3rd gear and 17


I held the keys to that Chevrolet
and you held the keys to my heart
I'd throw a fit, hit the dash,
get out and kick the tire
when that old piece of junk wouldn't start
It'd be smoking good I'm slam down the hood
Just to see you laughing at me
On the other side of a dirty windshield,
lookin' as pretty as could be

(chorus)
We sure saw a lot of miles,
never even crossed that county line
I would've bet the farm, given my right arm
so you'd always be mine
Did we crash and burn or make a wrong turn
or run out of gasoline?
I lost you around 3rd gear and 17

In the blink of an eye high school flew by
you went your way and I went mine
But we swore we'd make it,
our love could take it
400 miles could stand the test of time

Well I left that fall to play college ball,
but my dreams would all come to an end
'Cause you know the big leagues never called,
and you went and fell in love with him

(chorus)
We sure saw a lot of miles,
never even crossed that county line
I would've bet the farm, given my right arm
so you'd always be mine
Did we crash and burn or make a wrong turn
or run out of gasoline?
I lost you around 3rd gear and 17

Memories flash through my mind like old faded photographs
I still think about you in that red Malibu
and I just can't help but laugh

We sure saw a lot of miles,
never even crossed that county line
I would've bet the farm, given my right arm
so you'd always be mine
Did we crash and burn or make a wrong turn
or run out of gasoline?
I lost you around 3rd gear and 17

Love broke down around 3rd gear and 17
I lost you around 3rd gear and 17

All American country girl


If you'd had made a tag on the back
Of those designer jeans she's wearin'
It's some big name brand you can't buy at a Wal-mart
And you from what she's got on

From her Versace to her Louis Vuitton
You wouldn't think she'd know every Merle Haggard song by
heart

But when it comes down to the heart of the situation
She's a little rockin' honky tonkin' modern day Minnie
Pearl
I should know, I've been all across this great nation
Oh there ain't no doubt, she's an All American country girl

Well she comes pullin' up to you at a red light
In some high-fallutin fancy foreign car
Rich lady shades and a little dog in the window
You'd never know she was born and raised right down on her
grandaddy's farm

But when it comes down to the heart of the situation
She's a little rockin' honky tonkin' modern day Minnie
Pearl
I should know, I've been all across this great nation
Oh there ain't no doubt, she's an All American country girl

There's somethin' bout her slow southern twang
It sweet talks me into anything
Her smile, her wink, and her pretty please
Brings any country boy down to his knees


But when it comes down to the heart of the situation
She's a little rockin' honky tonkin' modern day Minnie
Pearl
I should know, I've been all across this great nation
Oh there ain't no doubt, she's an All American country girl
Oh there ain't no doubt, she's an All American country girl

Blame it on me


Your standing there, that look in your eye
Your looking for good ways to tell me goodbye
Something about people how they never know
They?re loving somebody then letting them go
Your looking for reasons there ain?t no need
You can blame it on me.

Chorus:
You can blame it on me. I was the one
Acting like real life was some old love song
I held you too close

Diesel driving daddy


Well my truck’s wound up and it’s ready to roll
I got a good buddy workin’ for the Highway Patrol
So if I get a ticket or two, It’s gonna be alright
But the sheriff and his boys they’re in Estilline
Unless they’re out to lunch at the Dairy Queen
They’ll be itchin’ to turn on those red, white, and blue
lights

Well just like my daddy I was born a drifter
I got a rebel heart and eight - ball shifter
Horns on the hood and forty channel CB

Well some things you never leave home without
Like your Bible, log book, and your drivin’ route
And your Best Of Dale Watson on CD


Chorus:

Cause I’m a diesel drivin’ daddy
Don’t you get in my lane
Puttin’ the pedal to the medal
Bringin’ eighteen wheels of pain
I’ve been in love
Broke some hearts
Settled down long enough to replace the parts
Kicked a little
Asphalt along the way


There’s a lonely life livin’ on the road
When the only friend you’ve got is the radio
And even he fades in and out every now and then
But maybe someday you’ll find the right one
That'll shift the gears and let ya ride shotgun
Knows how to get that big ole rig to spin


Chorus

I’m a panhandlin’ manhandlin’
Post holin’ high rollin’ dust bowlin’ daddy
I ain’t got no blood in my veins
I just got them four lanes
Of hard Amarillo highway

Chorus

Up and down that honky tonkin’ highway

Fool's paradise


I've got this Caribbean queen
Rubbin' in my coconut sunscreen
You'd think you'd be the last thing on my mind
I've got a beautiful ocean view
Ten thousand miles from you
So Why couldn't I leave this broken heart behind


(Chorus)

Oh The sunshine is dancin' on the water
Pretty girls couldn't get any hotter
If I keep tellin' myself
I'm havin' the time of my life
Maybe it'll come true and I won't miss you
Welcome to a fool's paradise


Well I keep on tellin' me
There's other fish in the sea
But your memory keeps reminding me I'm wrong
There's a party 'bout every night
And I should be out doin' it up right
Instead of watchin' re-runs of Gilligan's Island all alone (all night long)


(Chorus)

Oh the moonlight is dancin' on the water
Pretty girls couldn't get any hotter
If I keep tellin' myself
I'm havin' the time of my life
Maybe it'll come true and I won't miss you
Welcome to a fool's paradise


This time next week I'll be headed to Texas On a big jet airplane
Oh when I get home you know this broken heart is gonna hit
me like a hurricane


(Chorus)

Oh The sunshine is dancin' on the water
Pretty girls couldn't get any hotter
If I keep tellin' myself
I'm havin' the time of my life
Maybe it'll come true and I won't miss you
Welcome to a fool's paradise

