Uncle and we would be his family He had a wife and kids in Fresno, the youngest one was twenty-four Daddy brought him into our house, they didn't want him anymore He helped us work the family business building fences in the sun He worked just like a man of twenty until the working day was done He and Dad would spend their Evenings sittin' in lawn chairs in the yard Where they'd drink and toast to Seagram's, Seagram's never went down hard Won't you wake up, Uncle Lloyd We've got a lot of work today We'll get Don to make the coffee Load that truck and be on our way Friday night you can drive to Vegas Maybe this time you will win Buy a trailer by the river And you won't have to work again He was sleeping in the workroom on a mattress on the floor When one night I heard him crying as I passed outside his door He cried, "Rita, girl, I love you! Rita, darling, please don't go "I've tried hard to make you happy; I've done everything I know" Then I heard the bottle open, the tipping up and putting down And the rustling of the covers, then he did not make a sound I thought of thirty years of Rita standing sternly by his side All the years of hanging in there and all the emptiness inside Then I thought of how their children have children of their own And how a man at fifty-seven winds up living so alone Won't you wake up, Uncle Lloyd We've got a lot of work today We'll get Don to make the coffee Load that truck and be on our way Friday night you can drive to Vegas Maybe this time you will win Buy a trailer by the river And you won't have to work again (Oh, you'll never work again)

There's a southern accent Where I come from The young'uns call it country And the yankees call it dumb I got my own way of talking But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from Now that drunk tank in Atlanta Was just a motel room to me I think I might go work Orlando If the orange groves don't freeze I got my own way of working But everything is run With a southern accent Where I come from For just a minute there, I was dreaming For just a minute it was all so real For just a minute she was standing there with me There's a dream that I keep having Where my mama comes to me And kneels down by the window And says a prayer for me I got my own way of praying But every prayer's begun With a southern accent Where I come from I got my own way of talking But everything gets done With a southern accent Where I come from

Ole buddy, ole pal I need to talk to you right now You're the only one who just might understand Ole buddy right now it seems the ground's too hard to plough And this ole mule I got is cussin' me again Ole buddy, ole pal, I been on this road a while And I can't see for me what's in it in the end Well I won't tell you no lies and you see tears are in my eyes It's 'cause I'm running with my face against the wind When it rains it pours like it never has before When the sun shines it burns me through my shirt The wind cuts like razors when I open up the door I got a brokеn heart, but I can't feel it hurt Ole buddy, ole pal, nothin's changеd in this old town The welcome sign still looks like it's about to fall I been helping out your Mom and I took Becky to the prom But don't you worry man, it ain't like that at all Coach Davidson got fired but if you ask him he retired And he wasn't takin' all those pills they had him on Wish I could tell you face-to-face They hired your dad to take his place And he's been runnin' us like dogs since you been gone And when it rains it pours like it never has before When the sun shines it burns me through my shirt The wind cuts like razors when I open up the door I got a broken heart but I can't feel it hurt Ole buddy, ole pal, we can't forget about you now They put your picture up down at the city hall Next to a flag and a plaque that said you never made it back And in a few words you're a hero to us all When it rains it pours like it never has before When the sun shines it burns me through my shirt The wind cuts like razors when I open up the door I got a broken heart but I can't feel it hurt Ole buddy, ole pal, I need to talk to you right now But I'll just drive by your old place again Ole buddy, ole pal, if I could call you up somehow I'd lie and tell you that I'm gettin' by Without my best friend

You got a lot on your plate and it's too much to handle One thing or another both ends of the candle With a wife and three kids and one on the way Lately it seems there's just ain't enough time in the day It'll drive you insane if your cup ain't half full You can't complain and you can't grab the horns by the bull Life moves too fast to beg, steal or borrow But if you cut the grass, it'll be short tomorrow It's the last thing on your mind but it's the first thing I see Every time I drive by I wonder just how long it'll be I know you ain't got time to be working for nothing And you got mouths to feed But when you walk out in the morning Just look and you'll see what I mean It'll drive you insane if your cup ain't half full You can't complain and you can't grab the horns by the bull Life moves too fast to beg steal or borrow But if you cut the grass, it'll be short tomorrow I believe what you sow in the spring you will reap in the fall Bad luck on a string don't mean nothing at all What goes up don't always come right back down Sometimes people leave and never come back around One thing I know is hard work always shows And the one way to get there is to always be going If you ain't got friends you don't get Christmas cards And a good place to start's your front yard It'll drive you insane if your cup ain't half full You can't complain and you can't grab the horns by the bull Man, life moves too fast to beg steal or borrow But if you cut the grass, it'll be short tomorrow Yeah, whatever you do today is gonna be done tomorrow

I'm lookin' through a hole in the sky I'm seein' nowhere through the eyes of a lie I'm gettin' closer to the end of the line I'm livin' easy where the sun doesn't shine I'm livin' in a room without any view I'm livin' free 'cause the rent's never due The synonyms of all the things that I've said Are just the riddles that are built in my head Hole in the sky Take me to heaven Window in time Through it I fly I've seen the stars disappear in the sun The shooting's easy if you've got the right gun And even though I'm sittin' waitin' on Mars I don't believe there's any future in cause Hole in the sky Take me to heaven Window in time Through it I fly I've watched the dogs of war enjoyin' their feast I've seen the western world go down in the east The food of love became the greed of our time But now I'm livin' on the profits of pride Hole in the sky Take me to heaven Window in time Through it I fly I'm lookin' through a hole in the sky I'm seein' nowhere through the eyes of a lie I'm gettin' closer to the end of the line I'm livin' easy where the sun doesn't shine

In her red sun dress with braids in her hair She crawled out her window and ran to meet him there Where she gave up on youth and gave into desire And the touch of his hands lit a wildfire And a sliver of light Cuts through the dark And the moonlight shines On Della Jane's heart The cold wind was blowing as she waited for his embrace But it only got colder when she saw the look on his face His blindsiding words of his new love for Anna Lee Filled her with rage as he told her of their plans to leave And a sliver of light Cuts through the dark And the moonlight shines On Della Jane's heart Now the weight of her world was heavy as lead But she drug it on down to the ol' riverbed With her knees in the mud she looked up and prayed "Lord, please wash all of my sins and his body away" Wash it all away, wash it all away And a sliver of light Cuts through the dark And the moonlight shines On Della Jane's heart On Della Jane's heart, on Della Jane's heart On Della Jane's heart, on Della Jane's heart