Good thing going

For the life of me will her memory keep on keepin' me awake?
This empty pillow by my head is proof you sleep in the bed that you make
Just like a fool I did nothin', nothin' short of helpin' her pack
Wish I could find a way, find the words to say
To bring my baby back

I've got a good thing goin', and she ain't slowin' down
A good thing goin', showin' no sign of turnin' around
If I could go back, somehow backtrack
I'd undo all I did wrong, but I've got a bad feelin' my good thing goin' is a good thing gone

Thought she'd at least call to say that she was ok
While she left me walkin' the floor
Maybe she was long gone long before she ever set foot out that door
I guess over time the love in her heart was overshadowed by her heartaches
She didn't scream or shout, she had it all mapped out, and she never even tapped the brakes

I've got a good thing goin', and she ain't slowin' down
A good thing goin', showin' no sign of turnin' around
If I could go back, somehow backtrack
I'd undo all I did wrong, but I've got a bad feelin' my good thing goin' is a good thing gone

There goes my life down that highway
All of my dreams slippin' further away from this broken home
I've gotta put the pieces all back together

I've got a good thing goin', and she ain't slowin' down
A good thing goin', showin' no signs of turnin' around
If I could go back, somehow backtrack
I'd undo all I did wrong, but I've got a bad feelin' my good thing goin' is a good thing gone

I've got a good thing goin'
I've got a good thing goin'

Haunted house


Sometimes I hear a woman cryin
And a man sayin nothin at all
Often I hear children laughin
And footsteps walkin down the hall
There's a ghost for every memory
Always remindin me that I was wrong
And since her leavin
I've been sleepin
Leavin all of the lights on


(Chorus)

What was once a happy home
Feels more like a haunted house
Haunted by the sounds of broken hearts
Rattlin off the chain of broken vows
It sends a chill through my bones
It's got me scared as a mouse
Now empty and alone
What was once a happy home
Feels more like a haunted house


There's no place to run and hide
I swear she's everywhere I go
In every room I, smell her perfume,
I know she's not here
But I'm not alone


(Chorus)


It sends a chill through my bones
It's got me scared as a mouse
Now empty and alone
What was once a happy home
Feels more like a haunted house

Heaven help the heart


Like a killer at large
You strolled down Bourbon Street
Lookin' for an easy mark
With every man you meet
And I never saw the devil
Behind your rain blue eyes
Spellbound by your long legs and your little white lies

Oh, heaven help the heart that falls head over heels
Cause you'll tear it all apart just to see how it feels
How can you be so hot and so cold-blooded too
Oh, heaven help the heart that falls in love with you

You're no Adalida, no pretty Cajun queen
Just a bad girl from Biloxi, more addicting than morphine
And when your love wears off
There's nothin' left but pain
And enough teardrops fall to flood Lake Ponchatrain

Oh, heaven help the heart that falls head over heels
Cause you'll tear it all apart just to see how it feels
How can you be so hot and so cold-blooded too
Oh, heaven help the heart that falls in love with you

I can see you smilin' in some Creole cafe
Slippin' your love potion in someone's ettouffe

Oh, heaven help the heart that falls head over heels
Cause you'll tear it all apart just to see how it feels
How can you be so hot and so cold-blooded too
Oh, heaven help the heart that falls in love with you

Oh, heaven help the heart that falls head over heels
Cause you'll tear it all apart just to see how it feels
How can you be so hot and so cold-blooded too
Oh, heaven help the heart that falls in love with you
Oh, heaven help the heart that falls in love with you

Heyday tonight


I said hey sugar mama
Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight
So lets have a ball at the ole dance hall
And later on we just might
Go make a little love beneath the moon above
Until the mornin light
Sugar mama Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight
Well Ive been pushed down kicked around
All over town all week
Burnin both ends from dusk til dawn

Tryin to make ends meet
Tell me why, Lord tell me why
Nice guys end up last in line
Theres only one thing on Gods green earth
To get this cruel world off my mind

Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight
So lets have a ball at the ole dance hall
And later on we just might
Go make a little love beneath the moon above
Until the mornin light
Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight

Id say Monday is the worst day

For those workin man blues
And Tuesday and Wednesdays more the same ole bad news
Well Thursdays ok and Fridays gettin brighter
When the whistle blows at 5:00
Im comin home to pull an all-nighter

Sugar mama Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight
So lets have a ball at the ole dance hall
And later on we just might
Go make a little love beneath the moon above
Until the mornin light
Sugar mama Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight

Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight
So kick off your shoes, forget about your blues
And let your troubles take flight
Well you and me hun well have a little fun
Until the mornin light
Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight

Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight
So lets make a little love beneath the moon above
In the glow of a kerosene light
Well be turnin on and on til the break of dawn
Til we turn it on just right
Sugar mama Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight
Im a gonna wanna gotta have a heyday tonight

Honky tonkin' around Texas


Ahh let's go honky tonkin'
Let's go honky tonkin'
Have a honky tonkin' good time with us
Ahh let's go honky tonkin'
Let's go honky tonkin'
Honky tonkin' round Texas


Well I'll put some diesel in the tank
Give that old Detroit a crank
We'll sit back and let that silver eagle fly
Well up and down that Lonestar State
Let's have a honky tonkin' tail gate
And don't forget to kiss your baby good bye


(Chorus)


Stick out a thumb and bum a ride
Hitch-hike across the country side
Come see why they call this place God's country
Well criss-cross in the Colorado
From Amarillo to Zapata
Every town along the way from A to Z


(Chorus)


Well my mom called me up
And she gave me my last warning
Said there'll be hell to pay
If I miss church this Sunday morning